Many Italian pastries and celebratory cakes start with pandespani, or pan di Spagna. Usually, liqueur-flavored syrup is sprayed or dusted on top before cream filling is added. You can freeze the cake (see Note for storage options). My neighbour Ela’s southern Albanian recipe, which originated from the ancient Italian Pan di Spagna, served as my inspiration. I added lemon marmalade and boiled lemon to lighten the flavour and add a delightful fragrance to the egg-filled cake.

Ingredients For My Lemony Pandespáni Cake

Makes One tiny loaf and one 8-inch round cake

1. One entire lemon, carefully cleaned, and cooked for about 20 minutes, or until fork-tender, in water that covers it
2. Six eggs, divided
3. 1-2 cups sugar, according to taste
4. A half-tsp of baking powder
5. 1/4 cup sifted cake or all-purpose flour
6. Half a cup of lemon marmalade

Regarding the SYRUP:

1. One cup of sugar
2. one cup of water
3. one-third cup of lemon juice
4. Sprinkle the cake with lemon liqueur (optional).

Instructions For My Lemony Pandespáni Cake

1. After the lemon has cooled down a bit, cut it in half and extract the pith. In a blender, pulse it to a pulp.
2. Toss the flour and baking powder together in a bowl.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks and sugar; beat with a hand mixer until the mixture is creamy and nearly white. Blend thoroughly after adding the marmalade, lemon pulp, and flour, a bit at a time.
4. Turn the oven on to 375°F, or 190ºC.
5. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry, cleaning and drying the hand-held mixer’s beaters in the process. Gently incorporate them into the yolk-flour mixture.
6. Grease a small loaf cake tin and an 8-inch circular pan with butter and line with parchment paper.
7. When a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, bake the cake batter for 45 minutes at 375°F in the prepared pans.
8. After taking the cakes out of the oven, gently invert them to remove them from the pans and allow them to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Allow them to cool fully on the rack.

Make the syrup

• While the cakes are in the oven, : After 4 minutes of simmering the sugar and water, add the lemon and simmer for an additional minute. Pour the syrup into a bigger basin, cover with ice, and stir to cool for a few minutes.
• Once the cake has cooled fully, use a fork to make small holes on the top and pour the syrup over it.
• Carefully place the cakes onto serving trays and top with a little lemon liqueur. Spread some lemon marmalade on the cake before slicing it to serve, if you’d like.

NOTE:

Before adding the syrup, the second cake can be carefully wrapped and kept in the freezer. Before adding the syrup, let it thaw, wrap it in aluminium foil, and reheat it in a low oven for a few minutes.