Turning 24 + my lemon almond Birthday Cake recipe

the nostalgia-laden birthday cake I have celebrated with since I was little

My 3rd Birthday cake! This was before the lemon almond cake tradition caught on.

As today’s recipe is birthday related, I’m soliciting gifts by asking you (yes, you) to share my writing with 1-3 friends who you think will enjoy. Thank you!

What kinds of hit restaurant recipes would you love to see adapted for easy home cooking? Chime in by clicking the chatbox below!

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On Monday I turn 24!

To get into the spirit, I’m sharing the recipe for the birthday cake I’ve celebrated with since I was little — a lemon almond cake my Mother found in the New York Times and has tinkered to perfection. It’s a rustic, undecorative confection; I can’t stand frosting in all its gluttonous atrocity. I relish letting the combination of stewed meyer lemon and ground almond speak for itself.

For my 21st birthday, I baked this birthday cake at the tail end of final exams, then rushed off to join my brother in Utah for some hiking. At the time, my mind was so consumed by my studies and travel logistics (hitchhiking along land owned by NIMBY gun-toting polygamous Mormon fundamentalists¹) that I completely forgot I’d made the cake. That is, until a week later when we had hiked into and across Zion National Park. Cleaning out my backpack at the visitors center, to my surprise I found the cake, wholly intact and mold-free, in the bottom pocket. Ravenous from our gallivanting, we gorged ourselves.

Making birthday cake. There I am on the right, incriminated for doing absolutely nothing helpful.

Some highlights from my 23rd year of life:

• graduated from college

• ate one of the best meals of my life at California cuisine restaurant Gjelina in Venice, L.A..² The dinner featured:

  • wood-fired pizza with chanterelle mushrooms and truffle-studded goat cheese

  • this Lemon Shaker pie I wrote about

  • a show-stopping fennel gelato. I will be adapting the recipe here on my Stack at some point in the future.

• explored the waterfalls of Ithaca, NY.

• honed my wood-fired grilling skills (on my grill: swordfish, Jimmy Nardello peppers, nectarines, chives, corn).

  

  map of the Pacific Northwest Trail. I hiked it westbound, starting in Montana

• set off on a 1200 mile thru hike of the Pacific Northwest Trail, which is a route cobbled together from a network of pre-existing trails through the backcountry; but also bike paths, old rail beds, highway shoulders, forest service and logging roads, hitchhikes (one on the back of a motorcycle!), cross-country bushwhacks, cow paths, and a long walk on the beach, to connect it all together. I made some swashbuckling friends along the way, and also somehow convinced a close college friend to come share in the adventure.

A photo I took on the third day of my hike in Glacier National Park, Montana. Glacial melt pouring off the mountainside into Thunderbird Creek.

• moved back to NYC and kickstarted my career.

• gave up alcohol (for the most part) & embarked on my new culinary study: open crumb panettone.

• …and started this newsletter!

My lemon almond birthday cake. Credit: NY Times

Recipe difficulty rating: intermediate

Song pairing: Agape by Nicholas Britell³

Ingredients: (serving size: one 9-inch cake)

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for the pan

• ½ cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for the pan

• 6 large Meyer lemons, 7 if small

• 2 cups almond flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 5 large eggs, separated

• 1 ¼ cups sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Cooking Appliances:

• three medium size bowls

• small saucepan

• 9 inch springform baking pan or similar

• parchment paper

• medium size pot with lid

• glove for handling hot lemons

• microplane or zester

• electric mixer

• measuring cup

• measuring tablespoon and teaspoon

Instructions:

Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan. Put 4 of the 5 Meyer lemons in a medium pot and cover with water by at least two inches. Bring to a boil, partly cover pot, and let simmer for 40 minutes, or until lemons are very tender. 

Transfer lemons to a bowl, let cool. Break open lemons and remove seeds. Scoop out lemon meat and put in a bowl. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Zest peel of the last lemon into a medium bowl and reserve the lemon itself for later. Stir in almond flour, baking powder, and salt. Then add in ½ cup of all purpose flour. 

Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a new bowl until very foamy. With the mixer, gradually beat in ¼ cup sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. 

In another bowl, beat egg yolks and remaining 0.75 cup sugar until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Beat in lemon puree, almond flour mixture, and vanilla extract. Using a spatula, fold in melted butter.

Fold a third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it. Fold in another third until well incorporated. Finally fold in remaining egg whites, taking care to not overmix (a few white streaks are fine). Squeeze juice of remaining zested lemon into bowl (make sure no seeds fall in). Cover the bottom of a 9-inch springform baking pan with a minimal smearing of butter and place a layer of parchment paper on top of this. Spread batter into prepared baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F until the top of the cake is well browned and it springs back when lightly pressed in the center. Remove from pan and let cool.

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze. Juice the already zested lemon into a bowl and stir in confectioners' sugar until you have a thick but pourable glaze (if it’s too thick, stir in a few drops of water). Spread glaze evenly over the top of tke cake and let cool.

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1. They’re lovely people for the most part, but intimidating!

2. Gjelina recently reopened their offshoot NYC location after it was temporarily closed due to a kitchen fire!

3. For fun, I pair each recipe with a song it reminds me of. What song does this recipe bring to mind for you? Let me know in the comments