Ingredients for a 18cm springform pan
Gluten-free Lemon Batter
- 200g rice flour
- 150g sugar
- 125g butter
- 4 eggs (size M or L)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 100ml plant milk
- 1 organic lemon (you will need 3 tbsp lemon juice and the zest of 1 lemon)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric (optional, for the color)
- 1 pinch vanilla
- 1 pinch salt
Blood Orange Jelly
- 300ml blood orange juice (3-5 blood oranges, depends on the size)
- 5g Agar Agar (or use another gelling agent)
Blood Orange Cream
- 200g cream cheese
- 150g heavy cream
- 100g sugar
- 100ml blood orange juice (1 large blood orange)
- 3g Agar Agar (or use another gelling agent)
- red food coloring (optional)
Buttercream
- 140g soft butter
- 250g powdered sugar
- 1 pinch ground vanilla
- (maybe 1-2 tbsp lemon or blood orange juice)
Icing
- 100g powdered sugar
- 2-4 tbsp blood orange juice
Topping
- caramelized blood oranges (see recipe below – or take fresh slizes for decoration)
- 1 tbsp coconut flakes
Caramelized Blood Oranges
- 2 organic blood oranges
- 250ml water
- 250ml sugar
Tip: if you don´t have the time for all steps, then you could decorate the cake with fresh blood orange slices instead of caramelized ones and you could replace the blood orange jelly with a delicious jam from your local food shop.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/360°F top-and bottom heat. Line the bottom of your springform pan with baking paper, grease and flour the sides. Melt the butter and let it cool down for a few minutes. Meanwhile rinse the organic lemon, zest it and juice it. Now separate the eggs, beat the egg whites for one minute, then add about half of the sugar and beat for 1-2 more minutes until stiff. Afterwards beat the egg yolkes 30 seconds together with the remaining sugar, ground vanilla and salt. Continue by beating in the melted butter and plant milk. Then stir in the lemon juice and zest. Blend the dry ingredients (rice flour, baking powder, turmeric) and sieve and then stir the mix into the wet ingredients in 2-3 portions. In the end fold in the beaten egg whites in 3-4 portions with a spatula. Fill the gluten-free lemon batter into your springform pan and bake it for 40-45 minutes. Let the batter cool down on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before you remove the springform pan. During the baking process you can prepare the caramelized blood oranges: add water and sugar to a small sauce pan, bring to boil until the sugar is completely dissolved and you have a clear syrup. Rinse the blood oranges thoroughly, cut into 5mm thick slices and let simmer in the syrup for 15 minutes on low heat. Heat the oven up to 200°C/400°F after you removed the lemon cake. Afterwards arrange the sugared blood orange slices on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and bake the slices for 10 minutes until they start to turn brown. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the caramelized blood oranges cool down completely before you cut them in halves. Now prepare the blood orange jelly: juice the blood oranges, sieve the juice and weigh 300ml. Use 100ml of the 300ml juice to mix with the Agar Agar in a small sauce pan. Bring the mixture to boil for 1 minute (stir constantly), let cool down for a moment, then stir in the remaining 200ml blood orange juice. Place the mix in the fridge for about 10 minutes, stir every 3 minutes until the consistency is thick enough to spread on the cake layer (when the jelly is in the fridge cut the cake into 3 layers – use a long bread knife). Spread the jelly on 2 cake layers (on the middle one and on the top one: the top one will be the lowest/first layer of your cake, the middle one will be the middle one and the former bottom is going to be the top layer, but upside down, because it has the most even surface). Leave the 2 cake layers for another 15 minutes in the fridge until the jelly is firm enough. Meanwhile prepare the blood orange cream: mix cream cheese and sugar. Whip the heavy cream, fold it into the sweetened cream cheese and stir in a bit of the red food coloring. Then mix the 100ml blood orange juice with the Agar Agar and bring to boil for 1 minute (stir constantly), then fill the mix into a mixing bowl, let cool down for 1 minute, but keep stirring. Then fold in in several portions the cream. Spread the blood orange cream on the 2 layers of blood orange jelly (you have the best result, if you use an icing bag to spread the cream evenly, start in the centre of the layer and move spirally up to 1cm before the edge). Let the 2 cake layers in the fridge for 20 minutes and prepare the buttercream. Beat the soft butter together with the vanilla, then add in gradually the powdered sugar (sieve the powdered sugar before). If the buttercream is still quite firm, just stir in a bit lemon or blood orange juice. Fill the buttercream into an icing bag with round 1cm-wide icing tip. Assemble the cake layers and press them gently together (you can steady the cake with 3 wooden skewers until you´ve finished the cake). Now fill the gaps between the layers generously with buttercream, the buttercream should ooze out, so you can smooth the sides of the cake easier, when you go around afterwards with a dough scraper or cake spatula (add more buttercream to small gaps or the bottom if needed). last but not least spread buttercream on the cake top and smooth as well. Afterwards blend the icing and spread on the cake – a small carafe or milk jug is quite helpful. Place the caramelized blood oranges on the icing (you can use tooth picks on the backside of each slice provisional until the icing is firm) and finish the gluten-free blood orange-lemon-cake by decorating with some coconut flakes.
This recipe was first featured in Our Food Stories.
