This naturally gluten free Flourless Whole Meyer Lemon cake is made with the entire lemon, peel and all, in the Mediterranean tradition, it has a tender texture and an explosive lemon flavor.
I spent the day before we left clearing out the kitchen like I always do before a trip that’s going to be more than a couple of days long. I promised myself I wouldn’t cook anything so I could focus my attention on cleaning up, packing, getting the dog squared away with the pet sitter, and paying stray bills. That all went out the window when I saw I had four plump Meyer lemons sitting in the fruit bowl. You can’t throw Meyer lemons in the garbage. That’s a sacrilege.
My Flourless Whole Tangerine Cake was the inspiration here. Cakes made with whole citrus fruit are a Mediterranean specialty; they’re made with the whole fruit, peel and all. There is no wheat flour in this cake, just almond meal, so it has a fabulous moist dense texture and is naturally gluten free. In addition to the 3 whole lemons in the cake I added a touch of lemon extract and a super tangy lemon icing so this cake is really the essence of ‘lemony-ness’.
This flourless whole Meyer lemon cake is probably not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are a citrus fanatic like I am, I think you will love it. The fruit is boiled before pureeing, and that takes away any unpleasant bitterness in the peel. The combination of the whole pureed fruit and the almond meal makes for a very moist, but not soggy, cake.
Traditionally this kind of cake would be served plain, maybe with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, but I went over the top with a puckery lemon icing. I originally added it because the surface of my cake was a little jagged and wasn’t very attractive for photographing, but I’m so glad I did, it makes the cake extra special. It’s the kind of cake you can serve to guests, or eat, sliver by sliver, all week long.
A note about flavor — I am a big fan of pure flavor extracts. I’m talking about pure natural extracts, not artificial flavorings. I think they add a nice boost in certain cases and in this case the lemon extract just enhances the citrus flavor of the cake. It’s handy to have a selection in your cupboard, especially as we go into the holiday and baking season. In addition to almond and vanilla I keep spearmint, peppermint, lemon, orange, rum, and coconut extracts around. I’m searching for maple extract, which is a little harder to find. There are lots of varieties available, ranging from pistachio to watermelon and cardamom. Just remember to say away from anything with the words ‘artificial’ or ‘imitation’ on the label. Olive Nation has a great selection if you’re interested.
If you love gluten free desserts, try some of my others, I love this Belgian Flourless Chocolate Cake, I’ve been making it for years, and it’s always a hit with guests. Yotam Ottolenghi’s Flourless Coconut Cake is an unusual gluten free cake for coconut lovers.
Reader Rave ~
“I absolutely love LOVE love this recipe and made it many times. But today I tried something different. I made cupcakes. Worked perfectly. A muffin tin was used but I poured the batter into larger sized paper muffin cups. Wasn’t sure how much to put in each and guessed, filled about 2/3 up and got 11 (of the 12) filled. Perfect. Was able to peel the paper off without any issue and the resulting cupcakes were super moist and as good as the larger sized cake.” ~ Andrew
Flourless Whole Meyer Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 3 or 4 large Meyer Lemons, approximately 12 oz, total to yield 1 cup of whole lemon puree
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 cups almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp lemon extract
for the lemon icing
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
- juice of 1 lemon
- 1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
Instructions
- Set oven to 325F
- Wash the lemons and put them in a pot. Cover them with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes.
- Drain the lemons and let them cool until you can handle them. Cut them open and remove the seeds, but keep everything else. Do this on a plate so you can retain all the juices. Once you have removed all the seeds, put everything into a food processor. Process until finely pureed. You may need to pulse the machine at first, and scrape down the sides as necessary to get everything smooth. This will only take a couple of minutes. You will need one cup of lemon puree for the cake.
- Beat the eggs and the sugar until pale in color. Add the lemon extract.
- Fold in the almond meal, baking powder, and lemon puree. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Turn the batter into a greased 9" springform pan. Smooth out the surface so it is even.
- Bake for about 50 -60 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then gently release the sides of the pan and remove the cake to finish cooling.
- Make the icing while the cake is cooling. Combine the sugar with the butter and lemon juice. Beat until smooth and creamy. Adjust the texture by adding more sugar or more lemon juice. If you prefer a less tangy icing, use less lemon juice and add a little milk or cream. Spread the icing on the completely cooled cake.
i JUST FINISHED BAKING THE THE FLOURLESS WHOLE MYERS LEMON CAKE i’M ABSOLUTELY GOING TO USE MYERS LEMONS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THANK YOU NOW, I’M TOTALLY SURPRISED THE ALMOND MEAL TASTES GOOD IN THIS CAKE BECAUSE I FELT AS I WAS MAKING IT I WAS GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED. I HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE CONFECTIONER’S SUGAR. I HAD TO USE OVER TWO CUPS TO TRY AND THICKEN IT UP. I DIDN’T MEASURE THE JUICE AND THAT MAY BE THE PROBLEM. I DON’T LIKE THE TASTE OF THE SUGAR AND WON’T USE IT AGAIN. I’LL FIND AN ALTERNATIVE. HOWEVER, WHEN I FINALLY TOOK A BITE..I WAS REWARDED WITH AN OUTSTANDING TASTE THAT I COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED. I JUST STOOD THEIR, AMAZED. THE MYERS LEMONS MADE IT ALL HAPPEN. i LOVE LEMONS AND i WAS HOPING FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL THE CAKE IS GREAT, I JUST HAVE TO FIND A BETTER FROSTING. THANK YOU
I’m glad it worked out so well for you Betty!
I have gotten soooo many compliments when I make this recipe! I have taken to adding a few lavender blossoms on top of the icing. It’s delicious either way,.i have also made it sugar free. Thank you so much for sharing this one.
This is so nice to hear Kelly, thanks. It’s funny that you used lavender because one of the recipe ideas I have for the near future is a lemon lavender shortbread, so it’s great to know the combo is a success!
Hi Kelly,
I’m so glad to have found your post as I was going to ask if anyone made it sugar free. I have powdered monkfruit extract also in confectioners form as well. What did you use ?
And SUE… the recipe came to my attention 2 weeks before passover … perfect timing! Can I freeze it before icing , as I was going to make ahead
AND I have a Meyer Lemon Tree!
And can I use almond pulp from making my own almond milk.. and should it be very dry?
Hi Heidi ~ yes, you can freeze the cake, just wrap well, and cool completely beforehand. I don’t think I would suggest using the leftover almond pulp, especially since you’re using your own gorgeous Meyer lemons, I could go for almond flour or meal.
OMG, made this today, off the charts amazing. Moist, flavorful, to die for. I found both the Meyer lemons and the Almond flour at Trader Joes and both worked out perfectly. My icing didn’t look as smooth and pretty as yours but tasted great. I used two of the left over Meyer lemons from the bag, didn’t want to waste them. New favorite.
Getting Meyer lemons isn’t easy and not available out here year round. Could one use ‘regular’ lemons with maybe more sugar? Thanks for this recipe, it’s just outstanding!
Thanks for the feedback Andrew ~ I’m actually considering remaking and re-shooting this cake because it’s been so popular and I think it deserves newer photos. Meyer lemons are becoming mainstream these days, it’s great, and I’m so glad TJs carries them. I think you could try it with a mix of Meyer and regular lemons, but I would definitely look for thin skinned lemons because the peels will be much more bitter.
I’m a pro photographer (in a previous life) and your photo’s are just fine IMHO. And your icing looks nicer than what I made so there you go. I think maybe the powered sugar just didn’t dissolve as smoothly as it should be as I said, it tasted great. Again, I did use the two left over Meyer lemons from the TJ’s bag, maybe that’s an issue? You could maybe clarify if your recipe should use ‘regular’ lemon’s in the icing or Meyers or if it doesn’t really matter. I used two in the icing as they were smaller than a ‘standard’ lemon. When Meyer’s are no longer available out here (we get em a few months out of the year), I’ll try non Meyer’s and report back.
New update to my experience with this totally awesome recipe. I made it exactly as instructed last week, it was again amazing.
I saw Meyer Lemons were getting more difficult to purchase here since they are seasonal and it appears if that season is nearly over. I went to two stores and bought them out of Meyer Lemons; five pounds! I processed all 5 pounds (boiling in a huge pot) all at once. One ‘batch’ was used to make the cake last Sunday and the rest of the lemons were prepared as instructed, divided up into 2 cup portions and placed into a vacuum packed freezing back. Today I made the recipe with one of the frozen pack’s after thawing, to see how it fared. No issues! Since I’m going a week back to back with fresh then frozen Meyer Lemons, I was able to get a better idea if using frozen puree produced any issues either taste or texture wise in the resulting cake. I can detect no issues with the frozen then thawed lemon puree.
What’s great about this new technique is I can conduct the most ‘labor intensive’ part of the recipe in bulk (boil, remove seeds, puree), and have plenty of processed Meyer Lemons around when they are not available. Making the cake by simply cutting open a thawed pack of puree and squeezing into the mixer means I can make this recipe in a snap. Just defrost the lemon’s a few hours before.
Oh, I did buy a Meyer Lemon tree too!
Oh wow is this great to know about Andrew, you’re a genius! You’re going to know this cake recipe better than I do for sure 🙂
Andrew, I used two regular lemons (pulp and juice) but only half the peel of one lemon and one whole orange (since it seems that Meyer lemons are a cross between lemons and mandarins) . It turned out very well.
Thanks so much for providing the weight of the lemons, 12 oz came out to exactly 1 cup! I’m using my mom’s lemons and some of them are closer to a Texas grapefruit size. It makes you lose perspective on what a “regular lemon” looks like.
haha, that’s so true, and the Meyer lemons can be tiny as eggs!
Hi Sue,
Just found your blog…..love love your recipes.
I live in Northern California and have a Meyer Lemon tree that is very prolific ( a little too prolific). The Meyer Lemon Cake is scrumptious.
I have a recipe for a Meyer Lemon Rhubarb Compote by way of Cake Fanny in Berkeley. I think it would be a perfect companion for this cake. Any interest?
Patt Larkin Alamo Ca
Do you even need to ask?? I’d love to check the recipe out, I just saw my first rhubarb at the supermarket today ~ and btw, how can a Meyer lemon tree EVER be too prolific 🙂
What’s the best way to send the recipe? Through this post or via another email.
My precious tree gives me lemons all year round. It’s at my cottage at the beach…… very old tree that loves where it lives. Honestly I do nothing but water it during summer. Organic as it gets.
You can leave anything in the comments here, except photos, unfortunately. And my email is slmoran21@sbcglobal.net. You’re truly blessed with that tree!
Hi there – can I put this into cupcake holders if I reduce the baking time please?
It’s a very moist cake, Janet, so I’m not sure it would fare well in cupcake form, but you could try. It would definitely stick to the wrappers a bit.
Could you use Mandarins?
Ii have a Flourless Tangerine Cake, Joel, here: https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/minimal-monday-flourless-whole-tangerine-cake-gluten-free/ and I haven’t tried that with mandarins, but it would be an interesting experiment. As long as the skins are not too thick it should work.
1st time with Almond flour…no lemons in Guatemala, only limes, worked well, would leave off more rind next time, use zest, a bit too bitter still, never been to Mediterranean!!
Good to know, Sharan, thanks! Limes are definitely much more bitter than lemons, so I never thought to use them in this cake.
Having made Lemoncello with the rinds of Meyer Lemons, we froze the rest of the lemon. I am wanting to give this a try…do you feel using the lemons without the rind will effect the recipe? Huge fan of Trader Joe’s…this is where we get the lemon’s for our Lemoncello. If this works it will give us a reason to buy more Meyer Lemons. They are the best of the best. They have such a short season here in Ohio. Maybe 2 months a year….Thanks!
I can’t be sure, Shirley, because I haven’t tried it that way. Let us know your results if you attempt it!
Meyers lemons are so amazing! And I love that this is made with almond flour. This is being pinned 🙂 For later.
After reviewing the comments/suggestions, I made this with half the lemon peel (since I didn’t have Meyer lemons to use) and it turned out AMAZING! I love the flavor and the texture. Great recipe!
So glad it worked for you Shaz. Great tip about the lemon, because I’m sure lots of people can’t find Meyers.
This is the second time I’m making this cake. This time I’m trying it with just the juice and pulp of three lemons. The first one was a bit bitter and didn’t have quite the tangy lemon flavor I was expecting.
This is just what I’ve been looking for. I, too, am a citrus fanatic. Mostly lemon & lime. I make a flourless chocolate torte and this year got an order for twenty. But I haven’t found the other side of chocolate. This could be it! I’ll let you know. I’m trying this recipe this weekend.
Thanks much.
Good luck!
Made this tonight. Moist and satisfying. It was a tad bitter for me. If I just remove the rind before pureeing would that do the trick? Or add only half the rind? Love the consistency.
Yes Prem, I think if you reduce the rind it will taste less bitter to you. Different people have different tolerances for bitter tastes, so this will probably make it more appealing to you.
Try just using just the zest if the lemons instead of the whole rind.
OMG! it’s gone. all in one shot. it smells as good as it tastes: all warm and almondy and citrusy (are these words?). huge success. i had to promise (contractually!) to make more for the neighbors.
this goes in the secret box of recipes.
Haha, lucky neighbors!
Oh my goodness, YUM! A neighbor left a bag of Meyers on my porch, so this was the perfect way to use some up! I subbed coconut sugar and Ener-g for the cane sugar and eggs (because I can’t have those) and used vanilla extract because I didn’t have lemon. What a fantastic lightly sweetened cake!! The hearty texture makes it feel perfect for breakfast. 😉 Thank you for a wonderful recipe that I will make again and again!!
That’s great to know your substitutions worked and that you loved this Andrea 🙂