Marche Dimanche's Sweet Blog...

this is a twitter friend's blog post.

i couldn' t resist to copy and paste this recipe.
click on the title to go to her blog's link.
marchedimanche.typepad.com
she is great.

From My French Kitchen: Italian Lemon Cake

In honor of the Lemon Festival (Fete du Citron) in Menton this week, I bring you my Italian Lemon Cake.

Just a short drive from where I lived, Menton sits perched next to the Riviera surrounded by citrus trees. And at this time of year, in addition to the parade with floats made of oranges and lemons and special jams and liquors made with citrus, restaurants feature citrus inspired combinations.

Mine is this Italian Lemon Cake. Italian because this area along the Riviera used to belong to Italy and the cuisine is a gentle blend of French and Italian.

This cake is light and not too sweet, with a cream filling, a dusting of confectionary sugar, and the most important ingredient of all---a microplaned shower of lemon zest.

Italian Lemon Cake

Ingredients

(9" springform cake pan)

Cake:

1 cup flour, sifted

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

5 large eggs, room temperature not cold, separated into yolks and whites

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup boiling water with grated lemon zest added

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

confectionary sugar to dust on top

2 lemons and a microplane to grate zest into the cake batter and on top of the cake

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature

1 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 1/2 cups confectionary (powdered) sugar

Method:

Cake:

1. Prepare the cake pan by buttering and flouring it.

2. Place the 5 egg yolks into a large bowl placed over hot water and begin beating with an electric blender until light and foamy on top. Begin to slowly add the sugar, bit by bit as you beat with an electric beater until the mixture becomes thick and pale in color. (about 6-8 minutes) Then add the 1/4 cup boiling water with the lemon zest in it, and beat again. Cool off the heat.

3. Sift the flour again with the baking powder and salt. Gently add bit by bit to the egg yolk mixture until blended.

4. Beat until stiff 5 egg whites and then fold 1/3 of it into the egg batter. Gently add the rest of the stiffly beaten egg whites until just blended. Pour into the cake pan and bake for 40 minutes. Cool.

Filling:

1. Whip the heavy cream until you attain stiff peaks.

2. Beat the cream cheese, lemon juice, vanilla, and confectionary sugar together until smooth.

3. Add 1/3 of the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture and fold in gently. Then add more of the whipped cream and fold until well blended. You don't have to use all the whipped cream. Just fold in amounts until you reach a perfect consistency to spread in the middle of the cake. Put in refrigerator until ready to use.

To Assemble:

1. Slice the cooled cake in half horizontally. Spread the filling on top of the first layer, top with the remaining layer. Dust liberally with confectionary sugar. To serve, microplane fresh lemon zest on top.