Mamma Agata's Lemon Cake - Dolce di Limone

Along the Sorrentine Peninsula, which includes the Amalfi Coast on it southern side, lemons are a major crop and are used in many dishes from pasta sauce to desserts to limoncello liqueur.  Lemon cakes are a very popular dessert. 

In searching for a lemon cake recipe, I found a winner in Dolce di Limone, by Mamma Agata, a renowned cook from the beautiful town of Ravello. I made two of these cakes in the past two weeks, and I was very pleased with the results. The end product is a moist cake completely infused with lemon flavor. It takes a bit of work, but I believe it's worth the effort for a special dinner.

I found a version of Mamma Agata's recipe at  https://mykitchenmemories.com/2014/08/10/lemon-cake-mamma-agatas-dolce-al-limone/. I have changed the instructions to reflect my own experiences. There is also a YouTube video with instructions at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb_xnWj1kSE. 

You might want to check out Mamma Agata's web site:http://www.mammaagata.com/.

This recipe serves 10, unless you taste it and decide you might want to consume the whole thing.

Ingredients

A. Cake Dough
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 sticks of butter at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan
- 4 eggs
- grated zest pf 3 large lemons or 5-6 small ones
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 cups "00" flour or white pastry flour. I used King Arthur unbleached cake flour. Do not use all-purpose flour or bread flour.
- 4 1/4 tsp of baking powder. (This sounds like a lot, but is the perfect amount.
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup hazelnuts, chopped (optional)
B. Lemonade Mixture to Infuse into Dough after Baking
- 1 1/4 cups water
- juice of the 3 large or 5-6 small lemons you zested
- 8 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Butter a non-stick Bundt pan and coat lightly with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Make sure to butter the Bundt pan liberally with butter to help prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.

3. Mix the butter in a mixing bowl on high speed for at least 2 minutes. (If the sticks of butter are too cold and not at room temperature, the sticks could fly out of the bowl when you begin mixing.)

4. Add the sugar and continue to whip until a soft cream mixture forms.

5. Mix the baking powder into the flour and set aside.

6. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture and blend. Then add the salt and grated lemon zest.

7. Alternate adding and blending a little of the flour mixture and the milk into the mixing bowl until all is used up and blended into the batter.

8. Mix the ingredients on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the batter has a light and airy consistency similar to a mousse.

9. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. While the cake is baking, do not open the oven door to peek or the cake will not rise properly.

10. While the cake is baking, prepare the lemonade mixture. Squeeze the lemons into a pitcher. Add the sugar to the lemon juice and stir until dissolved. Add the water and stir well.

11. Once the cake is finished baking, let it sit for 2 hours outside the oven until it is at room temperature.

12. Before starting to add the lemonade, make sure the cake does not stick to the pan. Hold a dish towel firmly on top of the cake and carefully turn the pan upside down. If the cake does not easily separate from the pan, do not force it, or the cake may come apart. If the cake does not easily come out of the pan, place it back into the oven at 350 degrees for several minutes. This will warm up the butter and allow it to release. If it still does not release, you can insert something very thin between the sides of the cake and the pan to try to separate them.

13. Once the cake comes nicely out of the pan, gently place it back into the pan so you can begin pouring the lemonade. Over the course of 30 minutes, pour some lemonade over the entire exposed part of the cake every 10 minutes. This allows the cake to absorb the lemonade. Make sure you have some lemonade left after the 3 ours. After the cake has absorbed the third pour, gently tip the cake out of the pan onto the serving dish you plan to use. Add the remaining lemonade to the top of the cake, distributing it evenly, and let it absorb for at least 10 minutes.

14. Garnish the cake with the chopped hazelnuts or sprinkle confectioners sugar on top.

You could serve it with limoncello.