Camino Frances (April 2017), Camino Portuguese (April 2018), Own backyard

CAMINO – Home baked lemon cake

How did I end up in the kitchen, if it’s usually my husband that makes the food? Well, here is the story.

Some of you may know that we’ve walked the famous Camino – in fact, we’ve had two of these epic adventures.

  • Camino Frances (2017) in Spain – 720km

Camino De Santiago – April 2017 – Introduction

  • Camino Portuguese (2018) from Portugal to Spain – 629km

WHAT ABOUT THE PORTUGUESE CAMINO?

Favourite food:

We were talking the other day about the wonderful food we had on these hikes. And let me tell you, there were definite favourites! Berto had more than his fair share of the delicious jamon (let’s not talk about the beer now) and I never said no to a piece of lemon cake.

We long to do another Camino. But as we all know, getting on a plane with just your backpack isn’t that easy these days (well, that’s how it is for us South Africans at this point anyway).

Since we cannot walk a Camino in Spain while enjoying the food, we will have to bring their food to our South African home. Now, I’m no baker, but thought I’d try the lemon cake in our kitchen.

But before I take you to our kitchen where I will test my baking skills, let’s quickly rewind to 2017 and 2018.

Traditional Spanish Lemon Cake:

Lemon Cake is known as Bizcocho de Limon in Spain. Here are a few pictures of this amazing cake that I enjoyed on our Camino’s:

Camino Frances (2017)

Eating lemon cake while enjoying a stunning view

This was THE best lemon cake I’ve ever tasted! We stopped at a small bakery on the way to O’Cebreiro and I could smell the lemon cake even from the road.

You can read about this day here: https://wetanddustyroads.com/2018/11/28/day-22/

Camino Frances (2017)

A BIG piece of lemon cake

At a small café near Sarria, we needed coffee … and I couldn’t resist the HUGE piece of lemon cake on the counter!

You can read about this day here: https://wetanddustyroads.com/2018/11/29/day-24/

Camino Portuguese (2018)

Lemon cake in Tui with our morning coffee

On our Portuguese Camino, the treat I enjoyed the most was Pastel de Nata (a Portuguese custard). For my first piece of lemon cake, I had to wait until we crossed the border from Portugal to Spain. On our first morning of hiking in Spain, I enjoyed my favourite with our early morning coffee.

You can read about this day here: https://wetanddustyroads.com/2019/01/21/day-21-2/

As you can see, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to taste lemon cake … now it’s time to bake it myself!

My baked lemon cake (with thanks to “Spain on a fork”):

There are many recipes for lemon cake, but I was looking for the real one – an authentic Spanish lemon cake. Thanks to a little research on the internet I found a website, “Spain on a fork” and this guy (Albert Bevia) promised that his lemon cake tastes just like his mother used to make it.

The recipe will appear at the bottom of this post in case you might want to try it yourself. Let’s get the ingredients and start baking (now it almost sounds like an episode from ‘Master Chef’)!

Ingredients for the Spanish lemon cake

The very first thing you need to do is mix the eggs well and then add the sugar. It sounds easy enough, right?

The eggs and sugar are well mixed

And then, even simpler, is to just add the rest of the ingredients and mix them in as well. Really – it’s that easy!

The rest of the ingredients in my mixing bowl
After a minute of mixing (and no lumps), the mixture was ready to be poured out into a loaf pan
Ready for the oven

Now it was a waiting game. After about 30 minutes I started to smell the lemon cake … and in my mind I was back at that little bakery in Spain!

Fresh out of the oven

The final touch was a dusting of powdered sugar over the cake. I even made a typical Camino sign to use as an emblem on the cake … how cool is that!

My Spanish lemon cake under the South African sun

Million-dollar question:

Did it taste like the real Spanish lemon cake? Pretty close … but I think if I put my backpack on, walk for 20km and come back and then eat another piece, it will surely taste just like the real thing.

Sliced and ready to be served

Here is the recipe as per the blog site of Spain on a fork:

Ingredients:

  • 2 cage-free organic eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1/3 cup sunflower oil
  • Powdered sugar

Instructions:

  1. Crack 2 eggs into a large bowl and whisk together, then slowly add in 1 cup of granulated sugar while you continue to whisk, once all the sugar is incorporated whisk for another 30 seconds to ensure everything is well combined.
  2. Next add in 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour into the bowl, a generous teaspoon of baking powder, a ¼ teaspoon of sea salt, the zest of 1 large lemon (equals 2 tablespoons of lemon zest), 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice, ½ cup of milk and 1/3 cup of sunflower oil, mix together until well combined and there are no clumps in the cake batter.
  3. Grease a 9.5¨ x 5¨ baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and add the cake batter into the baking pan.
  4. Add the baking pan into a preheated oven (bake only option) at 350 F – 175 C. After 35 to 40 minutes, remove the cake from the oven, pierce the middle with a toothpick, if it comes out cleanly the cakes is done, otherwise add to the oven for another couple minutes, let it rest for 15 minutes in the pan.
  5. After 15 minutes remove the cake from the pan (I always like to tap the bottom of the pan so it easily comes out) and transfer to a dish or cutting board, sprinkle with a generous portion of powdered sugar, enjoy!
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77 thoughts on “CAMINO – Home baked lemon cake”

    1. Your blog’s name says it all 😄. I remember you said in one of your earlier posts that you’re not the dessert-kind of people. Even I will rather try the starters and main courses before dessert, but somehow … this cake just found that sweet spot during each day’s walk!

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  2. That looks delicious, an absolute success! We might give it a go after London. I don’t think I’ve ever had the original Spanish bizcocho de lemon, so have nothing to compare it with. Now that Omicron and its sub variety are everywhere, are there still exclusive restrictions imposed upon South African travellers?

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    1. Leighton, even I was surprised with the outcome of this cake! You will have to try this – it’s not over sweet and got that fresh lemony flavour that just spells SPAIN!
      The problem with traveling from South Africa at the moment, is that we were initially banned from most countries when Omicron was discovered, but most lifted the bans to some extent. Most airlines that used to fly to SA, stopped their operations and those who are still flying, do not carry South Africans out of the country 😒.
      On the bright side, we live pretty much normal here in SA … we have ample opportunity to travel locally (in fact, we are going to the beautiful Cederberg Mountains tomorrow for more camping and hiking … and the leftover Spanish lemon cake will be going with us)!

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  4. I lived in London & Newmarket for six weeks, got to eat tasteless things in Notting Hill, that I still don’t recognise decades later. Food in London didn’t impress, until I found a Turkish eatery opposite the South African Congregation just off Edgeware Rd. The kind man made me a plateful of succulent, tasty lamb chops. Four or five of them Food I could recognise. Splendid.

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  7. Oh .. that looks deliciously tasty!!! …and not too difficult to bake either! How nicely you did it with the typical Camino sign as an emblem!
    In our home, my dear husband is the chef. He would surely be pleasantly surprised if he came home and felt the smell of homemade Lemon cake 😅
    Thanks for sharing, and luckily, I can pick the lemons directly from our tree!!

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  8. Hahaha, after walking 20 km, everything tastes like Heaven I would say! But seriously, your cake sounds delicious, simply mouth watering! I bet Berto was more than thrilled about your cooking skills🙂

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    1. That’s the thing Christie … I think even food that I don’t normally eat, will taste good after walking that far! And yes, Berto was super surprised – he now questions my story of “I can’t cook” 😁 (but there is a difference between cook and bake … I think)!

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  9. That cake looks divine Corna and when I have time I’m going to.bake one as lemon cake is one of my favourites. Looking at your recipe can you please tell me what you mean by cup measurements as we have cups of all sizes. Do you know the approximate amount in ounces or grams as this would be very helpful. Marion

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    1. That’s probably why I like this cake so much, because lemon cake is my favourite too! Here is the measures in ml – I’m sure you can then convert to ounces 😊:
      One cup = 250ml, Half cup = 125ml and Third cup = 80ml
      Happy baking!

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  10. That looks wonderful and after a long hike, it would really hit the spot. I have a friend who is Portugese and she used to bring us those custard tarts. Always good food chez Ester. She and her husband who is Czech are travellers extraordinaire. Also very good at fixing up houses!

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    1. At first, I thought maybe it just tasted nice in Spain because we have walked so far … but now I can honestly say, it’s a really nice cake! Oh, those Pastel de natas in Portugal – don’t even let me start with these 😁! You know, it’s good to be friends with someone who are good at fixing up houses …

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    1. Mel, if I close my eyes while eating this cake, and I try really hard … I am in Spain for a second!
      You know – I think there were days in Spain that I had lemon cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner! And then I’m not even talking about that red wine before eight in the morning at the wine fountain outside Estella … 😉 … like you said, when in Spain …

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      1. Jip. As ek nou gaan, kan dit vir net ‘n week of 2 wees. As ek wag kan dit dalk vir langer wees. Die tyd sal kom en as dit nie kom nie, hang my lewe mos darem gelukkig nie daarvan af nie.

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      2. Dis baie waar. Dit kos ‘n hele paar rand om net tot in Spanje te kom en ons gevoel was, terwyl jy so baie betaal vir ‘n vliegkaartjie, moet jy dit ten minste die moeite werd maak met jou tyd terwyl jy daar is. Wat sal wees, sal wees.

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  13. All this talk about lemon cake makes me want to make lemon cake now. Sounds like you ate very well during your Camino. Glad to hear your lemon cake turned out well. I love how you went the extra mile and added the Camino sign! Looks delicious. I also really like your colourful measuring cups.

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    1. I am (almost) ready to bake another lemon cake after our long weekend of hiking in the mountains! Indeed, the food on the Camino was amazing … the Spanish know their way around food! Thank you, I love my colourful measuring cups too (it was a Valentines present from my husband some years ago – I think he had high hopes that I would bake more often in the kitchen ☺️).

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    1. Lemon cake seems to be a big favourite when looking at the comments! I like it because it is not so sweet but has a more citrus flavour to it. Maybe you should put this on your baking list as a welcoming treat when you arrive in France 😉.

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  15. Wow, it looks yummy 🙂 With many trips still being cancelled or rescheduled due to the rising numbers of COVID-19, restrictions on travel, and social distancing measures, my travelling heart is aching for a long overdue trip. Although I have no current plans to go anywhere, I am daydreaming of the day that it will be safe to explore new cities, countries, and cultures. It was during one of these daydreams that I realized in the meantime I could travel the world in my kitchen! For Italy, I make homemade pasta and pizza! And for Scotland – shortbread cookies 🙂

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    1. It’s such a great idea … to travel the world – not in a plane, but in your kitchen! Oh, and I love shortbread cookies … I’m not sure I would be able to bake them myself, but here are some amazing deli’s selling them!

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    1. Hannah, I promise you … it was amazing! But it soon “disappeared” from the kitchen – the moment anyone walked into our house and saw (and smelled) the cake, it was on a plate and finished in seconds!

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  20. I love anything lemon flavoured and this sounds and looks delicious! Not too complicated to make either, although US recipes are always a bit of a challenge for me as I have to work out the measurements and sometimes ‘translate’ some ingredients 😆

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    1. Same thing here regarding the measurements and names for some ingredients. At first I struggled with “powdered sugar” – is that icing sugar or castor sugar? I had to google and then realised it’s icing sugar. I agree, it can be confusing at times! And yes, the cake was really delicious – not too sweet and with a nice lemony flavour!

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  22. Cool and looking delicious! I love this type of cake with a large milk coffee. One more thing to look forward to when I will continue my pilgrimage on the camino ( probably C. Ingles) this autumn, hopefully…

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      2. Unfortunately no, not in the foreseeable future … it’s just too difficult for us South Africans to travel overseas at the moment. But who knows, maybe we will be able to do another one (we would like to do the Ingles and then do the last stretch from Santiago to Finisterre) … hopefully one day 😊.

        Liked by 1 person

  24. It really looks so delicious, I must try it out! I don’t really bake either, now and then I will make a banana loaf though. Thank you for sharing the lemon cake recipe🌸💕. I always enjoy eating natas, yum

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    1. I’m also not very fond of cakes (that’s more Berto’s forte 😉), but for some reason the Spanish lemon cake was just so refreshing during our long hikes. It’s not that sweet – there’s more a lemony flavour to this cake. And the smell of this cake just brings back such fond memories of our Camino’s.

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