Moist Cucumber Cake

Directions

1. 1
   Peel the cucumber roughly (it's okay if there are some bits of skin left on), slice and microwave for 3 minutes.
2. 2
   Put the cucumber in a blender and blend!
3. 3
   When it turns into a juice, leave it to cool.
4. 4
   Add the egg yolks, honey, lemon juice and oil to the blender, and blend!
5. 5
   When everything is mixed together well, add the sifted ingredients in 2 or 3 batches, blending between additions.
6. 6
   Transfer the mixture to a bowl.
7. 7
   Beat the egg whites.
8. 8
   Add the sugar in 3 batches, and whip it until it becomes a meringue with stiff peaks.
9. 9
   Add the meringue to the mixture from Step 3 in 2 batches, folding it in with a spatula each time.
10. 10
    Pour the batter into a paper-lined cake pan.
11. 11
    Add some of the batter, ama-natto, batter, amanatto, batter in that order.
12. 12
    In the photo the ama-natto are on top, but they should be in the middle.
13. 13
    Bake in a pre-heated 180C oven for 60 minutes.
14. 14
    If a bamboo skewer stuck in the middle comes out clean, it's done (if it looks like the top is getting burned while baking, cover it with aluminum foil.)
15. 15
    Take the cake out of the pan, and when it has cooled down a bit cover with plastic wrap until completely cooled.
16. 16
    It definitely tastes a lot better after being rested for a day, so please be patient.
17. 17
    This is how it looks just out of the oven.
18. 18
    I tried making it with 200 g of pancake mix instead of cake flour.
19. 19
    For this version I added vanilla essence instead of lemon juice.
20. 20
    It had a different, fluffy texture.
21. 21
    It tasted different too.
22. 22
    It was delicious eaten the same day it was baked.