Recipe | Ottolenghi lemon & labneh cake

For the twentieth anniversary of the first Ottolenghi store, we wanted to celebrate with a cake that would be quintessentially Ottolenghi. Of course, it had to be lemon! Verena Lochmuller, my colleague and general star baker, created a true lemon extravaganza. Like Verena herself, it was no holds barred, complete with burnt lemon powder, meringue kisses, lemon marmalade, soaking syrup and dehydrated lemons. For the full shebang, go to the Ottolenghi website or, if in London, buy a slice from the stores. This is my simplified version. It’s still lemony and delicious, but with far fewer steps and components. Make it for afternoon tea, or as a birthday cake for a lemon lover.

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Serves: 10 – 12

Ingredients

Lemon curd

1 large egg, plus 2 egg yolks

90 ml lemon juice

90 g caster sugar

75 g unsalted butter, cut into 2 cm cubes

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Lemon sponge

200 g unsalted butter, cut into 4 chunks

270 g caster sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 2 large lemons)

270 g plain flour

3½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

5 eggs

110 g vegetable oil, or other neutral oil like sunflower

110 ml full-cream milk

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

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Sliced lemon garnish

100 g caster sugar

100 ml water

2 lemons, sliced into 2–3 mm thin circles

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Labneh marscarpone icing

300 g labneh, store-bought or homemade (see Preparation tip)

150 g mascarpone

120 g icing sugar ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon juice

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Method

1. Start by making the lemon curd, if you are not using store-bought (see Preparation tip). Using a hand whisk, whisk together the egg and yolks in a bowl and set aside. Put the lemon juice and sugar into a small saucepan and place over medium–high heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then as soon as it comes to a boil, pour the syrup over the eggs, whisking the entire time. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk until the mixture has thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, one cube at a time. When all the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth, transfer the curd to a clean container and cover the surface with plastic wrap. Set aside to cool completely, then refrigerate until ready to use. 

2. To make the sponge, first brown the butter. Put the butter in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Gently swirl the pan until the butter has melted, then continue to cook, swirling gently from time to time, until it is foaming. The butter will splutter and hiss quite audibly at first, then quieten down as the foam subsides and dark brown sediments begin to form on the bottom and sides of the pan. Cook for 3–5 minutes, depending on whether your stove is gas or electric. The mixture is ready when it has turned a rich golden brown and smells like toasted nuts and caramel. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. 

3. Grease and line the base and sides of two 20 cm cake tins with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160˚C fan-forced. 

4. Combine the sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl then, using your fingertips, rub the zest firmly into the sugar for about 1 minute, until it is tinged yellow and smells very fragrant. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the lemon sugar and stir to combine. 

5. In a separate large bowl, use a hand whisk to whisk together the eggs, oil, milk and vanilla until smooth, then pour the mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Using the whisk, fold together gently to incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry. Once the batter is smooth, pour in the cooled melted browned butter and whisk just to combine – don’t overmix. 

6. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins (about 600 g batter in each tin) and place on the middle rack of the oven. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer the tins to a wire rack and set aside to cool. 

7. While the cakes are cooling, make the sliced lemon garnish and the labneh mascarpone icing. For the garnish, combine the sugar and water in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add the lemon slices. Cook, swirling the pan from time to time, for 6–8 minutes, until the syrup and lemons begin to colour and caramelise. Remove from the heat and use tongs to transfer the lemons onto a tray lined with baking paper. 

8. For the icing, place the labneh, mascarpone, icing sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on low speed to begin with, then increase the speed gradually and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl and the whisk regularly, until the mix is smooth. 

9. When ready to assemble, turn the cakes out of the tins. Measure out 100 g of the lemon curd. 

10. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand then, using a small spatula, spread a little less than half of the labneh icing over the top. Place small dollops of half the lemon curd on top, then swirl it into the labneh icing. Carefully place the second cake on top, then spread the remaining icing over the cake, repeating the swirling with the remaining lemon curd. Arrange the caramelised lemon slices on top.

Preparation Tips 

– The lemon curd may be store-bought, or make it from the recipe here, up to 3 days before filling the cake. This recipe will give you a little more than you need for this cake – the rest will be delicious spread on toast. 

– If making your own labneh, start with 600 g of Greek yoghurt, or 750 g of regular yoghurt. Combine in a mixing bowl with ¼ teaspoon of fine sea salt, then scrape it into a strainer lined with a large piece of muslin or clean tea towel, making sure the strainer doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Fold the cheesecloth over the yoghurt to cover, then leave to drain in the fridge overnight. After straining, the yoghurt will have thickened into labneh.

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