April 7, 2016

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake (with Streusel Topping)

Posted by HI Cookery under 04 April | Tags: , , , , , |
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Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

(with Streusel Topping)

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

April 7: National Coffee Cake Day

When Islander attended a ladies’ luncheon with a spring theme, she brought over a luscious lemon almond coffee cake with a streusel topping to share with her new acquaintances. Her offering was well received at the potluck and many ladies asked for the recipe. Islander shyly said she would put the recipe and photo tutorial on her food blog, and they were more impressed that she was a blogger (what a subtle way to get more traffic to HI Cookery!). So ladies (and gentlemen)—new friends, as promised, here is the recipe with the photo tutorial for lemon almond coffee cake with streusel topping. The recipe is appropriate to take to springtime potlucks and luncheons as well as to make in observance of National Coffee Cake Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour)

For the streusel topping

  • ¾ cup flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (cold, cut into ½-inch pieces)
  • 2 lemons, grated zest
  • ¾ cup almonds, sliced (we used blanched slivered almonds)
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and brown sugar. Cut in the butter and mix until it resembles small peas and coarse crumbs. Add the lemon zest, almonds and extract. Chill in the refrigerator while making the almond coffee cake.

For the lemon almond coffee cake

  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar, granulated white
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup lemon curd
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • 2-3 lemons, grated zest
  • 2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions

In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In a larger bowl, cream the butter with sugar. Add the eggs and mix well. Stir in the lemon curd.

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Mix in the sour cream, zest and almond extract. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until well blended (do not over mix).

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Pour the thick batter into a buttered 9-inch springform pan and spread out evenly. Top with the streusel. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes, testing the cake for doneness. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

For the lemon glaze

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
  • ½ cup powdered sugar

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake. Let set. Slice and serve with coffee (or tea).

Lemon Almond Coffee Cake

Notes

  • Love lemons? Search our blog for more recipes containing lemons as an ingredient.
  • A new season (spring) is a great time to make new friends! Thanks to all our new blog visitors and subscribers for following HI Cookery (our blog-o-versary is just a few days away on April 11).
 

March 20, 2012

Lemon Macarons

Posted by HI Cookery under 03 March | Tags: , , , , , , , |
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Lemon Macarons

 Lemon Macarons

March 20: World Macaron Day and First Day of Spring

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When Mum gives you homemade lemon curd, make macarons! That is exactly what we did to observe World Macaron Day. So we added lemon flavoring and a sunny shade of yellow to basic macaron shells and filled them with Mum’s homemade lemon curd. Take the opportunity to make lemon macarons as they are a wonderful way to welcome the spring season.

Recipe

(Adapted from TeaTime magazine – January/February 2010)

For the lemon macarons (Italian meringue method)

  • 1 cup almond flour/meal
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 egg whites (fresh, unpasteurized and aged overnight at room temperature)
  • 1 cup sugar, granulated white
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • yellow food coloring (we used AmeriFoods brand lemon yellow food paste gel color)

Directions

Sift the almond flour/meal with the powdered sugar. Grind in a food processor in batches to remove any lumps (optional). Whip the egg whites until peaks form.

Lemon Macarons

Make a simple syrup to stabilize the egg whites by boiling the sugar and water together until it reaches a temperature of 245 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until it reaches a soft ball stage). Pour into the egg whites and whip again until stiff and glossy. Fold in the almond flour/meal-sugar mixture until the consistency “flows like magma.” Stir in the lemon extract.

Lemon Macarons

Tint the macaronage with yellow to make a sunny shade of lemon. Pipe one-inch discs on a parchment paper on top of an insulated baking sheet. Let the discs air dry to develop a thin skin for at least 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for about 15-20 minutes. Watch the “feet” develop, but be careful not to brown or burn the macarons. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Peel off the macarons from the parchment paper. Sort by size and match pairs. Make the lemon curd filling.

Lemon Macarons

For the lemon curd

Lemon Curd

Directions

To complete the macarons, spread lemon curd between two shells. Sandwich them together and repeat the process for the rest of the shells. Refrigerate the macarons to set. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Lemon Macarons

Notes

  • Search our site for more macaron recipes. Or click on our MacAttack page to see our macaron gallery. Happy World Macaron Day!
  • Dale Carnegie coined the famous quote: “When fate hands us a lemon, let’s try to make a lemonade” (see variations of the phrase at the Innocent English website). With this statement, he meant to encourage others to turn a negative into a positive position and to take the opportunity to change a disadvantageous situation into an advantageous one.
  • Thanks to Highlander’s Mum for the lemon curd and recipe.  Store-bought instead of homemade lemon curd may be substituted for the lemon macaron filling.
  • Thanks to Lisa L. for the ground almonds from Germany.
  • See our Food Flops page for our lemon macaron mess.
  • This post is our entry into the MacTweets monthly challenge #27 for World Macaron Day. Take a look at all the lovely macs on the site!
  • HI Cookery is proud to partner with M5 Cake to make macarons this month. See our lemon macarons paired with the strawberry macarons that we made together below and on their site.

macarons