Turkish Lemon Spinach Cake

Congratulations if you are still reading this blog.

You saw the words "lemon" and "spinach" in the same title and kept going. I probably would not have done that.

I probably would have thought....Eeew... lemon spinach cake...yuck.

That being said....I bet you are wondering how I happened to make this cake given my disposition to abandon recipes that contain the words spinach and lemon. 

One word.

Pinterest.

Yes...I saw this on Pinterest whilst searching out new St. Patrick's Day ideas. When I saw it the title was simply "St. Patrick's Day Cake" - thus I was fooled into checking it out.

Good thing I was.

This is a delicious cake. Very moist and, most importantly, non-spinach tasting. It just tastes like a lemon cake.

A moist, delicious, lemon cake.

I am happy I stepped outside my comfort zone and tried this. It is a keeper!

Turkish Lemon Spinach Cake

(Adapted from Mom! What's for dinner )

Ingredients

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla

 8 cups fresh spinach (you need about 1 cup puree)

1/2 cup olive oil

juice and zest from 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup lemon juice)

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment paper and then spray parchment paper again with the cooking spray. (Fold the excess parchment paper over the sides to form handles)

Remove stems from spinach. Puree spinach in food processor until liquidy (consistency of baby food). This takes FOREVER so be patient! (I think it took me about 15 - 20 minutes)

In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until light and creamy. Add vanilla, oil, lemon juice and rind, and pureed spinach until well blended.

In a different bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined.

Ooooh, funky color!

Pour into prepared pan.

Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Use parchment paper handles to lift cake out of pan.

Top with whipped cream or cream cheese frosting. (I used cream cheese frosting)

Easy Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

1 - 8 oz brick cream cheese, room temp

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 -3 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

Beat cream cheese and butter together in medium sized bowl. Add vanilla, mix well. Slowly beat in icing sugar until spreadable consistency.

Spread on cooled cake.

(For the above photos I kept the icing quite thin - more like a thick glaze than a frosting)

You can also make them into cupcakes if you prefer:

Or even teeny tiny cupcakes:

I hope you give this a try.

If you are looking for a great green recipe for St. Patrick's Day that doesn't involve food coloring - this is the one for you.

 

Be sure to visit Carole's Chatter for some fun links!