* Lemon cake * Gluten free * made with EVOO *

An easy, one-bowl / 8-ingredient recipe, whipped up in just a few minutes to give you a moist cake full of lemony, zesty, refreshing citrus-ness. 

There is so much you can do with this.  You can frost it or ice it in several different ways, fill and decorate it with fresh summer fruit or whipped cream, spread it with lemon curd, serve it with ice cream or use it as part of more complex deserts.

As this cake is made with high quality extra virgin olive oil, it is heart healthy. Low in saturated fats and completely free of inflammation-causing seed oils this is a healthier treat.     

Here we present you the basic recipe, which is lovely all on its own.

INGREDIENTS

2 medium lemons or 3 small ones, plus the fresh squeezed juice of half a lemon

200g ground almonds or almond flour

190g golden caster sugar

150g fine polenta

10g baking powder

4 eggs

80ml Opus Olea Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil

pinch of salt (preferably unprocessed) 

You will need a 23cm diameter springform cake tin

METHOD

Pre-heat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius. 

Line your cake tin with some baking paper and use a few drops of olive oil to evenly oil the baking paper with.

Place your lemons (except the one reserved for juicing) in a medium size pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer the lemons  until soft, about 20min.  Remove from pot and let cool.  Once cool, slice in half and remove any seeds.  Juice the remaining lemon.  Blitz the cooked lemon halves in a blender or food processor together with half of the the freshly squeezed lemon juice until they form a smooth puree.

In a large bowl beat your 4 eggs together with the salt until frothy, then add the sugar and whip until the mixture lightens in colour and turns silky, about 10 minutes in total.  

Add the pureed lemons and the ground almonds and mix through until incorporated.  Add the Opus Olea Organic extra virgin olive oil, the polenta and the baking powder and mix through.

Pour the resulting mixture in your prepared cake form.

Place the cake form in the middle of the preheated oven.  Bake for about 40min.  Insert a skewer in the middle of the cake and leave for 10-15 seconds, if it comes out clean, your cake is ready.  If not it may need another 5-10 minutes, depending on your oven.  When ready let cool in the cake pan for a few minutes and then turn out on a cake plate.  You could use the remaining fresh lemon juice to mix with a teaspoon of icing sugar to form a light syrup and pour over the still warm cake (or you can omit this step).  Decorate with fruit and/or lemon slices as you wish or frost with some icing.  It is delicious on its own or with any of the above additions.