Candied Lemon Slices For Lemon Thyme Tower Cake Recipes

Steps:

• For the cake: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a tube pan and set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and the granulated sugar together until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Sift together the flour and the baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Add the vanilla, lemon zest, poppy seeds, and thyme leaves (if desired) and beat until fully combined.
• Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake for 60 to 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely, about 20 minutes.
• For the glaze: While the cake is still warm, in a small bowl, mix together the lemon juice and confectioners' sugar. Pierce the top of the cake with a fork to create holes, then pour the mixture over the cake on the rack, allowing the glaze to soak in. Garnish with thyme leaves if desired and Candied Lemons. This cake is great served warm and will keep refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
• Bring a medium saucepot with water to a boil and remove from the heat. Place the lemon slices in the hot water and let sit 1 to 2 minutes until the slices soften. Drain the slices from the water and place into an ice bath; leave in the ice water until the sugar syrup is ready.
• Put 1 3/4 cups of the granulated sugar and 1 3/4 cups water in a saute pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low. Place the slices directly into the sugar syrup and cook on medium low for 1 hour. Remove the slices to a rack on a baking sheet to dry.
• Toss the slices in the remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar to coat. Store in an airtight container until using.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour three 6-inch-round cake pans, and set aside.
• Combine eggs, sugar, salt, and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Sift flour and cornstarch over egg mixture; fold in with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into pans.
• Bake until cakes spring back to the touch and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove cakes from oven; transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Turn out cakes. Using a serrated knife, level the tops; slice each cake horizontally into two even layers. Place one layer on a 6-inch cardboard round. Using a pastry brush, brush 5 layers generously with the candied-lemon syrup. Spread the pastry cream over 5 layers, about 3/4 cup per layer. Stack layers on the cardboard, ending with the one uncoated layer. To stabilize cake, insert a 6-inch wooden skewer through center. Overlap the candied lemon slices and thyme sprigs on top of the cake. Refrigerate until pastry cream has set, at least 1 hour. Serve.

Steps:

• Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, cut lemon into 12 paper-thin slices; discard seeds and ends of rind.
• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and add lemon slices; stir until softened, about 1 minute. Drain, and immediately plunge slices into ice-water bath. Drain.
• Bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil in a medium skillet, swirling to dissolve sugar. When liquid is clear and bubbling, reduce heat to medium-low. Add lemon slices, arranging them in one layer with tongs. Simmer (do not let boil) until rinds are translucent, about 1 hour.
• Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment. Let stand until ready to serve. Lemon slices can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 day.

Steps:

• Using a Japanese mandoline, slice the lemon as thinly as possible; set slices aside.
• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and 2 cups water. Bring liquid to a boil over medium-high heat Add lemon slices; return to a boil. Remove pan from heat. Let cool completely; transfer syrup and slices to an airtight container. Store, refrigerated, up to 1 week.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch (6-cup) loaf pans; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and lemon zest; set aside.
• In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in three parts, and sour cream in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
• Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes (tent loosely with foil if browning too quickly). Meanwhile, make Candied Lemon Slices and Lemon Syrup.
• Remove cakes from oven; while they're still in pans, use a wooden skewer or toothpick to poke several holes in tops. Setting aside 1/4 cup Lemon Syrup, pour remainder over cakes. Let cakes cool completely in pans, about 2 hours. Remove from pans, and place, right side up, on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Brush cakes all over with reserved syrup.
• In a small bowl, whisk confectioners' sugar with 2 tablespoons lemon juice; add up to 2 more tablespoons juice until pourable but thick.
• Pour lemon glaze over cakes (still on cooling rack), letting it drip down the sides. Let set, about 30 minutes. Garnish with Candied Lemon Slices.

Steps:

• Start by making the decorations. For the crystallised thyme, put the sugar on a plate, brush the thyme with the egg white, then roll in the sugar. Shake off some of the excess, then leave the sprigs on a piece of baking parchment to dry out completely.
• For the candied lemon slices, tip the sugar into a saucepan with 200ml water. Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, then bring the syrup to the boil. Drop in the lemon slices and cook for 15 mins until softened. Carefully remove the slices from the syrup and place on a piece of baking parchment to dry. (Lift them gently as they will be quite delicate, and you want to keep them in rounds if possible.) Keep the remaining syrup for brushing over the cake.
• Heat oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of two 20cm springform cake tins. Make the four sponges in two batches. To make the first batch, in a stand mixer or in a large bowl using an electric hand whisk, beat 175g butter with 175g sugar and the zest of 1 lemon until creamy. Gently beat three of the eggs together in a jug. Gradually add the egg to the mixture, scraping down the side and whisking well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix together 200g self-raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder and a pinch of salt, and fold this into the cake mixture. Finally, stir in 300g courgette and 1 tbsp thyme leaves. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• While the sponges are still warm, prick all over with a skewer and brush over a little of the reserved lemon syrup. Once cool enough to handle, remove from the tins and place on a wire rack. Make and cook the second batch of cakes using the remaining ingredients - you can use the same baking parchment, just re-grease the parchment and the sides of the tins.
• When the cakes are cool, make the icing. Whisk all the ingredients together with a pinch of salt until smooth and fluffy.
• Using a cake turntable, if you have one, sandwich the cakes together with a little of the icing. Using a palette knife, spread a thin layer of icing all around the cake and chill for 30 mins to set. (This layer is known as a 'crumb coat' because it traps any loose crumbs on the surface of the cake - so when you put a second layer of icing on, the cake will be nice and smooth.) If you are short of time, put it in the freezer for 5 mins.
• Once chilled, completely cover the cake in a second layer of icing to achieve a smooth finish. Stick the crystallised thyme and candied lemon slices over one side of the cake and top as if they are cascading.
• Return the cake to the fridge or freezer until the icing has completely set. For extra shimmer, use a thin paintbrush to brush a little of the gold paint across the lemon slices for a burnished, autumnal effect, and dot pieces of gold leaf as you go, if you like.

Steps:

• Using a mandoline or chef's knife, slice the lemons into rounds, as thin as possible.
• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is simmering, about 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat, and place lemon slices in hot syrup; cover. Let slices rest in pan until cooled to room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours. Transfer slices and syrup to an airtight container; refrigerate for at least 3 days. Slices will keep, refrigerated, up to 1 month.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add lemon slices, and simmer very gently over medium-low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until slices are opaque throughout, 20 to 30 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer slices to a sheet of waxed paper; set aside. Add juice to pan, stir, and set aside.