Hazelnut Chocolate (Nutella) Cheesecake

Nutella Cheesecake

We’ve had a really busy week here to the point that it was late last night that I realised that Valentines day was TODAY. My kitchen was still stacked full of boxes, and while I’ve managed to make a little progress, I focused today on making space to bake a chocolate cake for our Valentine’s day dinner. As it turns out, however, the oven in our new house is gas, and has no markings! I’ve never baked in a gas oven before, and this didn’t seem to be the day to start experimenting!Nutella Cheesecake

Fortunately I had Saturday Kitchen on while I was unpacking and sorting, and Nigella Lawson came on and made her Hazelnut Chocolate Cheesecake, which looked simple and delicious. Below is an adaptation on her recipe. The basic recipe is the same, but I’ve Thermified it. This recipe, however, you’ll be able to make any even the most basic of food processors.

In Nigella’s recipe (If you read this, Nigella, I hope you don’t mind the first name basis!) she tops it with crushed hazelnuts, but I’ve topped it with cocoa powder, then decided that wasn’t striking enough, so sprinkled icing sugar over it. The icing sugar absorbs into the cake quite quickly though, so only dust with icing sugar when you’re ready to serve. The cocoa doesn’t absorb as easily. I think it would be lovely with fresh raspberries and strawberries in the summer too – or maybe some orange if you like the chocolate and orange combination.DSCN0761

This is absolutely delicious and it’s terribly rich, so a little goes a long way.

And lastly, before I get to the recipe, there is probably a much healthier way of doing this – by making your own hazelnut and chocolate sauce using this recipe hereBut we’ve just moved house, and I was looking for a quick fix and I don’t feel (too) sorry.

Hazelnut Chocolate Cheesecake
Recipe Type: Desert
Author: Nigella Lawson, Thermied by Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 10
A rich and delicious desert, perfect for a special occasion, great when you’re short of time and even better if made in advance.
Ingredients
  • 250g digestive biscuits (substitute for egg free alternatives)
  • 75g soft butter
  • 400g Nutella
  • 500g cream cheese (at room temperature)
  • 60g icing sugar
Instructions
  1. Remove cream cheese from the fridge and bring to room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile, add digestive biscuits, butter and 40g Nutella to the food processor and mix till it resembles wet sand.[b] (30 seconds speed 5)[/b]
  3. Sprinkle over the base of a cake tray, and press down so that it creates a firm and solid base for your cheesecake.
  4. Put it in the fridge – Nigella says overnight, but an hour works fine.
  5. When the base is ready, add the cream cheese, Nutella and icing sugar and mix (with the butterfly) (speed 2, 30 seconds)
  6. Pour over the base,smooth the top and put in the fridge till you’re ready to serve.
  7. I use a[url href=”http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Shaped-Springform-Great-Baking/dp/B004Z69LXW/”] springform tin[/url], gliding a knife around the edges to loosen first, then releasing and serving on the base.
  8. Once released, decorate the top and serve.
Notes
I think a little Frangelico liquer would be amazing with this, as would orange essence or even rum essence. For a ‘prettier’ presentation, try making it in individual ramekins.

 

TimTam Fudge For Australia Day

timtam fudge

I absolutely love fudge, and the Thermomix fudge recipe is simply amazing, even though I don’t like white chocolate. With Australia Day coming, I really wanted to have a go at making something Australia themed and it dawned on me that a nice crunchy bit of biscuit in fudge could be very tasty – and so TimTam fudge came in to being.

I decided to use a recipe I already know and love, but swapped out white chocolate for dark, and TimTams for cherries.

One thing to note is that this does marginally change the consistency of the fudge. It isn’t as ‘clean’ as a normal fudge, but it is very tasty.

I used Turkish Delight TimTams because that’s what I had, but I do rather wish I had all the other flavours to make a variety of TimTam flavoured fudges… for, you know… Australia Day.TimTam Fudge

Click here for a variety of TimTams from Amazon

P.S. I’ll post a photo of the finished product shortly

TimTam Fudge
Recipe Type: Sweets
Cuisine: Australian
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 48
Try any TimTams for a choice of flavours. If you can’t get TimTams, plain Penguin biscuits will work just as well.
Ingredients
  • 1 can Farm Lea condensed milk
  • 250g raw sugar
  • 25g golden syrup
  • 125g butter
  • 200g dark chocolate broken into blocks
  • 10 TimTams or Penguin chocolate biscuits
Instructions
  1. Add condensed milk, sugar, syrup and butter to the Thermomix bowl.
  2. Cook 100C speed 3 for 8 mins.
  3. Scrape down sides if needed, then cook Veroma, 20 mins speed 3.
  4. Add chocolate and whole TimTams and mix on speed 3 for 20 seconds.
  5. Pour into brownie tray. If some TimTams aren’t broken up, crush them with the spatula.
  6. Refrigerate for 3 -4 hours, cut and store in airtight container.

 

Raw Ferrero Bliss Balls Recipe

Ferrero Bliss Balls

I discovered these hazelnut and chocolate beauties quite by accident. I was trying to make hazelnut flour but left the nuts going in the food processor for too long and ended up with hazelnut butter. I added cocoa powder and coconut oil and came up with a beautiful chocolate spread alternative, which has lasted for over a month in the fridge without going off.

Ferrero Bliss BallsThese are so delicious, popped in a jar with a ribbon on, they’re easily made into gifts too.

You can find this and 20 more recipes in Bliss Balls For Beginners, available here for $3.50/£2.99.

Raw “Ferrero” Bliss Balls Recipe
Recipe Type: Raw, Sweets
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 20 bliss balls
Our version of Ferrero Rocher, but raw and healthy. These keep well in cool weather for up to a month, so make perfect special occasion gifts.
Ingredients
  • Ingredients
  • For the hazelnut chocolate “sauce”:
  • 75g hazelnuts
  • 5g cocoa(feel free to adjust this for a more or less chocolatey result)
  • 20g coconut oil
  • For the Bliss Balls:
  • 100g hazelnuts
  • 150g dates
  • 45g oats
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Blend the first set of hazelnuts to a fine crumb speed 4, 5 seconds
  2. Add the cocoa and coconut oil and mix on speed 9, 90 seconds
  3. Add the remaining hazelnuts, dates, and oats.
  4. Mix well about speed 4/ 20 seconds.
  5. The mixture looks like loose crumbs when you’re done. Take a small handful, and press it together, then roll into a ball.
  6. You can eat it right away, but put it aside to allow the coconut oil to hold it all together, and it’ll be nicer cold too.

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Five Easy Princess Party Food Ideas

We celebrated my daughter’s fifth birthday this weekend past, and she had her heart set on a Princess party, which is ironic because she’s never really watched any of the original princess movies or read the books. It must be something inherent in girls!

In choosing foods to suit the Disney Princess theme, I had to look closely at the stories, and here’s what I came up with:

1. Snow White’s Poisoned Apples

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

Well, that could not have been easier. 

Buy red apples. Polish them up a bit. Put them in a bowl. Job done.

I didn’t expect the kids would really eat them, to be honest, but every last apple was eaten by the end of the party!

2. Cinderella’s Pumpkin Patch

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother turns her pumpkin into a carriage, and mice from the field into horses. What simpler way to recreate pumkins, especially in the Autumn months, than using clementines! Peel them, and remove as much of the pith as you can, and they look like little pumpkins. Cut a stalk of celery into the ‘stalks’ for the pumpkins and stuff them inside. Again, the kids devoured these!

For the mice, use two meringues, stuck together with melted white chocolate. I cut pink marshmallows ‘slices’ with scissors as that shapes them, and stuck them to the meringues. With more time on my hands, I’d have used the white chocolate on them too as the ears kept falling off. I used a black food pen for eyes and whiskers on some of the mice, before one of the kids ran off with it and I had to use a blue gel pen for the rest. Suffice it to say the black looked less creepy. But it worked okay enough.

3. Belle’s Portrait Gallery

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

We’ve  subscribed to the Disney Cakes and Sweets series from the very beginning, but I realised recently that you can actually buy individual books too, if you want to, and those also come with the beautiful moulds and baking bits that we used. 

For these, I used about 8 blocks of white chocolate at a time, melting them in a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water. If you use a Thermomix, you can do it on 37C for perfectly tempered chocolate too.

Add a drop or two of food colouring, as needed, and allow to set. Obviously doing this three shapes at a time is tedious, but it’s worth it in the end. I visualise these as a series of paintings, waiting to be hung on a wall! These Beauty and the Beast moulds are from issue 52 and cost £3.99

4. Crown sandwiches

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

These are also from Disney Cakes and Sweets, issue 17 [also £3.99], but you can pick up various versions around the web.

Again, easy and quick to do too. Butter your bread, and put the filling on, and press down to cut the shapes. My husband always moans that there’s a lot of waste with these, but I don’t think there really is. If you imagine most little people don’t eat the crusts anyway, you can often lay your shapes out in such a way to minimise the wastage.

We did sandwiches with ham, some with cheese, a few with cucumber and cream cheese and some salmon. I also made a tea for the adults, just cutting each sandwich into five ‘fingers’. They went down quite well too!

5. Aurora’s (Lemon)ade

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

Aurora, the made up name for Sleeping Beauty, needs saving, so who will come to her aid? She is also the only original princess who wore a pink dress, so it seems fitting that a pink drink is named for her.

I discovered a beautiful naturally pink lemonade recipe, which I’ll share soon.

I hope those five easy Disney Princess party food ideas are helpful and take some pressure off on party day!

5 Very Easy Princes Party Food Ideas

 

Thermomix Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

Lemon Drizzle Cake

I love Lemon Drizzle Cake. I have tried so many different recipes to find one that I love, and I think I finally have it.  This recipe makes a beautiful sugary crust on top, while the cake stays moist and yummy. It’s lemony flavour goes throughout the cake, and is, quite frankly, delicious.Lemon Drizzle Cake

The benefit of doing it with the Thermomix is that it’s fast as can be – I made this and two other cakes and two breads in 90 minutes today!

Lemon Drizzle Cake Recipe

I use a lemon zester for the skin as that’s easier for me than ‘peeling’ the lemon with a potato peeler to add the skins to the bowl. That said, I do use a peeler for a few bits for the top of the cake. I think that’s quite pretty.

If you don’t have a Thermomix, the original recipe is here. Below you’ll find it adapted for Thermomix, though you can do the same in any food processor, really – just use your beating fittings for the butter, and the mixing one to combine it all.

Lemon Drizzle Cake
Recipe Type: Cake, Thermomix
Author: Tana Ramsay (adapted by Luschka)
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 12
This cake can keep for 3 – 4 days, (if you can show that much discipline!) and freezes quite well.
Ingredients
  • finely grated zest 1 lemon (or finely peeled skin)
  • 225g sugar
  • 225g unsalted butter
  • 4 eggs
  • 225g self-raising flour
  • For the drizzle
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 85g icing sugar & extra to sprinkle
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4.
  2. In the thermomix, add the sugar, and thin slices of peeled lemon skin and mix sp5/20 secs. (I have a fantastic zester so it’s easier for me to just add the zest to the sugar than to try to peel the lemon first)
  3. Add the butterfly then add the butter and mix 1 min/speed 4 until pale and creamy – you may need to scrape down the sides half way through.
  4. Keep the blades running at speed 4, and add the eggs, then add the flour through the lid of the Thermomix bowl while it’s running – about 1 minute to add it all.
  5. Oil or line a baking tray and spoon the mixture in and level it out.
  6. Bake for 45-50 mins until a thin skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
  7. Mix together the juice of the lemon and 85g icing sugar. Pierce holes around the cake using a fork or knife edge) then pour the drizzle over the warm cake. Make sure to cover all the cake.
  8. The juice will sink in and the sugar will form a lovely, crisp topping. Sieve over additional icing sugar if you wish for the white colouring. Top with more grated lemon.
  9. Leave in the tin until completely cool, then remove and serve.

 

Good For You Chocolate Coconut Macaroons

No bake chocolate macarroonsNo bake chocolate macarroons

I love chocolate way more than I should and a lot more than I wish I did. I’m always looking for ways to indulge the craving for cocoa without piling on the sugar, largely because when I do, my kids do and the whole harmony of the home kind of falls apart.

This recipe is originally from Oh She Glows|, but I’ve been playing with it to both adapt it to our tastes, and change the recipe for the Thermomix, meaning it’s in grams rather than cups, which makes it easier for me and my Thermie friends to use.

No bake chocolate macarroonsNo bake chocolate macarroons

I’m pretty sure you could be really flexible on it too – we made something similar from a cook book I had as a child, which used boiled sugar and tasted amazing, but added oats. You could probably add raisins quite successfully too, or other dried fruit. the options are rather endless. I imagine candied orange peel would make a perfect Christmassy – slash -winterry treat too.

Just remember that it’s held together by coconut oil, which means if it gets warm it’ll start disintegrating. They recommend freezing it over on Oh She Glows, but popping it in the fridge or in a lunch box with an ice block seems to work just fine for us.

No bake chocolate macarroons

Since this is no cook, no bake it’s perfect for kids to help with too.

Good For You Chocolate Macaroons
Recipe Type: Snacks, Sweets
Cuisine: Thermomix, Paleo
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 15 – 24
This recipe is an adaptation from another, and I’ve made a few changes to it. The recipe below includes the ingredients from the original recipe as optional extras. It’s delicious, but a little too much banana in my chocolate fix, though I do tend to make it that way for the children.
Ingredients
  • 50g Coconut Oil (1/4 cup)
  • 70g honey or syrup (1/4 cup)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 30 – 50g cocoa powder (1/3 cup) (Cacao for Paleo)
  • pinch of fine sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
  • 150g shredded unsweetened coconut (1.5 cups)
  • (optional) banana
  • (optional) tablespoon chia seeds
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Melt the coconut oil in a pot – this requires 37C, i.e. body heat, and is still considered raw, or uncooked.
  2. Add the honey or syrup and stir till it’s all mixed and liquid and remove from heat
  3. Add the vanilla extract
  4. (If using banana, mash it and add to the mix)
  5. Add 30g cocoa first then add the coconut
  6. (Add chia seeds if using)
  7. Stir till it’s all combined
  8. Taste the mix too see if it’s the right amount of chocolatey. If you want it ‘darker’ add more cocoa powder till it’s right for you. Mix again.
  9. Scoop out onto a tray, or into moulds and refrigerate until it hardens.
  10. Keep cool as it will fall apart if the coconut oil gets too warm.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Put the coconut oil in the bowl, and melt 37C/Speed 1/ 20 Seconds
  2. Add the honey or syrup and mix 37C/Speed 1/ 30 Seconds.
  3. Add the vanilla extract
  4. (If using banana, add it now in three pieces, speed 5/10 seconds – make sure to put the MC in place!)
  5. Add 30g cocoa first then add the coconut
  6. (Add chia seeds if using)
  7. Mix speed 2/ 15 seconds
  8. Taste the mix too see if it’s the right amount of chocolatey. If you want it ‘darker’ add more cocoa powder till it’s right for you. Mix again speed 2/15 seconds.
  9. Scoop out onto a tray, or into moulds and refrigerate until it hardens.
  10. Keep cool as it will fall apart if the coconut oil gets too warm.

 

4 Minute No Bake Lemon/Lime Fridge Cake Recipe

4 minute, no bake, creamy lemon/lime fridge cake

Inspired by a recipe in the Thermomix Owners UK group on Facebook, and blending the idea with one of my favourite deserts, South African Peppermint Crisp Pie, I came up with this idea for a citrus-summer desert that can be made ahead of time – the day before is ideal, but you could technically eat it straight out the bowl too.

If you eat it immediately it’ll be lighter, but the next day it’s more of a creamy ‘set’ desert. It’s fantastic, quite frankly.

In this recipe I’ve used lime juice, which is what I have, but you could use lemon too. In the South African version there’s also a ridiculous amount of chocolate added, but really this recipe doesn’t need it.

For biscuits I’ve used NICE biscuits, but really, any kind of digestive, shortcake or butter biscuits will do. NICE biscuits are a bit coconutty though, which adds a nice flavour.

I don’t think there’s a ‘wrong’ way to do this desert. Add more condensed milk if you want it sweeter, add more lemon or lime juice if you want it more tart. Either way, it’s delicious, it’s light, it’s summery, and it is oh.so.simple. I’ve whipped the cream in my Thermomix, but of course,  you can whip it any way you like.

4 Minute No Bake Lemon/Lime Fridge Cake Recipe
Recipe Type: Desert, Pudding, Sweet
Author: Luschka van Onselen
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 9
Light, summery, and superbly easy, this no bake fridge cake won’t add to the summer heat but will bowl you over with it’s simplicity.
Ingredients
  • 500g of double cream (you can use whipping, but adapt the whipping time!)
  • 120g condensed milk
  • 80g lime juice
  • 1 packet of biscuits
Instructions
  1. In a bowl, lay a layer of biscuits side by side, loosely covering the surface.
  2. In a food processor, whip the cream until it stands at stiff peaks (Thermomix: about 40 seconds/speed 4 with a butterfly whisk) Don’t over-whip
  3. Add the condensed milk and lime (or lemon) juice, whisk briefly to mix. Again, don’t over whip
  4. Scoop half the cream mixture on top of the biscuits
  5. Lay another layer of biscuits on the cream mixture
  6. Top off with the rest of the cream.
  7. Spread the mixture so that it is flat, then cover and refrigerate.
  8. The longer you can leave it the better. I like to make it a day in advance, but a couple of hours is sufficient
  9. Decorate with fruit

I hope you love this recipe!

 

Six Minute Soft Centered Chocolate Pudding Recipe

chocolate puddingIt’s yet another rainy afternoon here on the Hampshire/Surrey border and I am feeling whimsical. I’m remembering a time in our lives where we travelled a lot, and thinking about the future, all at the same time. I want to indulge my senses and my tastebuds and all I can think of is…. soft centred chocolate puddings.

This is an old Ainsley Harriot recipe I’ve made a hundred times. It’s perfect for dinner parties – we used to have those a lot too, once – as you can mix the batter and put them in ramekins and in the fridge. When your guests arrive, take them out of the fridge so they return to room temperature, and when dinner is done, put them in the oven for just six minutes and serve. It is always a talking-point desert. I don’t normally top them with chocolate swirls like in the picture, but you can, or a dollop of cream – whatever takes your fancy. They are pretty awesome.

Six Minute Soft Centered Chocolate Pudding Recipe
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
If you butter the moulds or ramekins before you pour the batter in, you should be able to turn them out onto a plate. I tend to serve them in the ramekins. It’s pretty enough.
Ingredients
  • 90g dark chocolate
  • 90g butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 extra egg yolks
  • 40g brown sugar
  • 15g self raising flour
  • (optional) cocoa powder to dust
  • (optional) cream and chopped hazelnuts to decorate
Instructions
Regular Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8.
  2. Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Add the butter and leave to melt.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar until thickened. Mix in the melted chocolate mixture, then sprinkle over the flour and quickly fold in .
  4. Divide the mixture between six moulds or ramekins.
  5. Make sure the oven is fully heated.
  6. Bake the pudding for 6 minutes until the outside is set but the centre is still soft.
  7. You may be tempted to leave it for longer than six minutes. It will make a nice enough chocolate cake, but you really need to take it out immediately and give it a few minutes to ‘rest’ before serving.
  8. Turn each pudding on to a plate, then gently lift off the moulds. Place a spoonful of cream on top of each pudding, sprinkle with nuts and dust with cocoa. Serve immediately.
Thermomix Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/Gas 8.
  2. If you have two bowls, melt the chocolate and butter in one and do the rest in the other. If you only have one bowl, melt the chocolate and butter as above – in a glass bowl over a pan of water.
  3. Put the butterfly in the Thermomix and add the eggs, extra yolks and sugar. Whisk on Speed 4 for 90 seconds.
  4. Add the melted chocolate mixture to the bowl and add the flour. Whisk at speed 2 for 20 seconds.
  5. Pour the mixture between six moulds or ramekins.
  6. Make sure the oven is fully heated.
  7. Bake the pudding for 6 minutes until the outside is set but the centre is still soft.
  8. You may be tempted to leave it for longer than six minutes. It will make a nice enough chocolate cake, but you really need to take it out immediately and give it a few minutes to ‘rest’ before serving.
  9. Turn each pudding on to a plate, then gently lift off the moulds. Place a spoonful of cream on top of each pudding, sprinkle with nuts and dust with cocoa. Serve immediately.

 

Strawberry Elderflower Jam Recipe

Strawberries in Syrup

Strawberry and Elderflower JamI took the children fruit picking and foraging this week and we had a fantastic haul, certainly more than we could eat, so I made beautiful fresh Strawberry and Elderflower jam. In the Thermomix it’s such a simple recipe too – no thermometer required. I love this recipe!

 

Strawberry Elderflower Jam Recipe
Recipe Type: Jam, Condiments
Cuisine: Foraged
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 400ml
If you’re not using jam sugar you need to cut a grannysmith apple in quarters and add it to the mixtures. I use jamming sugar for this recipe. If you don’t use Elderflower, add an extra 10g strawberries
Ingredients
  • 250g jam sugar
  • 440g strawberries
  • 10g Elderflower
  • 2 tbs lemon juice (or 1/2 fresh lemon juice)
Instructions
In the Thermomix
  1. Put the jam sugar in the bowl and turbo two or three times to make it finer.
  2. Add the strawberries and elderflowers, if using, and mix Speed 4/10 Seconds
  3. Add the lemon juice.
  4. Boil Veroma/ Spoon Speed/18 Minutes
  5. Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

 

Flourless Grain-Free Dairy Free Almond Lemon Drizzle

Grain Free Dairy Free Almond Lemon DrizzleSince my gall bladder problems started, I’ve been focusing a lot on grain free recipes, but that means I really miss things like cake. Fortunately almond flour is easy to come by – I have a Thermomix, so I make it from whole almonds – and it’s good for gall bladder health too.

There’s a fair bit of sugar in this one. I want to try it with Rapadura, but my husband doesn’t like Rapadura so I don’t want to try it on a cake he has to eat.

I made these in a brownie pan, which I use for a lot of our snacks because they are then cut into squares and the children recognise them as snacktime treats. You can of course use a round pan or anything you fancy.

Also, I pour the drizzle over the hot cake so it will sink in. If you like it to look drizzled, you can wait till the cake is cool. 

Flourless Grain-Free Almond Lemon Drizzle
Recipe Type: Desert, Snack
Cuisine: Free From, Gluten Free
Author: Luschka
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 20
Ingredients
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom/5 cardamom pods
  • 1 1/2 cup (170 g) almonds or almond flour
  • 4 room temperature eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup (100g) white sugar
  • 1 lemon’s zest
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon white or cider vinegar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 50g Powdered sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon
Instructions
Thermomix Instructions
  1. If you are using cardamom pods, put them in the Thermomix on reverse/speed 5/ 10 seconds. Remove the husks from the bowl, add the almonds. Speed 8/10 – 20 seconds to make almond flour.
  2. If you have a second bowl, now’s the time to use it. Otherwise pour the flour out and add clean the bowl thoroughly.
  3. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
  4. Add the whites to the Thermomix bowl. Put the butterfly in, and whisk at speed 2 for 15 seconds, then go up to speed 4 and whisk until they start to look firm (around 2 minutes)
  5. Meanwhile, add half the sugar to the egg yolks along with the lemon zest.
  6. Returning to the egg whites, when they form peaks, add a pinch of salt, and the vinegar. This will help the egg whites keep their form. Add the other half of the sugar gradually – over about 20 seconds. This whole egg white process shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes.
  7. Now for some manual work. You could do this in the Thermomix, but I love watching the transformation of the ‘flour’.
  8. Mix the egg yolk mixture into the almond mixture. It’ll be quite pasty and hard to work with.
  9. Add two dollops of the egg white in the mixture, and stir. Then add two more and stir again. As you stir the whole mixture will become amazingly light and fluffy. Keep adding egg white till it’s all mixed in.
  10. Transfer to your baking pan and put in the oven for 35 minutes.
  11. When there are 5 minutes left on the clock, cut your lemon in half and extract all the juice. Add the icing sugar and make a runny paste. When the lemon cake comes out of the oven, pour the sugary juice over it and leave to cool before tipping out the cake.
Regular Instructions
  1. If you are using cardamom pods, crack them open and remove the cardamom seeds. Crush them between two spoons or with a rolling pin (or use the ground cardamom spice!).
  2. Add to the almond flour.
  3. Separate the egg whites and yolks.
  4. Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites until they start to look firm.
  5. Returning to the egg whites, when they form peaks, add a pinch of salt, and the vinegar. This will help the egg whites keep their form. Add half of the sugar gradually – over about 20 seconds.
  6. Add the other half of the sugar to the egg yolks along with the lemon zest.
  7. Mix the egg yolk mixture into the almond mixture. It’ll be quite pasty and hard to work with.
  8. Add two dollops of the egg white in the mixture, and stir. Then add two more and stir again. As you stir the whole mixture will become amazingly light and fluffy. Keep adding egg white till it’s all mixed in.
  9. Transfer to your baking pan and put in the oven for 35 minutes.
  10. When there are 5 minutes left on the clock, cut your lemon in half and extract all the juice. Add the icing sugar and make a runny paste. When the lemon cake comes out of the oven, pour the sugary juice over it and leave to cool before tipping out the cake.