A Perfectly Imperfect Cake – Vol. 3
Lemon cake challenges – when plan B turns out better than plan A
Traditional lemon cakes have many names that sound inviting. There’s Lemon Drizzle Cake, which sounds like lemon juice falling out of the sky...and Lemon Loaf Cake – a less ambitious name, but certainly descriptive. There is Lemon Chiffon Cake, Lemon Sponge Cake, and Lemon Pound Cake. Subtle differences aside, these lemon cake variations are all essentially cast out of the same mold.
Lemon cakes probably rival chocolate cakes in recipe variations appearing in cookbooks and on the internet. Everyone offers one...very few are different...and I love them all. But baking a lemon cake according to the specs living in my head became my baking Achilles heel.
Here’s the kind of lemon cake I wanted to create: a lemony loaf cake with a crumb that holds together – but just. It should land on my palate as light as a dragonfly with sore feet lands on a river flower.
Achieving these results turned out to be much more difficult than I thought.
My first version tasted fabulous. It was filled with lemony goodness, and the crumb was flaky and moist. But the top collapsed while cooling, and this was not acceptable. Who wants a cake with a divot on top? Not me...it was time to consider my formula.
My culinary college notes from years ago told me cakes can collapse for a number of reasons:
The oven temperature or heat transfer could be off, leaving the cake's interior underbaked without creating enough support to sustain its structure during the cooling stage.
The wet and dry ingredients did not properly bind because of too much liquid or sugar or not enough structural ingredients like flour or starch.
It could have been caused by too much leavening (baking powder and baking soda) – a common mistake that creates too much air that goes poof when the batter reaches a specific temperature or as the cake cools.
I reviewed my formula, and it looks fine. Irritated, I was close to chalking up this failed cake attempt to my mood or the unseasonable rainy weather. Then I noticed a highlighted nugget in my notes – watch out for acids.
I was intrigued and dug a bit deeper. Acids create all kinds of molecular disruption in baking. Vinegar, chocolate, buttermilk, and lemon juice can alter proteins and starches, which can be beneficial in creating a tender crumb but also cause cakes to have less structural support. Acids also react with baking soda to release carbon dioxide as a byproduct. The gas helps create leavening, but too much can weaken the structure...and leave a most dissatisfying soapy taste on the palate.
I was onto something with the acids – it was time for a new round of experiments.
My subsequent attempts at making a lemony cake with a moist texture and extra light crumb resembled my first cake; they tasted deliciously lemony with an excellent crumb. But the top repeatedly sunk in the middle as it came out of the oven to cool, which was unacceptable to my cheffy side.
Nothing seemed to work despite adjusting the leavening, sugar content, flour amount, liquid amount, and how much lemon juice I used. I even went out on a limb and sought advice from master pastry chef Philip Khoury – he suggested leaving out the lemon juice and adding it to the top of the loaf cake once it finished baking. That sounded reasonable, although I was worried the cake wouldn’t have the lemony roundhouse punch I was looking for. Nevertheless, I attempted that version, only to be let down by yet another loaf cake with a slightly collapsed center.
I’ve never struggled so much to get a recipe idea to work...never. My wife was also showing signs of losing patience with my failed attempts, “You baked another cake?” became our new daily greeting when she arrived home from work.
Here’s a brief synopsis of everything I attempted to get my cake recipe to work:
Reduced the size of my loaf pan to 22 cm (8 1/2 inches) and changed the material to stainless steel.
Adjusted the oven temperature to the north and south of my original starting point.
Adjusted the quantities of every ingredient, going from a wet batter to a dry(ish) batter.
Included lemon juice and excluded lemon juice.
I added the lemon juice to the wet ingredients. I also tried to fold the juice into the finished batter.
Nothing worked. Every attempt ended with roughly the same result: a delicious cake with a slightly recessed top.
It was time to step away from this project – a decision not easily reached by my overly anal-retentive demeanor. Plus, I now had too much lemon loaf cake on hand, which is not a good situation for anyone looking to lose weight.
After three days, I found myself scouring the internet and my cooking notes for new ideas or clues as to what I could try. It was time for one more attempt, only with an entirely new approach and reworked formula.
I wrote out the recipe and figured out the percentages that would make up this new formula—one that would rely much more on two significant differences: an increase in structural elements and a drop in temperature paired with a large increase in baking time. My reasoning was simple: maybe I needed more structural integrity, and perhaps I was underbaking my previous attempts.
The new result didn’t have a collapsed top. That was the immediate good news. The cake was much more golden, but it felt heavy. The flavor was decent, but it wasn’t the kind of lemony-rich flavor I was looking for...and it was dense inside. The increased sugar left this loaf moist...but too sweet for my liking. And the density...well, let’s say this lemon loaf cake was a bit more than a pound cake.
But it tasted good when I decided to cut up squares and pop a bit of vegan vanilla ice cream on it...with a drizzle of quick lemon curd cascading over the top. And that got me thinking...
When Plan B is Better Than Plan A
I started to consider something completely different – Tiramisu.
I could use slices of the tiramisu to replace the more traditional ladyfinger biscuits. I could bathe the slices in a small amount of limoncello instead of sambuca. I considered the coffee but quickly rejected this idea; there was no need for anything except more lemon. So, why not make a lemon curd cream loosely based on my original vegan tiramisu idea? I could create layers of my lemon-poppy seed cake with layers of lemon cream and top it with cocoa powder.
Hmm...
”But wouldn’t this be a variation of an English Trifle?” asked my alter ego.
“Perhaps, but I always considered a trifle as something close to a tiramisu,” I argued in return. “And besides, in the end, does it matter? It’s a sponge cake dessert with loads of delicious custardy cream and a ton of lemon goodness. And that sounds pretty damn delicious...”
I decided to allow my Lemon Loaf Cake ideas to evolve. I know I will make further attempts. I’m certain some of them will have collapsed tops, and I’ve decided I am entirely okay with that result.
I am okay with creating an imperfect cake that turns into something perfect.
Be sure to take advantage of my reduced annual rates to receive access to all of my published recipes.
Lemon-Poppy Seed Cake
This delightfully light lemon cake variation is filled with just enough lemony goodness to bring a ray of sunshine to a cloudy day. The interior crumb is very tender but also moist. If your oven is too hot, it may develop cracks along the top or slightly deflate in the center once it cools. Both issues are merely cosmetic—the flavor and texture should shine through these minor defects. When wrapped in plastic, the finished cake keeps well at room temperature for 2-3 days.
Lemon Tiramisu
This vegan variation of tiramisu cuts through tradition and bends the rules just enough to be controversial...yet familiar enough in flavor and texture to be appreciated for what it is – an extraordinarily tasty dessert offering.
Previous Adventures in this Cake Series
A Perfectly Imperfect Cake – Vol. 1
My adventures with vegan cake baking, a minor victory with Pisciotta, and learning new ways to bake a citrus olive oil cake.
A Perfectly Imperfect Cake – Vol. 2
Exploring the function of ingredients in vegan baking, plus my take on Gâteau à l’Orange.
More of My Vegan Cake Ideas
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Lemon tiramisu sounds fabulous! But your original cake - when sliced it just looks to me like you achieved a really cool shape! I’d call that a bonus!
My mouth was watering as I was reading Jack! :)