When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, lemon curd, lemon cake, and a lot of other lemon things, especially when life(your parents) gift you with 20 larger than life lemons to work with. This recipe was my way to use up a decent portion of them(I want to say about 4 lemons were used in total), to make this zesty, vibrant lemon-coconut cloud of a cake! I love pairing lemon and coconut together(a pairing I first learned about back when I watched season 1 of Masterchef and saw Whitney Miller make those cute lemon-coconut cupcakes), so I wanted to go a little ham with that, by making sure that every component has lemon and/or coconut in it. So what I wound up with is a lemon-coconut chiffon cake, naturally flavored with both ingredients, a lemon curd glaze, haupia(Hawaiian coconut pudding), toasted coconut, and candied lemon slices. The aesthetic wound up looking like a summer dress with floral patterns. At least that was what I was trying to go for, without needing to put edible flowers on top of the whole thing. The cake itself eats light, being a chiffon cake, being the perfect vehicle for the coconut and lemon to come shining through!

For the different components, we have the lemon-coconut chiffon cake, a lemon curd glaze, haupia, coconut flakes, and candied lemons. I would say that there are three components for this entire recipe that can be somewhat to noticeably challenging – the candied lemons, the chiffon cake, and the lemon curd. With the candied lemons, it is less about it being a technically difficult recipe, but more that they need hours(a minimum of 2) in the oven to slowly dehydrate and crystalize. So right away, that is a component that will take a lot of time. With the chiffon cake, that is a notoriously difficult batter to make, namely because of the whipped egg whites. If the egg whites aren’t whipped enough, or if the batter is over-folded, then your cake will deflate and instead of a light as air cloud, you end up with a dense, flat pound cake-like situation. This batter also uses a little coconut flour, which is gluten free and known to suck the moisture out of anything you mix it with, so unlike a normal chiffon cake recipe, this batter is quite delicate. The cake itself will also need time to bake, nearly an hour, so already this recipe will set you back by about 4 hours. With the lemon curd, it does use egg yolks, so it is important to be delicate with them and not use too high of a heat when cooking the curd, or else you end up with lemony scrambled eggs. Having a lot of patience and using a stand mixer are probably my two biggest takeaways from this recipe.

Makes 1 8-inch chiffon cake, or 8 servings:
For the chiffon cake:
6 egg whites
2/3 cups granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
2oz melted coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, melted coconut oil, coconut milk, lemon juice, and zest. Sift into the coconut milk bowl your flours and baking powder. Gently the egg white mixture through the other ingredients in two parts to form your batter. Pour the batter into a 8-inch chiffon cake mold. Bake the cake at 350 degrees F for 55 minutes. To make sure that your chiffon cake does not deflate, allow the cake to cool upside down for 20 minutes at room temperature before attempting to remove it.

For the candied lemon slices:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar, in two parts
1 lemon, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices and seeds removed

In a pot, heat up the water with one part of the sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Take the pot off heat and place in the lemon slices, allowing those to sit in the warm liquid, off heat, for 5 minutes. Take the lemon slices out the liquid and place onto a lined sheet tray. Sprinkle the additional sugar over each slice. Bake at 225 degrees F for 2 hours, flipping the slices halfway through the baking process. Store in an airtight container until time to assemble.

For the lemon curd:
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
1 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2oz olive oil
1g vanilla bean paste

In a pot, heat up the 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. Spread half of the curd around the exterior of the chiffon cake, and transfer the rest to a piping bag for further assembly.

For the haupia:
8oz coconut milk, in two parts
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1g vanilla bean paste

In a pot, whisk together one part of the coconut milk with the cornstarch, sugar, and salt first until all lumps are gone out. Add to that the rest of the coconut milk and whisk everything in the pot on medium-high heat until the mixture comes up to a boil and begins to thicken – it should start clinging to the sides of your whisk. Take the pot off heat and whisk in the vanilla bean paste. Transfer the haupia to another container and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Transfer to a piping bag for final assembly.

For garnish:
Toasted coconut flakes

To finish, pipe the haupia over the top of the glazed chiffon cake. Pipe the lemon curd around the cake as well, and top off with the candied lemon slices and coconut flakes.