Miley’s Lemon Birthday Cake With Grapefruit Curd & Vanilla Mascarpone
It’s a party in the U.S.A!
A Liv version of Miley’s birthday cake! I originally saw this from The Caker Jordan Rondel who actually made Miley’s birthday cake.
While I may not have the pleasure of making Miley’s birthday cake, I can certainly recreate it in my style.
Interestingly, according to Jordan, Miley requested an olive oil cake without gluten or nuts.
Olive oil cakes are my jam. I love the taste of olive oil in baked goods, which is why they are my personal favourite kind of cake. In fact, my past six cake recipes have all been olive oil cakes, so I knew I had this one in the bag.
Gluten-free was no problem for me as all my recipes are gluten-free. I made a little switch by where I used nuts (almond meal is my favourite base for a gluten-free cake), and of course for me it had to be sugar-free.
I questioned whether you can make citrus curd that is sugar-free, turns out you can! This one took a bit of research and testing.
This recipe features a basic lemon olive oil cake as the main recipe, so I adapted my recipe for Lemon Olive Oil Bundts and made it suitable for a cake.
I then developed a recipe for sugar-free grapefruit curd which is not so easy, but I got there! It’s very close to a classic curd, however I use some whole eggs (not just egg yolks), and I used powdered Lakanto to sweeten, which is a monk fruit and erythritol blend of sweetener.
And I complimented it with a whipped mascarpone cream similar to Jordans, but I used a whole vanilla bean, as I love the tiny specks of vanilla that it embeds in the cream. When used like this, I think it’s totally worth using a whole vanilla bean even if it’s a touch more expensive.
And to finish off I used some fresh grapefruit slices instead of the original which had candied.
Miley’s Lemon Birthday Cake With Grapefruit Curd & Vanilla Mascarpone
A celebratory citrus cake with a touch of olive oil, mascarpone and a whole lot of goodness.
Serves:
12
Prep time:
2 hours
Cook time:
40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Grapefruit Curd
- 125g unsalted butter
- 125ml (½ cup) pink grapefruit juice, freshly squeezed, drained through a seive
- 2 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup powdered Lakanto, or other erythritol based sweetener*, sifted
Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup plain granulated Lakanto or erythritol based sweetener*
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced (or enough to make 125ml lemon juice)
- 2 ¼ cups blanched almond meal
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Vanilla Mascarpone Whip
- 200g mascarpone
- 200ml pure cream
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
METHOD
Grapefruit Curd
- To make the grapefruit curd, first prepare all the ingredients by juicing the grapefruit and straining through a sieve to remove pulp.
- Place the egg yolks and whole eggs in a small bowl and whisk to combine.
- Melt the butter over a very low heat in a small saucepan.
- Take the pot off the stove and add the grapefruit juice, sifted powdered sweetener and egg mixture.
- Return the saucepan to the stove on a low heat. Whisk the mixture continuously for a few minutes until it thickens. This will take about five minutes. It will feel like it’s not coming together but don’t feel tempted to turn up the heat, as this could ruin the curd. After five or so minutes of continuous whisking, the mixture will thicken slightly. After this it moves very quickly so pay attention. When the consistency looks like a runny mayo, remove it from the heat, still whisking, and carefully pour into a glass container or jar. Allow it to cool completely by leaving it on the counter uncovered. Then cover and place in the fridge to store.
Cake
- To make the cake, preheat the oven to 180ºC and lightly grease and line a 23cm cake tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sweetener, olive oil, lemon juice and zest. Set aside.
- In another bowl, combine the almond meal, coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add the almond meal mixture to the wet mixture in two batches and fold to combine well.
- Pour into the lined cake tin.
- Bake for 40-45 mins or until the surface is slightly golden and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Check the cake after 25 minutes to ensure it isn’t burning.
- Leave to cool completely before assembling.
Vanilla Mascarpone Whip
- To make the whip, whip all the ingredients together until thick, smooth and soft peaks have formed. Be careful not to over whip. You can use a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or an electric hand held beater.
Assembling The Cake
- To assemble the cake, spread on the mascarpone whip, creating a well in the centre. Carefully pour in the curd. Decorate with thin grapefruit slices, fresh rosemary and fresh pink flowers.
Notes
*You need two types of sweetener in this recipe. For the curd, your erythritol based sweetener must be powdered like this one from Lakanto or this one from Whole Earth (both available at Woolies). For the cake, you need the granulated (not powdered) version like this one or this one.Share the love
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About Liv
I’m a holistic nutritionist (BSc) and healthy chef and I’m obsessed with waking up every day happy to be alive and excited for the day ahead, and eating incredible nourishing food!
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This recipe looks so good!! Can I use sugar instead of sweetener as a 1:1 replacement? 🫶🏻
Yes, you can use regular white sugar in the cake, and in the curd, use icing sugar.