Combine the flour and the baking powder (sift together if possible).
1 ½ tsp baking powder, 1 ⅛ cup flour
Melt and Cool Butter
Melt the butter in a small pan or microwave. Then, let it cool. If you are looking to lighten up the cake by replacing half of the butter with olive oil, add the olive oil to the melted butter.
10 ½ tbsp butter
Whip Eggs and Sugar (Whisk Attachment)
Using a stand mixer (or hand mixer) fitted with the whisk attachment: Whip the eggs until they turn pale yellow (about 5 minutes).
1 whole egg, 4 egg yolks
Then, slowly add all of the sugar and continue to whip the eggs for another 10 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes. Start whipping on medium speed, slowly increasing to medium-high speed during the 15 minutes.
¾ cup sugar
Whip until the eggs reach 'ribbon' stage. The final whipped eggs should be pale and fluffy and leave a trail or "ribbon" that sits on the surface for a moment before sinking back into the mixture when the whisk is lifted.
Make the Cake Batter (Whisk or Paddle Attachment)
Reduce the mixer speed to low. Incorporate the vanilla extract and the lemon zest into the cake.
1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 ½ tbsp lemon zest
Slowly drizzle the butter into the whipped eggs, continuing to whip until well-incorporated. Add the butter a little at a time to avoid knocking too much air from the whipped eggs.
With the mixer still on low speed, incorporate the flour into the cake batter a few spoons at a time. If the batter sinks under the weight of the flour you have added, you are adding too much at a time. Let the mixer incorporate the spoons of flour you've added before adding the next spoonfuls. Finish adding all of the flour in this way.
Line a round 10" (25 cm) cake pan with parchment paper. We prefer a springform pan.
Spread the batter into the cake pan.
3 oz sliced almonds
Level out the batter and spread the sliced almonds over the top of the cake.
Bake the Cake
Bake the cake in a pre-heated 350° F (180° C) oven for 30-35 minutes. Or, bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer the cake to a baking rack to cool. When the cake is cool, remove it from the pan and top with sifted powdered sugar (optional).
powdered sugar
Video
Notes
Lighten it up!If you want to lighten this cake up, replace half or all of the melted butter with olive oil. While not traditional, our family has found replacing half of the butter with olive oil will please both the palette and your waistline!