Ugh! I’m really sorry I’ve been so slow with updating the website lately. It’s been pretty hectic over here. My aunt and cousin came over from Spain and we all went down to Key West for a week to catch some rays and enjoy the ocean. Success!
On another front, I’m pretty much done with the cookbook. It’s in my designers hands right now and we’re almost complete with the PDF version. Next we’ll move onto the Kindle version and I’ll get it up for sale. I’m really happy with the way this one turned out (in comarison to the other, anyway). It’s nice and simple, easy to print and easy to read – I know you guys’ll enjoy it!
Now I’m back and I want to share some of the recipes I’ve been saving up (trust me, there’s a lot) and this one was on my high priority list. I made it a few weeks back but WOW it’s really like the real deal. I think using the olive oil (where we’d usually use butter) is the perfect way to throw that slightly savory sensation in cakes like some of the Italians do.
Anyways, back to the cake. The cake is very fluffy and airy on the inside. Slight and subtle hints of lemon will run throughout and it goes absolutely perfect with just whipped cream on top. If you’re feeling fancy, though, feel free to whip up the icing and slather that bad boy onto the cake (I swear it won’t look good, but it will taste awesome).
Let me know how you guys like it in the comments!
Yields 3 large cakes with icing.
The Preparation
Italian Sponge Cake:
- 5 large egg, separated
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup erythritol
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Raspberry Lemon Icing:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup raspberries
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
The Execution
1. Preheat your oven to 325F. Separate your 5 eggs and mix together all the dry ingredients except for the cream of tartar. That’s 1 cup Honeyville Almond Flour, 1 tsp. Baking Powder, 1/4 tsp. Salt, and 1/4 cup NOW Erythritol.
2. Mix your egg yolks with 1 tsp. Vanilla, 1 tsp. Almond Extract, and 1/4 tsp. Liquid Stevia.
3. Slowly add your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and set aside for a moment.
4. In another mixing bowl, whip the 5 egg whites and 1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar until still peaks form.
5. Add the zest from 1/2 a lemon into the egg whites and continue mixing again.
6. Fold all of the egg whites into the dough slowly. About 1/3 at first, and then the rest. Once your cake batter is formed, put them into cupcake molds or cake molds.
7. Bake the cakes for 25 minutes or until they’ve risen and a toothpick comes out clean.
8. While the cake is cooking, add 4 tbsp. Butter to a pan and let it melt.
9. Let it melt until it’s all the way browned.
10. Once the butter is browned, add your 4 tbsp. heavy cream and raspberries and mix together.
11. Mash the raspberries up if you need to and let the sauce reduce.
12. Let the icing cool while the cakes cool and then ice the cakes!
This makes a total of 3 servings of Italian Lemon Sponge Cake. Each serving comes out to be 640 calories, 58.2g fats, 6.5g net carbs, and 19.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 5 large egg | 393 | 26.2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 34.5 |
| 1 cup almond flour | 648 | 56 | 24.6 | 14.6 | 10.1 | 23.5 |
| 1 teaspoon baking powder | 2 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 | 1.3 | 0 |
| 1/4 cup erythritol | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/4 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 12 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon almond extract | 12 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 | 0.6 | 0 |
| 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0 | 0.9 | 0 |
| 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| 2 tablespoon olive oil | 239 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 tablespoon butter | 407 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 |
| 4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream | 202 | 21.5 | 1.6 | 0 | 1.6 | 1.7 |
| 1/3 cup raspberries | 21 | 0.3 | 4.9 | 2.6 | 2.2 | 0.5 |
| 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Totals | 1954 | 176.9 | 37.4 | 17.9 | 19.5 | 60.8 |
| Per Serving (/3) | 651 | 59 | 12.5 | 6 | 6.5 | 20.3 |
Italian Lemon Sponge Cake
Ingredients
Italian Sponge Cake:
- 5 large egg separated
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ cup erythritol
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- ¼ teaspoon liquid stevia
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
Raspberry Lemon Icing:
- 4 tablespoon butter
- 4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup raspberries
- ½ tablespoon lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Separate the eggs into two bowls. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients, except the cream of tartar.
- Whisk the egg yolks with vanilla, almond extract, and liquid stevia.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until well combined and set aside for a moment.
- Making sure beaters are clean and dry, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until stiff peaks form.
- Mix the lemon zest into the egg whites until well incorporated.
- Gently fold the egg whites into the dough, adding one-third at a time. Pour the batter into lightly oiled cupcake or cake molds.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until they've risen and a toothpick comes out clean. Once done, remove from the oven and let cool.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan on the stovetop until lightly browned.
- Add the heavy cream and raspberries and mix to combine.
- As the mixture cooks, gently mash the raspberries and allow the sauce to reduce. Let cool.
- Ice the cakes, sprinkle over the lemon zest, and serve!
Nutrition
That looks beautiful, just a question I live in New Zealand where can I get Erythritol from and are there any brand names I could look for? I have looked in supermarket over here.
Cindy,
Erythritol is quite a speciality item. You can buy it online on Amazon (it’s linked to in the ingredients) but I am not 100% about in the store over there. Some “big brands” that have erythritol is Truvia (but it is a mixture of erythritol and stevia so you would just omit the stevia in this recipe if you were to use it).
Hope that helps!
P.S. If you get Truvia, make sure you don’t get the “baking blend” because it’s actually 50% real sugar.
I made this for the very first time today, I divide the mix into 12 muffin cases and they are the best thing I have baked for ages. Sliced fresh strawberries and double cream just finished them of nicely. The good thing is that my mother in law, who is celiac can have these. A must for the next family get together. Thank you.
Awesome Mark! Did everyone like them?
Absolutely. I’ll be working my way through the recipes 🙂 on your site and your book I just bought too.
Appreciate it Mark! Glad you guys liked it – good luck keeping up with my cooking 😛
This looks wonderful – I like my desserts not too sweet, and this looks like it might just fit the bill. One question, though: If I wanted to make it as a single cake (say in an eight or nine inch springform pan), a: would there be enough batter? and b: how long do you think it would need to bake?
Eric, I think there’s just enough batter to bake in a traditional springform pan. I am not however too sure on the bake time. My guess would be 5-10 more minutes, but possibly just around the same time. I am thinking to just keep your eye on it and see, it might need around 5-10 more minutes.
I finally tried this today and it is another masterpiece! You’d never know this was low carb. I used xylitol and the cheaper almond meal from Trader Joe’s and it was great! Thanks Craig!
Awesome Kathy! I find that the cheaper almond meal at Trader Joes sometimes works fine and other times it gives a gritty texture – I just stick with Honeyville now because I order so much of it haha