Later came sweetbreads and pigeon pie and baked apples fragrant with cinnamon and lemon cakes frosted in sugar, but by then Sansa was so stuffed that she could not manage more than two little lemon cakes, as much as she loved them. She was wondering whether she might attempt a third when the king began to shout.
A Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin
Almost exactly 10 years ago (!), on April 17, 2011, the first episode of Game of Thrones' first season aired – can you believe it?! I remember watching it on my tiny laptop back when I was still studying Creative Writing ... How time flies.
Now let's pretend the 8th season (or actually, anything past season 5 really) did not happen, and instead let's enjoy the perks of baking fictional signature dishes! Having read the first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire and having watched every single episode of GOT, I still had never thought about making any of the meals mentioned in either book or TV show – until the pagan spring festival Ostara was approaching, and I began thinking about what kind of lemon pastry I might make to celebrate. And so the idea to make my own version of Sansa's lemon cakes was born! (By which I mean: These lemon cakes are also great for both Easter and Ostara!)
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| Margaery, Lady Olenna and Sansa enjoying some lemon cakes. (source) |
Along with Tyrion and Daenerys (in the earlier seasons – the only ones that matter), Sansa is one of my favourite GOT characters – not so much in the first two seasons, but as the series progressed, Sansa grew from a soft-spoken, naive and selfish girl who is thrilled to be introduced into the royalty of King's Landing to a resilient, confident and powerful Queen of the North (dang it, now I can't ignore the later seasons any more!).
But back to the lemon cakes! My take on Sansa's favourites are delicate lemon squares with a fluffy and zesty sheet cake base and a creamy frosting on top, garnished with lemon slices. I hope you like them as much as Sansa Stark does!
Preparation time: 30 minutes + 50 minutes to cool and set
Main ingredients: spelt flour, lemons, xylitol
difficulty level: easy
makes: 16 squares or 1 brownie tray *
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, wheat-free, soy-free
* For a regular baking sheet, I suggest multiplying the ingredients by about a third, otherwise the cake will be too flat!
Ingredients
Cake:
450 g (3 cups) spelt flour, sifted (type 1050) *
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
230 g (2 1/4 cups) xylitol (or any other light sugar - I've once made the mistake to use my beloved coconut blossom sugar for this and it wasn't great! turned out a light brown colour and had a weird caramel taste to it 😅)
180 ml (3/4 cup) soy milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
about 4 tbsp aquafaba (chickpea brine)
180 ml (3/4 cup) sunflower oil (or 3/4 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
juice of 1 1/2 organic lemons
zest of 1 organic lemon
Frosting:
150 g (1 1/2 cups) powdered xylitol (or other light sugar)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
(optional) 1 tbsp organic lemon zest
thin lemon slices to garnish
* If you are confused about that flour type, check out this website which explains the difference between German flour types and US-American flour types.
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 °C / 350 °F.
Pour batter into a brownie tray (greased or lined with parchment paper) and smooth the top.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool completely before glazing.
In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until a thick icing forms. If you want an even more lemony taste, also add in 1 tbsp of organic lemon zest. Or orange zest, to spice things up! Spread the frosting on the cooled cake.
Chill (uncovered) for at least 30 minutes to allow the icing to set before slicing into squares. Top each square with a lemon slice. I imagine these lemon cakes would also taste wonderful with a side of vanilla ice cream ...
Any leftovers can be stored covered at room temperature or even in the freezer, cut into individual squares.
Thank you so much to Jerri over at Simply Sweet Home for featuring this recipe at the Friday Favorites linky party! Makes me feel a little nostalgic, as I was a co-hostess there myself for two years. Good times :)
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| Bilbo's Seed Cakes (vegan) |
2 Comments
Hi Maisy! Good to see you! I have to admit that Sansa was never my favorite character, but I do LOVE lemon cake! Your recipe sounds delicious. Thanks for linking up this week. I'm featuirng you this week.
ReplyDeleteHi Jerri, how nice to hear from you again! After an extended blogging break I've just recently started to pick up blogging again on a regular basis (and submitting to link parties) so I'm thrilled to be featured of course! :) I hope you're doing well! ~ Maisy
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