Setouchi Lemon Cakes
Setouchi Lemon Cakes are one of the most popular foods enjoyed by visitors to the Setouchi and also taken home by them as bright tasting, sunny looking food souvenirs, with millions sold every year. Thanks to lemon shaped molds developed in the early 1970s, the cakes look like lemons. By incorporating lemon zest and juice into the batter, they have the tangy taste of lemons.
This recipe, however, is different. Instead of simply brightening a pound cake (which is what all lemon cakes are) with the citrusy sourness of a lemon’s juice and giving it a lemony flavor with the oil from the lemon’s peel, it goes the other way and makes richer and more complex flavored lemon cakes that make the most of the lush quality of a pound cake and fact that lemons have some of the most natural umami of any fruit. They also are cakes that rely on a lemon’s bitterness, as well as its tartness, to balance the cake’s richness.
To do this, use of a whole lemon in the Japanese manner of not wasting anything. First, chop the lemon into small pieces and marinate them in sake, sugar, mirin, and sea salt. These seasonings soften the lemon pieces, round out their sour and bitter tastes, and create a natural, umami-rich lemon extract that is used in the cake along with the lemon pieces. The sake and mirin also ensure a very moist cake. Then, make a batter that includes an easy meringue so that the cakes have a light, fluffy crumb. The result are cakes that are idealized versions of lemons—rich, moist, slightly chewy yet still light and full of beautiful lemon flavor.
Setouchi Lemon Cakes
Setouchi Remon Keki : 瀬戸内 レモン ケキ
Makes about 15 lemon-sized cakes
Main Foods
Lemon (unwaxed), 1 large (about 125 g)
Eggs, 3 large
Cake Flour, 1 cup (125g)
Baking Powder, 1 teaspoon
Butter (unsalted), 1 stick (125 g)
Seasonings
Sake, 2 tablespoons
Caster Sugar, 1 cup (125g) plus 3 tablespoons
Mirin, 1 tablespoon (optional) — See Note
Sea Salt, 1/2 teaspoon
Aromatics / Flavorings
Vanilla Extract, 1/2 teaspoon
Flakey Sea Salt, as desired
Directions
One to two days before making the cakes, prepare the lemon pieces that will go into them. Cut off the ends of the lemon, then slice the lemon as thinly as possible—about 2 mm if using a well-calibrated mandolin. Remove the pips and chop the slices as fine as you’d like. Put the pieces with the lemon juice that you’ve collected into a small, sealable container and mix in the sake, 2 tablespoons of caster sugar, the mirin (if using), and 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. Marinate in the refrigerator.
When ready to make the cakes, pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C). Spray the lemon cake molds with cooking spray or lightly brush them with vegetable oil or butter.
Drain the soaked lemon pieces, saving the liquid. Separate the eggs, placing the yolks in a large mixing bowl and the whites into a smaller bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt together in another bowl. Melt the butter. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove top. Let it cool down before using.
Add 1 cup of sugar (125g) to the egg yolks and whisk until it becomes a smooth paste. Add the vanilla extract, the lemon pieces, and 4 tablespoons of the liquid they were marinated in, and whisk to mix thoroughly. Add the dry ingredients, whisking until just combined, then pour in the melted butter, whisking again until just combined.
Make a meringue with the egg whites by beating them with a hand mixer until just foamy, about 30 seconds, then add 1 tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks are formed. Fold the meringue into the cake batter a third at a time and blend thoroughly.
Fill each mold with cake batter to just below the rim. Place the molds in the oven and bake for 16-18 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean except for a crumb or two. Take out of the oven, let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove each cake, using your finger or a small spatula to loosen, and continue to cool them on the rack.
Serve
Try sprinkling some flakey sea salt on each cake. It’s a brightening accent to their rich flavor.
Note
The recipe works fine without the mirin, if you don’t have it. But it is nice to use because of the additional layer of umami it provides and its buttery flavor. It also creates a glaze, which is especially helpful when making the recipe as an upside-down cake.
Setouchi Lemon Upside-Down Cake
To make the recipe as a whole cake:
You can use 1 or 2 lemons. Slice as thinly as possible, but don’t chop the slices into pieces. Marinate the slices in the same mixture of sake, sugar, mirin, and salt as directed above for 1-2 days.
When ready to bake, generously butter a 9-inch round cake pan and equally generously dust it with caster sugar. Line the bottom of the pan with a circle of parchment paper and butter and sprinkle sugar on this too.
Lay the lemon slices decoratively on the parchment paper and pour the batter over them. Bake for about 45 minutes in a 350F (180C) oven until the cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan and looks well-browned. You should also test the center with a knife. Again, it should be clean except for a crumb or two.
Take the cake out of the oven, loosen the sides with a spatula, and let it cool on a rack for 15 minutes before turning upside-down onto a serving platter and removing the wax paper.