Tim's Lemon Trickle Mash Cake (GF)

I used to claim I hated lemon desserts.  I have never liked lemon pudding or lemon meringue pie.  Lemon tarts are not for me.  But I have a lemon tree.  And my mum loves lemon desserts.  So occasionally I go against the grain.  For Mothers Day this year, I made Tim's Lemon Trickle Cake for my mum.  It was an exceedingly good gluten free cake.

Here are my lemon and lime trees.  They have only fruited on one side this autumn.  Perhaps it is the attack of the citrus leafminer.  I picked my first lemons of the crop the night before Mothers Day.  I was out in the dark with my torch trying to work out which ones were ripe.  I had planned to do it in the afternoon.  But the hot water heater died and so instead, we had the plumber over.  He fixed it pronto.  I really appreciated my hot shower on Sunday morning.

The cake was baked after we watched La Puta: Castle in the Sky with Sylvia and put her to bed.  She was so excited about Mothers Day.  It was so gorgeous to see.  Except when she woke me unreasonably early in the morning to say Happy Mothers Day and let the cat out of the bathroom to bother me as well. 

I took the cake to Geelong for a Mothers Day lunch.  I forgot to take a photo of the salads.  I made a Japanese snowpea salad and my sister made a pea and corn rice salad and a peanutty coleslaw.  My mum and my niece made san chow bao (with tofu) and fried tofu.  Then for dessert mum made pavlova and toblerone cheesecake.  My sister made banana avocado chocolate mousse with berries and Greek yoghurt.  We ate very well.

The cake was excellent.  I have had it bookmarked for years.  I can't remember where I first saw it but I found it again via Cakelaw's blog.  It is gluten free with almond meal and mashed potato and has a lemon syrup poured over it when hot.  I just reduced the sugar a little but otherwise followed the recipe.  The cake was very moist but not so dense as some almond meal cakes tend to be.  I think the mashed potato makes it softer and lighter.  My mum loved it.

More lemon baking from Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Baked lemon cheesecake (gf)
Citrus grape cake (v)
Lemon and honey cake (gf)
Lemon slice
Lemon yoghurt cupcakes (gf) 
Sesame and lemon bread (v)

Tim's Lemon Trickle Mash Cake
Adapted slightly from River Cottage via Epicurious

175g unsalted butter, softened
150g caster sugar
4 eggs
200g ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder
250g plain, cold mashed potato
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons

For the topping:
Juice of 2 lemons
60g caster sugar

Preheat oven to 180 C.  Grease and line a 23cm round springform tin.

Cream butter and sugar.   Beat in eggs one by one, adding a spoonful of almonds if mixture curdles.  Fold in almonds and baking powder, then mashed potoat and lemon zest.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.  Check if it is done by inserting a skewer inside the middle and only a few moist crumbs should cling to skewer when it is taken out.  Cover with foil if cake is browning too much before it is baked through.

Pierce hot cake with a skewer all over to make holes that are deep but do not touch the bottom.  Mix lemon juice and sugar.  Before sugar dissolves, pour over the cake.  Cool in tin before serving.

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