Sweet scents of honey and mint, savory garlic and lemon, these are the aromas of my childhood, tickling my nose and my taste-buds each time I had play dates at my best friend’s home. To an Irish girl who grew up on hearty fare, the exotic charm of Greek cuisine was so light upon my pallet, it was intoxicating. A favorite indulgence was the coveted lemon cake that seemed ever-present and accessible whenever we were ready for snack time. Digging into the rich cake soaked with sweet and sour lemon tang always made me wish I could move in and enjoy this delight every day!
Thanks to Nasoya, I have the opportunity to create a modern version of the treasured treat from my childhood and share the delicious results with you as part of a sponsored recipe feature. As always, all thoughts, opinions are love of tofu and lemon cake are that of Rural Mom!
Tofu is not traditionally the first ingredient I reach for when baking. In fact, it took me a long time to incorporate tofu into our lifestyle. I had the same aversions most people do, predominately not knowing how to best prepare it. The benefits of tofu – naturally gluten-free, low calorie, great source of protein, iron, and calcium – convinced me that I needed to learn how to work with this fabulous ingredient and begin preparing baked and grilled tofu for our family’s enjoyment. As I began to familiarize myself with this fab ingredient, I also learned that silken tofu was great for baking and a wonderful substitute for yogurt in recipes and delivers an incredibly moist finish to cakes!
Using Nasoya Silken Tofu as my inspiration, I slowly reconstructed the lemon cake of my childhood dreams through a bit of trial and error (I regret that I never did think to get the recipe from my neighbor) and I added some updates of my own including the addition of candied lemons, pistachios and a sweet lemon glaze.
Nasoya is the leading producer of tofu, delivering products that help make healthy, protein packed recipe creation a breeze. For my lemon cake, the Nasoya Silken Tofu worked like a dream, making the texture of the cake springy and super moist.
In addition to silken tofu, Nasoya offers a variety of textures including more convenient on-the-go options like Nasoya’s TofuBaked, which is terrific for starting with if you are not accustomed to preparing tofu. Pre-marinated and ready to eat heated or cold, TofuBaked comes in Teriyaki, Sesame Ginger and new Chipotle that just joined the flavor profile! Best of all, there is no draining or pressing necessary when preparing, just pop the container open and whip up some wonderful tofu dishes.
Tofu Lemon Cake with Pistachio Lemon Glaze
(scroll down for printable version!)
1 package of Nasoya Silken Tofu
3 lemons, seeded and sliced into 1/8-inch slices
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/2 cup pistachios, chopped fine
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups water
In a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat, add granulated sugar and water.
Stir gently until sugar is fully dissolved into a simply syrup, then simmer over low heat.
Add lemon slices, simmer for 20 minutes (or until lemon peel is soft.)
Remove lemons from syrup and lay flat on parchment paper. Set aside to cool in refrigerator.
Strain remaining syrup into a glass bowl. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Open package of Nasoya Silken Tofu and gently drain liquid.
In a large mixing bowl, add Nasoya Silken Tofu, confectioner’s sugar and eggs, beat until smooth.
Add lemon juice and lemon zest, beat on low until fully incorporated.
Add flour, baking soda and baking powder, stir gently until fully incorporated.
Pour cake mix evenly into a pre-greased 10×14 glass baking pan.
Bake for 30 minutes (or until crust is lightly browned and toothpick test comes out clean.)
Remove cake from oven and set on cooling rack.Remove lemon slices from refrigerator, layer slices on the top of the cake.
Mix pistachios with 1 cup of syrup and pour over the hot cake. (Remaining syrup may be refrigerated and used later to make lemonade or mixed drinks.)Allow cake to cool for 1 hour, cut into squares, serve and enjoy!
Optional: dust confectioner sugar over the cake squares prior to serving.
As our house filled with the scent of lemons and cake, I was instantly transported to those carefree childhood playdates where we eagerly dug into our Greek lemon cake snack. When I pulled my version of the cake from my oven, my sons rushed in wide-eyed and eager to sample, which certainly made me grin from ear to ear that I could share such a wonderful delight with them. We all agree that my Tofu Lemon Cake with Pistachio Lemon Glaze will become a regular snack time staple in our home, too. I hope their friends are as enchanted as I was as a child when they walk into our home and sample a bite!
Ingredients
- 1 package of Nasoya Silken Tofu
- 3 lemons, seeded and sliced into 1/8-inch slices
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped fine
- 4 eggs
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat, add granulated sugar and water.
- Stir gently until sugar is fully dissolved into a simply syrup, then simmer over low heat.
- Add lemon slices, simmer for 20 minutes (or until lemon peel is soft.)
- Remove lemons from syrup and lay flat on parchment paper. Set aside to cool in refrigerator.
- Strain remaining syrup into a glass bowl. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Open package of Nasoya Silken Tofu and gently drain liquid.
- In a large mixing bowl, add Nasoya Silken Tofu, confectioner’s sugar and eggs, beat until smooth.
- Add lemon juice and lemon zest, beat on low until fully incorporated.
- Add flour, baking soda and baking powder, stir gently until fully incorporated.
- Pour cake mix evenly into a pre-greased 10×14 glass baking pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes (or until crust is lightly browned and toothpick test comes out clean.)
- Remove cake from oven and set on cooling rack.
- Remove lemon slices from refrigerator, layer slices on the top of the cake.
- Mix pistachios with 1 cup of syrup and pour over the hot cake. (Remaining syrup may be refrigerated and used later to make lemonade or mixed drinks.)
- Allow cake to cool for 1 hour, cut into squares, serve and enjoy!
- Optional: dust confectioner sugar over the cake squares prior to serving.
For more tofu recipe inspiration, visit http://www.nasoya.com/
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That looks so light and fluffy! My dad is Greek but doesn’t cook unfortunately. I’ve actually never had Greek food!
This sounds like it’s relatively simple to make. I’m sure the flavor is an interesting blend as well.
Oh! Now that looks so appetizing! I could go for a piece of that right now. Yum!
I’ve never eaten a cake made with tofu. I’m a lemon and pistachio lover and I know I would love this cake. It looks so moist and delicious.
That Tofu Lemon Cake with Pistachio Lemon Glaze looks super YUMMY! I’ve never thought to combine tofu and cake but the end result looks amazing (plus lemon cake is my favorite!) <3
Yeah I wouldn’t think to use tofu, but if it tastes good, that’s all that matters! It looks and sounds delicious!
Anything with lemon is alright by me! It is one of my favorite flavors. I’m sure this is delicious! It looks it!
Oh my this looks delicious. I love all lemon desserts, but this one looks really different, something I have not tried yet.
Oh wow this looks delicious – I love tofu desserts, it’s a great way to add some texture and protein to something that is usually just extra calories 😉 I’ve totally done that, too – forgotten to actually get a copy of a recipe off of someone when it’s convenient and then be stuck without a clue how to recreate it!
I’ve used tofu in a pudding recipe before and it was great. This cake looks fabulous!
I am not a tofu person but this looks amazing! So airy and it looks so rich!
This looks interesting! Sorry for being naive but this is the first time I have encountered a tofu cake 🙂
This looks really good and heatly and easy to make. I bet it taste so good 😀 Off to pin it now. Thank you for sharing.
My boyfriend love lemons and more adventurous in eating than me. Maybe one of these days I’ll try to do this with him.
What a great recipe! I had no idea that you could use tofu in baking!
I love cooking with tofu, but I’ve never thought to make a cake with it! What a novel idea! It looks amazing!
This looks really good but I can honestly say I’m not sure about having tofu in cake… but there’s a first for everything!