I've been dragging this mint and lemon cake recipe around in my drafts for a while now. Not that the cake didn't get a great reception, but mainly because I realize it's much less fun not to publish the recipe right after making it. And then today, on vacation in Normandy, sitting in the sun in the middle of the garden, I thought it was the perfect time to echo the beautiful weather and share with you the lemon/mint cake from Valérie (about which I spoke to you some time ago).
I was explaining to you recently in my article about meringue lemon tart, I love lemon. I like it bold, powerful and cheeky. Valérie's recipe with a hint of mint immediately caught my eye.
Unfortunately, I must have been a little light-handed with the mint because it couldn't be tasted after baking (yet my bouquet filled the whole kitchen with its aroma). It's also true that I only made the frosting the next day and since my mint was no longer very fresh, I didn't put any in the frosting. Don't skip this step if you really want to feel the freshness of the mint.
Regarding the cake itself, Valérie indicated in her recipe that the taste of lemon was quite subtle, so I decided to soak this cake in a 30° brix syrup (simple mixture of sugar and water) flavored with lemon to strengthen the taste a bit. In the end, I found it a little too light, but my colleagues once again forbade me from modifying the recipe because the dosage was perfect. So I go along with the general opinion once again (after all, what we ask of a cake is to please the greatest number!).
Big discovery though for the frosting with philadelphia flavored with lemon. I ran out of zest and replaced it with the juice of half a lemon but I loved the result: it gives a milky and tart touch that pairs wonderfully with the sweetness and sweetness of the cake, and I'll recycle the recipe on occasion.
So I can only encourage you to try this recipe which is a bit different from the original, but which didn't survive a morning at my work, which is a mark of quality! You should know that at my job, I measure the success of a recipe by how long I can leave the cake on a desk. If any remains the next day, it means the reviews are not glowing; half a day is a very good score!
