Lemon poppy meringue cake (2024)

Here is a recipe which I hope you will like :) The "classic" version of the lemon poppy seed cake (here) is already a great success, I dare to hope that this more original reinterpretation will satisfy you just as much :)

I had in mind to mix two recipes from my blog: the lemon meringue tart (here) and the traditional lemon cake and also to use my famous cake mold with insert which I love!

So I started with a lemon poppy seed cake garnished in the center with a lemon curd, coated with a light lemon icing, covered with an Italian meringue burned with a blowtorch and decorated with two lemon confit and lemon zest. So yes, if you hate lemon, move on, but for lovers of this citrus fruit you will love it!

Finally, you might think that the recipe is complex to make but not at all! You just need to spread out a few preparations but everything can also be done the same day without difficulty. Personally, I made my lemon curd as well as the two lemon confit the day before, the cake and the meringue on the big day.

For the mold, it is once again a cake mold with insert tube from the Matfer brand 20x8cm, (here). Since my darling gave me this mold for my birthday, I have rediscovered the pleasure of making more original cakes. Adding an insert clearly brings deliciousness to the cake and the possibilities are enormous!

So yes with the addition of the insert and the meringue, the cake will tend to keep less well (and it will be necessary to keep it refrigerated), but I will use my hand to ensure that the cake will not be more than two days :)

I'll leave you the recipe with my backplanning. Don't hesitate once again to give me your feedback here in the comments or even on Instagram ;) I can't wait to see your creations!

Ingredients for a 6/8 part cake (cake mold with insert tube from the Matfer brand 20x8cm, here):

The lime cream (to make the day before):

1- In a salad bowl, whisk the eggs with the caster sugar and add the lime juice. Mix well.

2- Cook everything over low heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 83°C (the mixture should have thickened).

3- Remove from the heat, add the gelatin mass (gelatin powder swollen in water) or the previously drained gelatin leaves. Mix and transfer to a clean salad bowl.

4- Add the softened butter, whisk vigorously, mix using a hand blender. Cover with film and reserve in the refrigerator.

Lemon confit (based on a recipe by Aurélien Cohen - to make the day before) :

1-Dice the lemon supremes and place them in a small saucepan. Add the sugar (1).

2- Boil over medium heat for 4-5 min, stirring regularly with a whisk so that the mixture reduces a little.

3- Add the NH pectin and sugar (2) previously mixed.

4- Mix with a whisk and let boil for ten seconds.

5- Remove from the heat, mix using a hand blender. Transfer to a small container. Cover with film and leave to cool.

The cake dough (to make the same day):

1- Melt the butter and let it cool.

2- Mix the sugar with the lemon zest and leave the mixture for ten minutes with the scent of the zest permeating the sugar.

3- In the bowl of your mixer, whisk the eggs with the sugar and zest until the mixture becomes foamy.

4- Add the previously sifted flour, yeast and pinch of salt. Mix again.

5- Add the lemon juice, the melted butter and finally the whole liquid cream. Mix.

6- Finish with the poppy seeds.

7- Pour the dough into a buttered and floured cake mold (you can optionally line it with baking paper to make it easier to unmold) and having taken care to add the insert tube. The dough should be a little more than 3/4 full of the mold (if you have any left, make small cupcakes). Close with the lid.

8- Bake for 55 minutes at 160°C. Check the cooking with the blade of a knife which should come out dry.

9- Let it cool for a few minutes before unmolding it. The cake must be completely cooled before it can be iced.

Frosting (optional):

1- Mix the lemon juice and the previously sifted icing sugar until you obtain the consistency of liquid icing but not too much. Add a pinch of poppy seeds.

2- Pour the icing evenly over the cooled cake. Use a spatula to coat the entire cake.

3- Let the icing set until it hardens.

Italian meringue (to make the same day):

1- Bring the water and sugar to the boil. When the syrup reaches 110°C, start whisking the egg whites.

2- Once 118°C is reached, pour the syrup in a thin stream against the walls of the bowl, while continuing to whisk the egg whites vigorously.

3- Whip at maximum speed for a good 2 minutes, then lower the speed slightly and continue to whisk until the bowl has completely cooled (around ten minutes).

4- Pour the meringue into a bag fitted with a Saint-Honoré nozzle and set aside.

Assembly and finishes:

1- Whisk the lemon cream to soften it. Pour it into a piping bag and garnish the center of the cake, making sure that it overhangs on both sides. Scrape off the excess.

2- Pipe your Italian meringue evenly on top of the cake using your bag fitted with a Saint-Honoré nozzle.

3- Burn using a blowtorch.

4- Place a few dots of confit with the two lemons.

5- Finally decorate with some lemon zest. Enjoy.

6- The cake can be kept refrigerated for 2 days in an airtight container.