The Meyer lemon is different from the common commercial lemon. It has a much rounder form, smooth unpitted skin, and takes on a deep yellow to orange color when mature. Meyer lemons have a wonderful tangy aroma and are sweeter and less acidic than the standard lemon. The juice of Meyer lemons is a a fine substitute for vinegar in salad dressings.
Here it is added to the cake batter and later combined with powdered sugar to form a syrupy glaze. The glaze is spooned over the cake while it is still warm. The Meyer lemons make this cake distinctive, but if you can't find them, substitute standard lemons.
Nancy Teixeira of Moreno Valley submitted this cake recipe. Ray Saumell of Hemet had requested recipes using Meyer lemons.
Note: Fresh lemon juice cannot be substituted in equal amounts for frozen lemon juice concentrate.
Meyer Lemon Cake
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, separated
1 ¼ cups sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated Meyer lemon rind
2 cups cake flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
GLAZE:
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter in a saucepan; cool and set aside. In a mixing bowl beat together the egg yolks with the 1 cup of sugar until thick and light in color, about 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the buttermilk, Meyer lemon juice and grated rind. Sift together cake flour, baking powder and salt.
Beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Then add the remaining ¼ cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture followed by half of the egg whites. Fold carefully so as not to deflate batter. Repeat with the remaining flour and egg whites. Take about 1 cup of the batter and stir into the melted butter. Gently fold the butter into the cake batter. Pour into a buttered and floured 9-inch cake pan or a Bundt pan and bake in a 325-degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
While the cake is baking make the glaze. Combine the 1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice and the powdered sugar in a saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Set aside until cake is done.
When cake is done, cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Turn cake out of the pan and invert onto a cooling rack. With a long toothpick or skewer, poke top of cake to make many small holes. Slowly spoon the warm glaze over the cake. Allow glaze to sink into the cake before adding more. Poke more holes if necessary. Use all of the glaze. Cool cake completely and serve with creme Chantilly, if desired.
Noelani Flanagan of Riverside prefers to make this pie with butter and serve it with whipped cream.
Easy Meyer Lemon Pie
1 Meyer lemon
4 eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 stick butter or margarine
1 8-inch pie shell
Trim the ends off a medium-size Meyer lemon. Put the whole unpeeled lemon, eggs, sugar and butter in a blender or food processor and blend until liquefied. Pour mixture into unbaked pie shell. Cover edges of pie shell with foil to prevent excess browning. Bake in 350-degree oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before cutting. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.
"This cake is worth all the work. I have made it for years and it's so good," Helen Cooper of Menifee wrote in answer to a request made by Alice Singleton of Hemet on behalf of her daughter who wanted a recipe for chocolate prune cake.
Chocolate Prune Cake
½ cup regular margarine
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup sour cream
2 eggs
3 squares (3 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1 jar (7-ounce) marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped cooked prunes
1 tablespoon brandy
In a large mixer bowl beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in sour cream, eggs, chocolate and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing well after each addition.
Turn batter into 2 greased and floured 9-inch layer cake pans. Bake in 350-degree oven 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes, then remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks.
Split each layer horizontally into 2 layers. Combine cream cheese and marshmallow creme, mixing at medium speed in an electric mixer until well-blended. Reserve 1 cup cream cheese mixture. Add prunes and brandy to remaining cream cheese mixture and mix well.
Spread 3 cake layers with prune mixture and stack. Top with remaining layer. Spread top with reserved cream cheese mixture. Makes 10 to 12 servings.
Esther Blohm of Hemet has used this recipe since 1967. Other readers sharing recipes include Eleanor Peirson of Corona and Betty Davy of Corona.
Cocoa Prune Cake
1 cup prunes
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup salad oil
3 eggs
2 cups flour
4 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped nuts
Powdered sugar glaze
Melted chocolate
Combine prunes and water in a saucepan; bring to boil and cover; simmer 10 minutes. Cool and drain the prunes, saving the liquid. Pit and chop prunes; set aside.
Combine sugar and oil in a mixing bowl; beat at medium speed, adding eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until mixture is creamy and thick. Stir in chopped prunes.
Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Add dry ingredients alternately with prune cooking liquid to the sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Stir in nuts. Pour into a well-greased 9-inch tube pan and bake in 350-degree oven 55 to 60 minutes. When done, cool in pan on a rack. Remove from pan. Swirl top with a powdered sugar glaze swirled with melted chocolate, if desired. Makes 10 servings.
Gloria Savoie of Corona makes her prune cake with canned baby-food prunes.
Chocolate Prune Cake (using canned strained prunes)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 heaping tablespoon baking soda
3 heaping tablespoons cocoa
¾ cup milk
4 small jars strained baby-food prunes
1 teaspoon vanilla
Chopped nuts, optional
Cream together sugar, oil and eggs. Mix together flour, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, salt and baking soda; add to creamed mixture. Add milk, prunes and vanilla. Add nuts, if desired. Bake in Bundt pan at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. This cake freezes well.
A recipe for the classic cake served by Loma Linda Hospital and in the cafeteria and sold at the Loma Linda Market Bakery was submitted by Kelly Heil of Sun City, Erlene Lau of Moreno Valley, Dee Volarevich of Wildomar, Yen Cress of Riverside and Nanette Pearson of Redlands.
Loma Linda Chocolate Prune Cake
CAKE:
¾ cup pitted prunes
¼ cup boiling water
2/3 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
ICING:
¼ cup water
¼ cup shortening
¼ cup white corn syrup
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
½ cup cocoa
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla
For the cake: Soak prunes in boiling water 30 minutes. Combine oil, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, salt and vanilla in a bowl. Add eggs and beat well for 2 minutes. Combine soaked prunes and buttermilk in a blender or food processor and chop finely. Add to creamed mixture with flour, baking soda and baking powder. Beat well and turn into a well-greased and floured 13-by-9-inch pan or 2 round 8-inch pans. Bake in 350-degree oven 30 minutes. Ice with Chocolate Fudge Icing.
For the icing: Bring water to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in shortening and syrup. Add powdered sugar, cocoa, salt and vanilla; cream well. Will frost a 13-by-9-inch cake or 2 round 8-inch layers.
Readers' Requests
Toni Gauger of Riverside would like to make the pasta salad served at Simple Simon's in Riverside.
Louise Buttigieg of Murrieta lost her lemon curd cake recipe.
Donna Fuller of Riverside is still looking for the recipe for tiramisu made with Grand Marnier and served with a raspberry sauce, created by chef Joe Cochran, formerly of the Mission Inn.
Lucia Montoya of Hemet would like to make Snickerdoodle cookies.
Helen Orman of Riverside needs a recipe for homemade Kahlua and one for walnut shrimp.
Need a recipe or want to help a reader who is seeking one? Write to Liz Caesar, Cook and Tell, The Press-Enterprise, PO Box 792, Riverside, CA 92502-0792. Please include your daytime phone number. Your full name and city -- but not your street address -- will be used with your contribution or request. Because of the volume of mail, not every contribution can be used and, to ensure a broader range of contributions, recipes from the same reader(s) will appear no more frequently than once every six weeks. No telephone inquiries, please.
Liz Caesar, a Cordon Bleu graduate, has studied and taught cooking in Asia, Europe and the United States. She has been writing the Cook and Tell column since 1975.
Published 6/9/1999