“Extremely simple, you just need to respect the rules," says Gianluca Fusto, owner of Fusto Milano, a bakery and workshop that offers training courses for professionals and enthusiasts. "During a trip to the Amalfi Coast, where I met my wife Linda, I also fell in love with lemon and limoncello. Here they are in this cake: reminiscent of limoncello cake, but softer and richer."
A graduate of the Scuola Alberghiera Carlo Porta in Milan, Gianluca Fusto began as a cook at Harry's Bar in London and then moved to Paris where he worked for Alain Ducasse. He returned to Italy and worked for Gualtiero Marchesi, the first chef in Italy to earn three Michelin stars, and found a father figure in Aimo Moroni of Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia, a two-star Michelin-rated restaurant in Milan.
After joining Valrhona, the great French chocolate company that considers Fusto among the most appreciated contemporary chocolatiers, he began consulting and opened Fusto in 2020.
Cake al limone e limoncello
Serves 4-6
Skills Easy
Time 1 hour + 2 hours resting
Vegetarian
Ingredients:
For the cake
½ cup caster sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup fresh cream
2⅔ Tbsp. limoncello liqueur
⅓ cup candied lemon cubes
¼ stick butter - ½ tsp. baking powder
2 large eggs - 2 untreated lemons
butter and almond flour for the mold
milk
For the cream
½ cup fresh cream
4 oz. white chocolate
¼ cup milk - 3 ⅓ Tbsp. lemon juice
1 gelatine sheet (1 g) - 3 lemons
Method:
For the cake
Mix (in the mixer if possible) the grated rind of 2 lemons with the sugar and the candied lemon. Add the eggs, 1 Tbsp. milk, and the cream.
Sift the flour with the baking powder. Add to the mixture with 5 tsp. lemon juice, the limoncello, and continue to blend until the mixture is smooth.
Melt the butter at 113°F and incorporate it into the mixture last. Pour into a pound cake mold (½ qt. capacity) buttered and floured with almond flour. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake in a ventilated oven at 170 °C for 20-25 minutes.
Good to know: It's essential that the temperature of the butter is 113°F. If warmer, it will activate the yeast before baking. If colder, it crystallizes which will compromise the consistency.
For the cream
Rehydrate the gelatin in cold water. Bring the milk to a boil, turn off the heat and dissolve the gelatin in it.
Melt the chocolate at 104°F. Add a dash of milk and continue to add, a little at a time, stirring vigorously until you obtain a smooth and shiny consistency (the temperature must be above 95 °F).
Stir in the cold cream and lemon juice and mix vigorously. Cover, let the cream cool to room temperature and then distribute it over the cake with a pastry bag. Top with lemon zest fillets blanched twice and, if desired, silver leaf.
Photography Riccardo Lettieri
Styling Bettina Casanova