Flourless Walnut Cake with Lemon Custard Sauce and fresh Raspberries

Makes 1- 8 inch cake serves 8

This is a very simple recipe that depends entirely on the quality of the walnuts. If you suspect your walnuts have been in storage for a while, place them on a baking sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven and lightly bake for 3-4 minutes to “refresh” their flavor.

3/4 lb. walnuts, ground finely in a food processor

4 large eggs, separated

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

Lemon Custard (recipe follows)

Powdered sugar

cocoa

1 pint fresh raspberries or any berry in season

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy ( about 4 minutes with an electric mixer) Stir in lemon zest.

In a separate bowl beat egg whites until stiff. Fold a quarter of the whites into the egg mixture to loosen it. Stir in the walnuts into the mixture until thoroughly blended. Fold in remaining egg whites carefully to maintain light texture.

Pour batter into a lightly buttered and floured 8-inch cake pan and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven 40-45 minutes or until firm and golden brown. Cool cake on a rack before turning out. Slice and serve with lemon custard sauce, a dusting of powdered sugar and cocoa powder and the fresh berries.

Lemon Custard Sauce

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1/4 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 cup light cream

2 Tablespoons grated lemon zest

1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Drops of fresh lemon juice

Beat sugar and the egg yolks together until lightly colored. Heat cream and zest together in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Slowly beat hot cream into yolk mixture being careful not to scramble the eggs. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until sauce just begins to thicken. Take off heat and strain sauce quickly. Stir in vanilla and lemon juice to taste. Cool, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days.