I love pairing basil with lemon. There is something about how aromatic, perfume-y, and floral basil is, and that against something acidic and tart like citrus that is super refreshing. I was watching the most recent season of Masterchef(which by the way, is a lot easier to watch when you yourself are not a contestant), and they had a cake challenge. Now I love the cake challenges. It is a really fun premise – you select (or are assigned) a dessert, and then you have to try your best to replicate it! I was fortunate enough to do this in both seasons 10(German chocolate cake) and 12(Paris Brest), and both times, I had a lot of fun. In season 10, they un-aired it, but Gordon mentioned that Shari’s Devil’s food cake, my German chocolate cake, Micah’s coconut cake, and Wuta’s hummingbird cake were the top 5 cakes alongside Dorian’s, in presumably that order. For season 12, they didn’t air it at all, but the judges told me I executed the Paris Brest perfectly. What I love about the dessert replication challenges is that having a strong pastry background comes in handy, and having an understanding on these doughs and batters beforehand gives you a huge leg up. For layer cakes, and this is a trick that I will credit Dara for doing on season 12, is to divide up your batter evenly using a baking scale into more cake tins, by filling each one up less. That guarantees that you will have relatively flatter cake rounds that will bake in less time and be more consistent in height. Dara did that with her berry chiffon cake, dividing the batter into 4 cake tins, instead of 2, resulting in her cakes baking really quickly, and then her having significantly more time to focus on the decorating – which is how her cake ended up looking even better than the example’s! So for any future Masterchef contestants, bookmark that hack, because it will save you ample amounts of time for a layer cake challenge!

So that super long Masterchef season 10 and 12-tangent aside, in season 13, they brought back the cake replication challenge, and someone was assigned to make a Meyer lemon cake. It was a sponge cake with lemon curd, Swiss meringue buttercream, and was decorated with what appeared to be lemon slices and mint leaves. Now I wouldn’t garnish any dessert with an herb unless it contains the herb in it. And I prefer pairing basil with lemon instead of mint, since mint as a flavor can almost taste like toothpaste unless it is being paired with something that stands up to it like chocolate. With that in mind, I’m going the basil route instead. Now I don’t have the exact recipe for the Meyer lemon cake that was made on the show, nor do I know what the exact flavorings of things like the cake and the buttercream were. However, I am doing it 100% my way. For the cake, it will be a Meyer lemon-olive oil chiffon cake. I used olive oil in the sponge so that it has a softer texture to it. We are going to brush the cake itself with a basil syrup, which I know for a fact was not used in the show’s version, but I wanted to do it anyways because it will add a fragrance to the cake, while preventing it from drying out. The lemon curd itself is a pretty traditional lemon curd recipe, although I am using olive oil in the curd instead of butter to finish it off with, just to give it a pleasant aroma that will play off the basil quite nicely. And then with the buttercream, a Swiss meringue buttercream that is accented with lemon zest. For my garnishes, I went with candied Meyer lemon slices and fried basil, just as a way to keep things a little more pastry-centric. I will say that this cake, on virtue of the garnishes, is a little harder than the one that was presented on the show, but I can guarantee you that if you like lemon, or olive oil cake, you will LOVE this recipe.

For the candied Meyer lemons:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/4 cup water
1 Meyer lemon

Bring sugar, salt, and water to a boil in a pot over medium-high heat. Slice
the lemons into 1/8 inch-thick pieces. Simmer the lemon slices in the sugar
water for 10 minutes on low heat. Transfer the lemons onto a parchment and cooking
spray-lined sheet of parchment and bake at 200 degrees F for 2 hours. Store the
lemons in an airtight container.

For the fried basil:
canola oil
.25oz fresh basil leaves

Heat up 2 inches of canola oil in a small pot to 350 degrees F. The temperature
is right if you can fry a cube of bread to golden brown in 30 seconds. Quickly
fry the basil leaves until they are translucent and no longer bubbling, about
10 seconds, and drain them on a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Store the
basil leaves in an airtight container at room temperature.

For the Meyer lemon-olive oil chiffon cake:
4 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp olive oil
zest from 1/2 of a Meyer lemon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cups all-purpose flour

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks. In another bowl,
whisk together the egg yolks, olive oil, Meyer lemon zest, baking powder, and
vanilla. Sift into the egg yolk bowl the flour, and then fold that all together
with the egg whites to form your batter. Spread the batter onto a lined quarter
sheet tray and bake at 350 degrees F for 18 minutes. Allow the cake to fully
cool before you cut out 2 6-inch rounds and form a third out of the scraps.

For the basil soak:
.5oz fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup milk
a pinch of salt

Blanch your basil leaves for 5 seconds, and then shock them in ice water to
retain that green color. I recommend doing this on the stem for easier removal.
Puree just the basil leaves with milk and a pinch of salt to form your soak.
Refrigerate the soak for initial assembly.

For the olive oil-Meyer lemon curd:
Juice and zest from 3 Meyer lemons
1 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
4 egg yolks
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2oz olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the Meyer lemon juice and zest with the gelatin. In a
bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together. Once the
gelatin has dissolved, pour half of the lemon juice over the egg yolks and whisk
that. Then transfer all of that liquid back into the pot and whisk on medium
heat until the lemon curd begins to thicken and cling to the sides of your
whisk. Whisk in the olive oil and vanilla and pass it through a sieve to remove
any lumps. Refrigerate the curd.

For the Meyer lemon Swiss meringue buttercream:
2 egg whites
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
zest from 1/2 of a Meyer lemon
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a heatproof bowl over a double boiler, whisk the egg whites, sugar, and
salt together until they are frothy and the sugar is dissolved. Transfer the
egg whites to a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, and then whisk the egg
whites to stiff peaks. Add in the remaining ingredients and whisk on low speed,
gradually increasing the speed as the buttercream comes together, until you
have a smooth, creamy, and homogenous mixture.