Lemons are kitchen essential I am never without. I use lemons in everything – from pastas, soups, cakes, tarts and drinks. The zing that they add always reminds me of summer, even when it’s cold and wet outside. So with my love of lemons, and having made Nigella’s Chocolate Orange Cake again recently I pondered a lemon version. The very next day I gave it a go and it worked out beautifully. As much as I love the chocolate orange version (which incidentally is one of my favourite cakes) this is now one of my favourite lemon cakes.
The wonderful thing about this Lemon Cake, apart from the fact it’s so simple to prepare and everything is simply blitzed in the food processor, is the fact that it’s gluten free too. If you are on a gluten free diet this is one delicious cake you eat!
For my lemon version of this cake I opted against using store bought almond meal and made my own. It’s simple to do, and it also gives you control over the resulting texture. Want a find powder simply grind them more…want something a little chunky stop a little earlier. For this cake I went for an almond meal that was a little chunky, but that’s one of the things I enjoyed about this cake because it gave the cake more texture.
To decorate the cake I whipped up a simple blueberry frosting. Blueberries and lemons go so well together, and while I could have gone for lemon on lemon, I love the purple hue that the blueberries give the frosting. So if you are thinking of baking a cake to celebrate the weekend I hope you will give this beautiful but simple lemon cake a go.
You might also have noticed Delicious Everyday is looking a little different today. I’ve been musing over updating the design for a while, but wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in. After a lot of playing about I’ve come up with something I like, for now anyway, and I hope you do to. What do you think of Delicious Everyday’s mini makeover? By the way, speaking of makeovers, Delicious Everyday’s Facebook page has been updated too to utilise the new Facebook Timeline functionality. Head over and check it out and tell me what you think.
Gluten Free Lemon Cake with Blueberry Frosting
Adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Orange Cake from Feast. Note due to cooking the lemons this cake has more of a bitter lemon flavour than the fresh zing of lemon. It's not your traditional sweet lemon cake.
Ingredients
- 3 lemons weighing approximately 375g
- 6 eggs
- 1 teaspoon heaped of baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- 250 g of ground almonds
- 250 g of caster sugar
- BLUEBERRY FROSTING
- 150 g of butter at room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar
- 1/4 cup of pureed blueberries
Instructions
- Put the lemons in a saucepan with cold water and bring to the boil before reducing the heat and simmering for 2 hours, or until soft. Drain the water and set aside to cool. When cool, cut the lemons in half and remove any large seeds.
- Grease a 20cm springform pan and preheat the oven to 180 Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Pulp the lemon in a food processor before adding the eggs, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, almonds and sugar and processing until you have a smooth batter.
- Pour the batter into the springform pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check after 40 minutes to ensure the top is not cooking too much, if so simply cover with foil.
- Let the cake cool in the tin before removing.
- To make the frosting add the butter to the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat until pale and creamy. Reduce the speed to it's lowest setting and gradually add the icing sugar. Finally add the pureed blueberries and mix until combined.
- To decorate the cake smooth over a crumb coating and refrigerate until set before smoothing over another layer of the frosting.
Is the frosting gluten free, too?
The frosting is gluten free as long as you use a gluten free powdered sugar (or icing sugar as we call it here in Australia). You might need to check the label of the powdered sugar to ensure it is gluten free. Some brands use starch, usually cornstarch, to prevent it from clumping, but others might use something else. I hope that helps 🙂
LOvely lemon cake and Yay! Jenn on the nominations..
What is bicarbonate of soda? Is that like baking soda?
Yes, bicarbonate of soda is the same as baking soda 😀
I am about to make this cake and feel a little silly for asking this but do I use the entire lemon, skin and all? Or do I peel the lemons and then boil them?
Thanks!
Hi Tanya,
Yes, you use the whole lemon, skin and all. 😀
OMG, another sweet-loving vegetarian? YEA! And this cake? Divine! Thank you!
you’ve managed to make a cake look wholesome!
the blueberry frosting makes the cake looks especially good! sweet and sour, oh so appetizing
Latest: Penang Food Festival
I love Nigella’s creation. They are often so yummy!
Love this recipe, Jen. And that icing?!? Oh! I want to face-plant in it.
Haha a face full of blueberry icing would be fun 😀
This is such a beautiful cake and the frosting sounds beyond delicious! Your photography is just stunning I’m not at all surprised you’ve been nominated! 🙂
I also love this lemon cake from Nigella! Though, I’ve never tried it with a frosting but it sounds lovely with the blueberries.
Lemons and blueberries and it’s gluten free! It’s like you designed a cake especially for me.
There are some lemons in my fruit bowl that are about to be very lucky 🙂
Congratulations on your nomination!! 😀
I love the purple colour of the frosting too- when I saw the first picture, I thought it was a blueberry mousse cake or something like that 😉 The combination of blueberries and lemon sounds really nice though- and the cake sounds amazing too!
Thanks Von 😀
Lemon and blueberry is one the best combinations ever. Love this cake , looks amazing!!!
This cake is beautiful and the combination of flavors sounds delicious. Definitely pinning this one!
Well have just whipped up this cake as I love lemons. Was very excited to cut a slice however cake was very bitter and left an after taste. even the sweetness of the icing couldn’t cut through it. very disappointed. not sure what went wrong
Such a stunning picture and the cake looks extremely addictive. Please pass me a slab!
Jennifer, love that you ground your own almonds for added texture… that cake looks really yummy with the blueberry frosting. Have made a similar cake base using oranges instead of the lemons. Nice to have a gluten free choice! Congratulations on your nomination (love the photographs) and I always thought your blog looked great! 🙂
Love the mini-makeover Jen, and the cake!
And huge congratulations on your nomination – I’ve put my vote in for you!
xxx
Thank you so much Amanda 🙂 You are such a great friend.
It has already been said a few times, but I’m gonna say it again: It looks so nice! The frosting is beautiful! With little blueberrychunks in it 🙂
This colourful frosting makes the cake look happy :D, and you’ll probably get happy by eating it too ;).
Thank you so much Sonyanijntje 🙂
That. Is. GORGEOUS. What a wonderful, delicious cake.
This is so pretty, love your photography too. I love lemons, always put a squeeze in just about every dish!
Gorgeous photos! I like lemon and blueberries so will probably make this.
Love the new design too. 🙂
Thank you for your feedback Carole 🙂 I’m happy with the updated design for the moment.
What a lovely cake! Pairing almond flour with lemons and blueberries is a delightful combination.
I will try your recipe as Mr. R favors blueberries whereas I adore citrus. Great post!
That must be some of the prettiest frosting I have seen in a while. Looks like a lovely, subtle cake 🙂
Thank you Kiri 🙂 Beautiful and simple, 2 of my favourite things.
What a beautifully simple but effective cake – bursting with flavour!! You are most talented!
Such a stunning cake! And your blueberry buttercream sounds like an amazing match for the lemon cake….mmmmmmm.
Ohhhh I revamp of Nigella’s cake 😉 I love that recipe too hehe because I love chocolate and orange. But I totally agree lemon and blueberries go so well with each other ~ hahaha i tried to make lemon and blueberry scones but I didn’t have any blueberries 🙂 But like you I always have lemon at home ~
Thanks for sharing this recipe! Can’t wait to try soon 😀
This is so pretty and I love love LOVE the blueberry frosting – don’t think I’ve seen that before. Almond flour always adds such lovely moisture to a cake too…gorgeous!
How do you get your cakes to look so amazing every single time? This cake looks amazing! I must try some more gluten free recipes.
Awww you are so sweet. Too sweet. I definitely need to work on my frosting techniques. I don’t know how some people get their cakes so beautiful smooth.
A heavenly cake and flavor combination! I’d love to come by to have tea at your place. 😉
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow this is gluten free?. It looks fantastic. I have made this cake with mandarins but never lemons great idea .
A mandarin version is a lovely idea too. I’ll have to try that 🙂
oh this looks so scrumdiddlyumptious and the colour of the frosting is so pretty! Another one for future baking.
Using almond flour gives the cake a lovely texture. the blueberry frosting is to die for!
Ooh. I’m loving the new layout too. 🙂
Thank you! 😀
Such a pretty color! I love lemon cake and what I like most is that it can be prepped in absolutely no minute 🙂
Lovely post! Award winning cake!
Beautiful! I love lemons with blueberries – I just used that combination myself.
I like the cleaner look 🙂
And that cake looks gorgeous, what a lovely lilac shade
Thank you cc11 😀
The site looks fantastic. So does this cake. I would love a slice of this right now. Lemons sure are a special ingredient. I love having them on hand. Although meyers eluded me this year.
Thanks Kim 🙂 I’d love to get my hands on some meyer lemons one day.
This is such a beautiful cake Jen! Love the colours 🙂
I love the colour of the frosting…so pretty! An impressive looking cake that ounds delicious to boot!
Thanks Anna 🙂 I love the frosting too.