A well-traveled lemon tree

When I moved from Berlin to Vienna around two years ago and started looking for an apartment, I really was not sure where I would end up. I had only been to the city once, several years earlier. So I had no idea which parts of the city were nice, in which I could feel at home and, most importantly, in which part to look for apartments. But one thing was very clear for me: I wanted a place with a balcony.

And so it happened, I did find an apartment with a balcony. It all started with just some flower pots on the side of the balcony, but this balcony has quickly grown into a little jungle. On a trip to a gardening center this spring I came back with more plants than planned. Amongst them my favourite herb, rosemary, and a small lemon tree. Less than a month later that little lemon tree got a new friend. My boyfriend went on a trip to Italy. On a local market there he could not resist buying a lemon tree for me. The poor tree did however not come directly from Italy to Vienna. Instead it went on an adventure and traveled all the way from the north of Italy via the south of Germany back to the east of Austria. Fortunately it survived its roadtrip through different countries and different temperatures – from spring-like Italy to autumn-like Germany – to join my other lemon tree.

Now sitting outside with a coffee or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day, surrounded by plants of which many are eatible, it is hard not to get inspiration to start cooking. Of course, it will take a while before the blossoms of my lemon trees will turn into lemons, if they ever will. But rosemary and lemon are two of my favourite flavours of all times. So I could not resist using them in this cake. At least the rosemary really comes from my balcony. For the lemons, I can only keep dreaming that my next house will have a garden where I can plant them properly.

Ricotta, lemon and almond cake

This recipe is for a small cake, with a 16cm diameter. Of course, you can double the recipe if you have more guests over for dinner. And an advantage is: the recipe is naturally gluten-free.

Ingredients

• 100 grams of sugar
• 50 grams of butter – room temperature
• 2 eggs
• Salt
• Sprig of rosemary
• 1 Lemon
• 150 grams of ricotta
• 60 grams almond flour
• Shaved almonds – for decoration

Start by pre-heating your oven to 160°C. Line a springform cake pan of 16 cm in diameter with baking paper.
Start by whisking the sugar and butter together until soft and fluffy. After this, separate the yolks from the whites for both eggs. Add the yolks to the butter and sugar mixture and mix them through. Then, finely chop the needles of the rosemary. Wash and dry your lemon very well and grate the peel. Make sure to only use the yelow part of the lemon peel. Juice the lemon as well. Add the rosemary, the lemon zest and juice and a pinch of salt to the butter mixture and whisk this through. It might look a bit curdled due to the lemon juice, but that is alright. Next, whisk the ricotta through as well. Once completely combined, add in the almond flour.

Finally, use a clean whisk and a metal or glass bowl and whip the two egg whites into stiff peaks. You should be able to hold your bowl upside-down without the egg whites falling out, that is the sign you have whisked enough. Add the egg whites to the batter and carefully mix this through. Make sure here not to use a whisk, but just a spoon to keep some air in the batter.

Scoop the batter into the prepared cake pan. Decorate the top with the shaved almonds and carefully place the cake pan into the oven. Bake for around 45 minutes. The cake should still be wobbly, but a toothpick should come out clean. Let the cake cool down first to room temperature before placing it in the fridge for a couple of hours to set. Enjoy!