Tartine’s Lemon Meringue Cake
(…but with meyer lemons. It’s mostly the same thing though.)
Sometimes you don’t need much more reason than “impulse purchased meyer lemons shopping online from Costco” to make a fancy cake.
I have never made this cake before, but it sounded easy enough. I was mostly curious about the addition of caramel to the classic lemon meringue flavor profile, and turns out the bitterness of a barely-burnt caramel is a very welcome complement. I added less than the recipe called for but it probably could have taken a bit more. But only if the caramel had a healthy amount of bitterness - otherwise it might be too sweet.
There are a lot of components, and the work is divided over three days. But it’s not difficult, even for a novice baker. It does require some prior knowledge of basic baking techniques. I have included relatively bare bones instructions on this recipe review. Check out my pork floss cake recipe for more details and technical advice on sponge cakes, my salted caramel blondie post for more on caramels, and Stella’s extremely detailed article on Swiss meringues for more context.
Timeline:
Day 1: Make lemon syrup & caramel
Day 2: Pull caramel to room temp. Make chiffon sponge. While the chiffon bakes, make lemon curd. When both components are cool, assemble cake. Chill overnight.
Day 3: Finish cake w/ meringue, serve & eat
Since it was my first time, I made this pretty true to the recipe, with the exception of the lemon syrup (see notes) and uhhh not using regular lemons.
Tartine Lemon Meringue Cake
Day 1: Lemon Syrup
Thinly slice one lemon. Place in heat-proof container.
Make heavy syrup by bringing to a boil:
100g sugar
50g water
Immediately pour hot syrup over lemon slices.
Make sure all the lemon slices are submerged in the syrup.
Cover and chill overnight.
Day 1: Caramel sauce
Make a wet caramel:
120g sugar
15mL corn syrup
pinch salt
Deglaze with:
2.5 oz heavy cream
1 oz butter
pinch lemon juice
Day 2: Lemon Chiffon Sponge
Sift over a large bowl:
315g AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
250g sugar
Mix together wet ingredients:
4 oz vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp vanilla paste
1.5 tsp lemon zest
Pour wet ingredients (step 2) over dries (step 1), and whisk to combine.
Whip to stiff peaks:
10 egg whites (~11 oz)
50g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice
Fold whites into batter (step 3), 1/3 at a time.
Bake in a 10-inch cake pan lined with parchment at the bottom. Do NOT grease the sides of pan.
I did my usually 8-inch tall pan + 1/4 sheet.
Alternatively, divide the batter over several half sheet trays.
Bake at 300F convection/325F conventional for 40-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool in the baking tin. It always helps to cool sponge cakes upside down but chiffons are generally sturdier so it doesn’t matter as much.
Day 2: Lemon Cream
Find a bowl that fits well over a pot to create a double boiler.
Heat water in the pot.
Meanwhile, combine in this order in the bowl, whisking after each addition to incorporate:
150g sugar
5oz lemon juice
salt
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
pinch salt
Immediately place bowl over warm water bath.
Cook until 180F, whisking constantly (mixture will thicken significantly).
Take the bowl off heat, and let it cool until 140F.
While the custard cools, cut into cubes:
225g butter (2 sticks)
Immersion blend the butter into the slightly cooled custard, a few cubes at a time.
Optional: strain custard.
Chill in fridge for about 10-15, until it’s about room temperature.
Day 2: Assembly
Clean and dry whatever vessel the cake was baked in, and line it with plastic wrap. Make sure there’s 3-4 inches overhang, enough to cover the top of the cake after assembly.
Cut sponge into 4 equal layers.
Layer in the bottom piece, then gently dab lemon syrup over the layer.
Brush on a thin layer of caramel sauce, then spread 1/3 of the lemon curd.
If you made an 8-inch sponge like me, use about 1/5 of the curd per layer.
Repeat steps 3-4 twice with layers 2 and 3.
Put on the 4th and last layer of cake, and only brush the top with lemon syrup.
Cover the top of the cake with the overhang plastic. Chill overnight in the fridge to give the lemon cream time to fully set.
Day 3: Meringue & Serve
Make Swiss meringue:
8 oz egg whites
350g sugar
pinch salt
Take cake out of the mold by its plastic wrap overhang, and unwrap it. Transfer it onto a cake board.
Cover cake with meringue. Make artistic swirls / decorate as desired. Toast lightly with a torch.
Keep the meringue moving in the mixer at low speed, grabbing only what you need at a time. Otherwise it will set and be hard to manipulate.
I had a lot of extra meringue left and made toasted meringue chip snacks out of them. You can pipe kisses and bake them in the oven, toasting them beforehand if desired.
Keep the cake in the fridge until you’re ready to serve (up to 1 week).
Notes
I replaced the lemon syrup from the book with my personal go-to lemon syrup recipe because I just don’t make any other kind anymore. It was sort of an accidental discovery from work, back when we used to make lemon chips by first curing them in a heavy syrup overnight. The remaining syrup has all the aromaticity from the peel. With the slices of lemon remaining, you can directly layer them in to this cake if you don’t mind the texture. Or make lemon chips by placing them on a parchment-lined tray and dehydrating in a low oven (under 200F) until dry and crispy.
Not really sure what the meyer lemon did for this recipe, if anything. I do think it gives the curd itself a little something something different, an added subtle layer of fruitiness. But would you know if you weren’t looking for it? Not sure. Combined with the whole cake it does get a little lost in the other sugars.
This cake doesn’t have much texture. But a study in soft airiness isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
