Spinach Cake with Lemon: My Super Simple Version of Le Gâteau Vert
This spinach cake flavoured with lemon is a super simple version of le gâteau vert or green cake and it tastes delicious. The batter is made with spinach puree and the icing is coloured with spinach too. It’s filled with creamy lemon ricotta and topped with pistachios. Perfect for afternoon tea or a summer garden party.
Turkish Spinach Cake
Spinach cake (ispanakli kek) seems to be a bit of a thing in Turkey. I remember years ago buying a slice at a farmer’s market back home in Cornwall and being intrigued. You can see the picture I took of it just below.
That was back in the day when I never thought to put greens in my cake. Now of course it’s a bit trendy and likely to become more so since le gâteau vert featured on this week’s episode of Great British Bake Off.
Great British Bake Off
Yes, just in case you’ve missed it. Great British Bake Off is back. This Tuesday saw the second episode and the theme was cake. There were stunners, there were disasters and of course there were tears.
I can’t bring myself not to watch it, but I’m not a fan since it moved from the BBC to Channel 4 and the new ‘Mel and Sue’ just don’t work for me. Apart from anything else, the adverts break any dramatic tension and are just plain annoying.
Anyway, Prue Leith set the technical challenge this week and to the shock of many it was for her version of Le Gateau Vert. I couldn’t resist coming up with a version of my own.
Monet’s Green Cake
The famous impressionist painter, Claude Monet, who died in 1926, liked his food. His garden at Giverny was not just about water lilies it seems; he also grew lots of organic produce, kept chickens and employed a cook.
He also possessed a substantial collection of recipes that became known as his cooking journals. In 1990, the wife of his great grandson published a selection of them: Monet’s Table: the cooking journals of Claude Monet by Claire Joyes*. Le gâteau vert-vert is one of the recipes in that book. It’s a green cake made with pistachio nuts and kirsch and has bright green icing which uses spinach as the colouring agent.
Wholesome Spinach Cake with Lemon
My spinach cake with lemon is totally different to either Monet’s cake or le gâteau vert made on Bake Off. It’s not only simpler to make, but it’s a lot cheaper too. Pistachio nuts are so expensive, you’d need to have a very special occasion to justify the quantity used in either of these versions. I opted for just a scattering over the top.
The spinach is briefly cooked then blitzed to make a purée. I used my super duper power blender to do that bit. As I like my bakes to be as nutritious as possible, I’ve made my gateau vert with wholemeal spelt flour. But you can use whatever flour you prefer.
As regular readers will know, I try to use less sugar than the norm in my cakes which not only means they’re not quite as bad for you as they could be, but they’re usually a lot tastier. I find too much sugar can often overwhelm flavours.
I only used a relatively small amount of fat in the cake too, but because of the spinach, it still had a lovely soft texture. Ricotta is a naturally low fat cheese, though I did add a little cream to it. But all in all, with the reduced amount of sugar and fat along with the wholemeal spelt and addition of spinach, it’s pretty healthy as cakes go.
Lemon Spinach Cake: The Result
I don’t want to make you green with envy, but I’m really pleased with my spinach cake. It’s a substantial but not heavy sponge and it tastes fantastic. There’s a hint of lemon and a certain something interesting that’s hard to identify. CT told me that it reminds him of matcha cake. I don’t think anyone would actually recognise the spinach though.
It’s by no means a sweet cake, but it’s a very satisfying one and the icing punctuates the underlying umami notes very effectively. The creamy ricotta and lemon filling complements the other components and the pistachios turn it into something a bit more luxurious.
The lemon ricotta filling, is of course delicious and works well as an accompaniment to any number of desserts. Finely grating in some of the lemon rind, if not using it for anything else, makes it extra special.
It was hard to stop CT from devouring the lot on day one, but luckily there was plenty left and we found it to be just as good on day two. I suspect it will still be in good shape on day three, tomorrow.
Other Recipes for Green Cakes You Might Like
- Chocolate & matcha battenberg
- Courgette cake with lime and mascarpone frosting
- Kale apple cake
- Matcha blondies
- Matcha white chocolate cupcakes
- Nettle, lemon & white chocolate cupcakes
For other recipes and ideas on how to use vegetables in sweet bakes, head over to my Sweet Vegetable Bakes board on Pinterest.
Keep in Touch
Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this spinach cake with lemon ricotta filling, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. And do please rate the recipe. Have you any top tips? Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.
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Choclette x
Lemon Spinach Cake. PIN IT.
Spinach Cake with Lemon
Equipment
- power blender
Ingredients
Spinach Cake
- 150 g spinach trimmed if necessary
- 200 g golden caster sugar
- 3 eggs
- 125 ml rapeseed oil I used cold-pressed
- 1 lemon zested & juiced for the filling & icing
- 260 g wholemeal spelt flour
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 125 g kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
Lemon Ricotta Filling
- 250 g ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp double cream (heavy cream)
- 25 g icing sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Lemon Spinach Icing
- 50 g icing sugar
- 1-2 tsp spinach juice
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 25 g pistachios roughly chopped
Instructions
Spinach Cake
- Wash the spinach, give a brief shake and place in a pan. A little water clinging to the leaves is needed so the spinach doesn’t burn. Cook over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes until wilted.150 g spinach
- Blitz in a blender until smooth, then leave to cool.
- Turn the oven on to 180℃ ( 160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4).
- Using a hand whisk or electric beaters, whisk the sugar and eggs together until well combined and slightly thickened. Add the oil and whisk again. Stir in the lemon zest.200 g golden caster sugar, 3 eggs, 125 ml rapeseed oil, 1 lemon
- Sieve in the dry ingredients and fold in.260 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 ½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- Add the kefir and stir gently until just combined.125 g kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or watered down yoghurt
- Strain a splash of the spinach puree through a sieve and put aside. Reunite any pulp remaining in the sieve with the rest, then gently stir into the cake batter until everything is nicely green.
- Pour the batter into two 20cm / 8" round silicon moulds or lined cake tins and bake in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes or when an inserted skewer comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes or so. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Lemon Ricotta Filling
- Beat all the ingredients together until combined and smooth.250 g ricotta cheese, 2 tbsp double cream (heavy cream), 25 g icing sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Spread over one of the cooled sponge halves and place the other on top.
Lemon Spinach Icing
- Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl.50 g icing sugar
- Add the lemon juice and a little of the spinach juice that was set aside from the puree. Mix until the icing is thin enough to spread over the cake, but not so much that it will pour off.1-2 tsp spinach juice, 1 tsp lemon juice
- Spread over the top of the cake, then scatter over the pistachio pieces.25 g pistachios
Video
Notes
Nutrition Estimate
Linkies
I’m sending this spinach cake with lemon off to #GBBOBakeoftheWeek hosted by Mummy Mishaps and Casa Costello.
I’m also sharing my green cake with #BakingCrumbs hosted this month by Jo’s Kitchen Larder and alternately with Only Crumbs Remain, #CookBlogShare, hosted by Recipes Made Easy this week and #CookOnceEatTwice with Searching for Spice.
This post contains affiliate links which are marked with an asterisk* or (affiliate link). If you buy through a link, it won’t cost you any more, but I might get a small commission. Thank you for your support of the brands and organisations that help to keep Tin and Thyme blithe and blogging.
What a fabulous cake Choclette, it looks and sounds so interesting and packed with flavour rather than too much sugar – I muchprefer your version of it – the colour is truly amazing too. I’m so glad that it’s not just me who’s not getting on with GBBO now that it’s migrated to channel 4 without the lovely Mary, Mel & Sue.
Angela x
Aw thanks Angela. It turned out to be one of the best cakes I’d baked in a while. I think it was the texture that was especially good. Will have to bake with spinach more often 😉 Such a shame the BBC felt it had to sell GBBO off.
Love the look of this cake and definitely much more simple to make than the Bake Off version!
Thanks Kat. I’m all for simplicity, though I did like the sound of that pistachio marzipan.
Your green cake looks fantastic Choclette! I really love the natural green hue throughout and the ingenious icing coloured with spinach juice – simply brilliant! I must admit I haven’t been watching GBBO this year, it has run its course for me so haven’t seen their Le Gâteau Vert but I somehow don’t think it would appeal to me as much as yours! Another thing is this lovely lemon and ricotta filling which sounds like it compliments the cake beautifully! This one is super high on my list to make soon! Thank you for sharing with #BakingCrumbs 🙂
Aw, thanks Jo. Do let me know if you do try it. I was really pleased with it, one of the best cakes I’ve made for a while. I know what you mean abut Bake Off. It’s definitely not as good as it used to be, but when it comes to it each year, I can’t bear to think I’m missing out.
LOVE the idea of green cake, it looks so fun. I’d love to make a green cake with the kids I teach, hurrah for spinach!
I remember Elizabeth making a naturally coloured rainbow cake once. I bet the kids would love that.
This cake looks amazing! I’ve tried a spinich cake before and was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t actually taste of spinich! I’m certainly going to give this cake a go
Yes, you’d think with so much spinach in there, you’d taste it, but it’s not at all obvious. Let me know what you think if you do try it.
What a fantastic cake!I bet the lemon brings it all together and the ricotta icing sounds divine!Very clever.
Thanks Jenny. You’re absolutely right, the lemon is central to the whole thing.
That looks beautifully moist – I’m happy to have spinach in anything though! How can you not love Noel Fielding? He’s my celebrity crush 🙂
Oh noooooooo Cathy! He’s such a light wait and trying far too hard to be funny.
Your spinach cake looks great. I haven’t heard of it, but after seeing your cake, I know I’d like to try it. Turkish cuisine is really good, I’ve tried a few recipes and all turned out yummy.
I was thinking of the cost for the pistachios when I made the Vert-Vert. But, even with those, it is still the price for a couple of desserts at a coffee shop, so it’s not that bad.
Thanks Anca. I’ve just hopped over to have a look at your amazing cake. I bet that pistachio marzipan is good. I do like pistachios, but to justify the amount used in Prue’s cake, it would have to be a special occasion.
Turkish cuisine is delicious, but I was surprised to find spinach cake was a thing.
Looks awesome Choccy! Gorgeous pics too x
Aw,thanks Janey. It’s a fab cake.
Your cake sounds lovely! I would never have though to put spinach in a cake before GBBO but I am rather tempted now and that lemon ricotta icing sounds perfect too. Thanks for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice!
Well I’ve made green cakes with kale and nettles before, so it wasn’t that strange a thing for me. But it was the first time I’d used spinach. It won’t be the last.
I love the colour. If I made this here I’d have to tell them all it was made green by food colouring until they’d eaten it; if I told them before eating that it was made from spinach they’d tell me they didn’t fancy cake after all!
It’s a great colour. The spinach gives it such a bright green hue. Maybe just ask your lot to guess what’s in it – which they can’t do until they taste it. You can’t taste the spinach, so they probably won’t guess – unless they’ve seen Bake Off of course 😉
Now I want green cake for breakfast!!!!
We had green cake for breakfast. It was superb 😀
Such a great and fun cake recipe…love the beautiful green from spinach and the cake has a perfect texture too.
Oh the texture was just perfect Angie. Dry crumbly cakes are not my favourite. Love the colour too.
Your green cake looks really delicious, the green colour is wonderful and I would rather eat this with your lemon ricotta filling and lemon spinach icing than the one in GBBO!
Thanks Lucy, but don’t let Prue hear you say that 😀
I love your healthy swaps you’ve made – definitely sounds like my kind of cake! I couldn’t justify the volume of pistachios needed to bake with either – they really are sooo expensive these days. #gbbobloggers2018
Thanks Rebecca. Just those few pistachios I used gave it enough of a boost I felt. It was delicious, whatever.
This cake looks delicious. I did think to begin with that adding spinach was a strange thing (not your cake the one featured on GBBO) , but then I remembered that I have made one from cucumber and another from flower sprouts!!!
Your cake sounds lovely actually, the lemon ricotta filling must be so good.
thank you for linking up x
Thanks Jenny. I’ve got quite used to green cakes, but this is the first spinach cake I’ve made. It was fun to be inspired. Thanks for hosting your #GbboBloggers2018 linkie too.