I love thyme. I have a very perky plant on my balcony and it needs regular trimming. It’s so aromatic and delicious and I love to pair it with sweet stuff, like most herbs! I devised this lemon and thyme and figs cake because figs were really delicious and pretty, and the thyme needed trimming and I love anything with lemons! I promise this cake is absolutely sensational. We disappeared it instantly!
There are several elements to it but everything can be prepared on the same day with some thyme management! I swear I wanted to write ‘time management’ but I typed it wrong because I was thinking of thyme and I thought it’d just leave it.
The cake is composed of:
- Thyme FLUFFY and AIRY sponge cake
- Lemon thyme mousse
- Fig jam
And I decorated it with some caramelised thyme sprigs, caramelised Iranian lime slices and sugar leaves and a sugar paste flower. It was my first time trying to make a sugar paste flower with no tools (I used spoons and toothpicks!) and it was very very relaxing and fun. I totally recommend trying! 🙂
Ingredients and procedure:
200g Oat milk @oatly + 1 tbsp lemon juice, mix and let sit
90g oatgurt @oatly
300g self raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tbsp baking powder
150g vegan butter
100g powdered sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Thyme from 3 sprigs
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Combine all the dry ingredients. Best sugar and butter for 5’ until pale and fluffy. Incorporate in alternate batches the dry ingredients and wet in the butter and sugar mix. Pour in the tin and bake for 50’ at 150 fan.
Lemon mousse
200ml vegan milk – previously infused with 4 thyme sprigs (warmed together for a few minutes, then rested for 2h)
100g lemon juice
Zest of 2 lemons (you can either remove it or if finely grated leave it)
50g lime juice (I used Iranian limes)
20g cornflour
80g sugar (light brown)
1 3/4 tsp agar agar
Pinch of turmeric
200ml whipping cream @oatly
Warm the milk and and the citrus juices, then pour in a bowl where you have sieved the cornflour and added the sugar. Mix well with a balloon whisk and then bring back on the stove. Add a tiny pinch of turmeric if you want the yellow to pop. Keep cooking and stirring until the mixture thickens. Once the mixture is thick add the agar agar and cook for 2 more minutes, bringing to a boil. Let cool.
Semi-whip the vegan whipping cream and incorporate in 3 batches in the citrus cream
Fig jam
200g g figs
50 g brown sugar
3 g NH pectin
10 g lemon juice
Cook the figs with a splash of water until tender. Blend coarsely. Warm the fig puree and when it reaches 40C add the sugar, pectin and lemon juice. Cook for a few minutes, until it reaches a jam like consistency.
Assemble:
Cut the sponge in half, I used nylon wire because I don’t have particularly fancy knives and this is much more precise. Put acetate around the base of the bottom sponge and pipe in the lemon mousse, reserving 2-3 tbsp of mousse for the top. Dig some space in the mousse for the thyme jam. Put the second sponge on top and chill for at least 2 h. To decorate: spread the remaining mousse on top and add your decorations! 🙂
Miri's Cake Files 