Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Meringue Shards
- Preheat the oven to 200˚F (95˚C) and line a baking sheet with parchment. Don't use a silicone baking mat, as the meringue may not dry out and crisp up as thoroughly.
- In a spotlessly-clean stand mixer bowl on a zeroed-out scale, weigh 1 large egg white. In a separate small bowl, weigh out double the weight of sugar. Or you can skip weighing the egg, and simply weigh out 60 g granulated sugar, which should be close enough! Add a pinch cream of tartar to the egg white.
- On medium speed using the whisk attachment, whip the egg white until it begins to get foamy, then gradually stream in the sugar over the next minute or two. Increase the speed to high, and keep whipping until you almost reach stiff peaks (around 10 minutes). See note #3 if you're using a hand mixer.
- Spread the meringue out onto the lined baking sheet, aiming to get a thin layer somewhere between ⅛-¼" (3-6 mm) thick. The shape doesn't matter, as you'll be breaking it into irregular shards to decorate the cake.
- Bake for around 1½ hours, or until the meringue has dried out and can easily lift off the parchment. Leave to cool completely.
- You can make the meringue shards a few days in advance. Just let the sheet of meringue cool completely before breaking it into irregular pieces, then transfer to an airtight container. Be very careful not to put warm meringue in an airtight container, or condensation will absorb into the meringue and ruin it.
Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with baking spray, making sure to get on every surface so the cake will remove cleanly.
- Add 405 g granulated sugar and the zest of 3 large lemons to a large mixing bowl, or to the bowl of a large stand mixer (see note #4). Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until it's very fragrant and looks a bit like damp sand.
- Add 600 g all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and 2 teaspoons fine sea salt and mix on low speed to combine.
- Add 410 g unsalted butter. Start the mixer on low speed until the butter starts to incorporate with the dry ingredients. Increase the speed to medium and mix until everything is uniformly pale yellow and crumbly, about 5 minutes.
- Add 8 large eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat for another minute after the last egg is added.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 200 g sour cream, 100 g preserved lemon paste, 45 g lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extractuntil smooth. Add half of this mixture to the stand mixer bowl, and beat until incorporated. Add the rest of it and beat to combine.
- Transfer to the bundt pan and smooth out the top. Bake until the top is puffy, cracked, and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 55-65 minutes). When the cake is about 10 minutes away from being done, begin making the Lemon Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
Lemon Simple Syrup
- Add 120 g lemon juice and 120 g granulated sugar to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until the sugar dissolves.
- As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, and while it's still in the pan, use a toothpick to poke holes all over the top of the cake. Brush about one-third of the syrup over it, and leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes.
- Carefully invert the cake onto a plate or wire cooling rack. While it's still warm, brush the rest of the syrup over the cake. Leave it to cool completely.
Lemon Glaze & Assembling the Cake
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 180 g powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, and optionally ¼ teaspoon turmeric, until smooth.
- Immediately pour it over the cake, letting it drip over the sides. Before the glaze sets, break the meringue sheet into irregular shards and press pieces into the glaze wherever you like.
- Leave the cake uncovered until the glaze sets, about 30 minutes. Then slice and serve!
Notes
- Preserved lemon paste is made by taking preserved lemons (removing their seeds) and blending them up with the brine in the jar. You can blend your whole jar of preserved lemons, and use all the brine. Strain the brine into the jar to make sure you don't get any seeds in the paste, and blend until smooth. Store the paste in a clean glass jar in your fridge. It should last for a year or so, as long as you're careful to only use clean utensils in the jar.
- Turmeric is added to the glaze to give it a natural light yellow colour, it's not enough to notice the flavour. You can use a few drops of yellow food gel instead, for a brighter yellow colour, or skip colouring entirely and let the glaze stay white.
- You can use a hand mixer to whip the meringue, but it will take much longer to whip to nearly stiff peaks than a stand mixer would. Expect it to take at least 15 minutes.
- A standard-size tilt-head Kitchen-Aid mixer is not large enough for this recipe! I used my Ooni Halo Pro mixer which was the perfect size. Any stand mixer with a large capacity of should work (like a 5 or 6 quart bowl-lift Kitchen-Aid). If you don't have a large stand mixer, you can use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer instead.