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Recipe: how to make an absurdly delicious Limoncello meringue cake

limoncello-citroenmerengue Toscanini

Limoncello: delicious! Meringue: insanely good! What if you combine the two in one dish? Double the fun! But let’s keep it friendly, okay—no fighting over that last piece!

 

Foto van culinair journalist Sharon van Lokhorst

If life gives you lemons…

Who doesn’t love Limoncello? I don’t know any haters. Makes sense, because what’s not to like about the refreshing South Italian lemon liqueur? Delicious to drink after dinner, but you can really do anything with Limoncello. For example, make a Limoncello cocktail—so wonderfully refreshing! Or how about limoncello madeleines… But first: Limoncello lemon meringue, as made by the (famous) Italian restaurant Toscanini in Amsterdam.

How to make Limoncello lemon meringue

Start with the cake:

  1. Line the baking tin with baking paper
  2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees
  3. Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature
  4. Beat the butter with the sugar, lemon zest and salt for about 10 minutes until light and fluffy
  5. Add the eggs one at a time. Do not add the next egg until the previous one has been fully incorporated
  6. Sift the self-raising flour over the batter and carefully fold it in
  7. Add the limoncello and carefully fold this in as well
  8. Pour the cake batter into the baking tin
  9. Bake the cake for about 35 minutes, until done. To be sure, test whether the cake is done with a skewer

Make the soaking syrup (a sugar syrup used to moisten a cake or sponge) 10 minutes before the end of the baking time:

  1. Put the ingredients in the pan
  2. Bring to a boil and let it simmer gently for about 3 minutes
  3. Use a skewer to prick small holes in the cake immediately after it comes out of the oven
  4. Pour the syrup over the cake
  5. Let the cake cool completely

Make the lemon curd while the cake is cooling:

  1. Wash the lemons thoroughly
  2. Grate the lemon zest
  3. Squeeze the lemons
  4. Strain 100 ml lemon juice. Add the liqueur
  5. Put water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat source down as low as possible
  6. Put the butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in another pan. Place this pan in the pan of boiling water (heat au bain-marie)
  7. Let the mixture heat slowly until the butter has melted
  8. Beat the eggs and add them to the pan with the lemon mixture while whisking
  9. Stir the eggs thoroughly into the mixture
  10. Heat the lemon curd while stirring for about 20 minutes, until it is lovely and thick
  11. Turn off the heat source
  12. Remove the lemon curd from the pan and transfer it to a bowl
  13. Cover it with a layer of plastic wrap and let it cool to room temperature
  14. Spread the lemon curd over the cake

Make the meringue:

  1. Put 20 ml water and 100 grams of sugar in a pan and bring to a boil
  2. Heat the syrup to 120 degrees
  3. Once the syrup is almost at temperature, degrease the mixer bowl and whisk
  4. Put the egg whites in the bowl
  5. Whisk until foamy
  6. Then add 25 grams of sugar and continue whisking gently
  7. Add the sugar syrup to the egg whites. Whisk on the highest setting until the meringue has cooled. It is ready when it is so stiff that it stays in the bowl when you turn it upside down.
  8. Pipe the meringue over the cake
  9. Caramelize the sugar with a blowtorch until beautifully browned
Extra delicious with a glass of ice-cold Limoncello di Fiorito!

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