Percentage Used: 1.5%
Equipment Used: Troll RDA with a single Kanthal .3 ohm Staircase coil at 27W. 24g kernel with 32g wrap, cotton wick.
PG/VG: 30/70
Steep Time: 9 Weeks
Manufacturer Description: A delicious lemon cake.
Manufacturer Suggested Percentage: 3%
Aroma: lemon, pound cake, sugar.
Flavor Description: Light and very sweet lemon, not acidic and tart like a fresh lemon. More of a lemon extract flavor as would be appropriate with cooking or baking. I am having a hard time describing the bakery/cake part of the flavor. Below the sweet lemon is an easily recognizable pound cake flavor although it's missing the density or heaviness, yet it still checks the buttery and richness box in both texture and flavor. But I'm also getting a slight bitterness or off flavor that is hard to describe. It reminds me of a cake, biscuit, or bread where someone added just a touch too much baking powder. Almost like a light hint of floury like bitterness you get with too much baking powder? That doesn't extend into the body and mouthfeel of it though, it actually has a great moistness to the cake. The ratios of cake to fruit is rather good with the cake being slightly more prominent than the lemon, and the lemon melds into the cake for a more complex full cake flavor rather than sitting on top of it.
Off Flavors: Something I can't recognize? Similar to a baked good with too much baking powder if you've ever had one.
Throat Hit: 3/10
Uses: Bakeries. Cakes, pies, muffins, danishes, ice cream or shakes.
Notes: After reading others comments on the strength of this flavor, I started with 1.5%. It's a medium strength here, I've used it up to 2% for the main note, but I haven't tried it higher as I'm afraid that off note will become offensive. I have made recipes using this in the .75-1.5% range and it has made really good cakes, custard, and pies without the off taste. I'm not sure what magic happens, but that strange note completely disappears with additional flavors. I won't use it single flavor due to that, but it's become integral to my lemon bakeries.
This is my favorite attempt so far:
Lemon Poundcake w/Cream Cheese Icing:
1.50% Butter (CAP)
1.50% Cream Cheese Icing (LA)
3.00% Lemon (FE)
2.00% Lemon Cake (INAWERA)
1.00% Meringue (FA)
3.00% Simply Cake (Purilum)
Flavor total: 12%
Other opinions: From RedDread1973 on Reddit: Ordered this because it was recommended to me by someone that works at the DIY shop I order from. (/u/FunkMast3r)
I will state that I am not a fan of lemon anything, in food or vaping. I don't hate it but it's not really my thing.
Smell - This smells exactly like a lemon pound cake. I mean exactly. Buttery, Lemony and cakey.
Taste - As a shake n vape it's unbelievable. Extremely complex. Layered with the same notes as what you smell. Butterry, Cakey, lemony goodness. This is not an overpowering Lemon/Pledge flavour. It's present but subtle on the exhale. The cake notes are there on both the inhale and the exhale but again not overpowering the lemon. The butter is present on the inhale but again very well balanced.
This is by far the best single flavour I have ever used. (I have about 200 flavours right now). I will be playing with adding other fruits to see how they mix with it as I can see the subtle citrus from the lemon helping brighten some difficult flavours like blueberry.
Now for the mix:
INW - Lemon Cake 3% DW - 2% (Distilled Water) 3mg/Nic (100% VG) 95% VG Wow! This is one that will be very versatile in the bakery mixes.
I'm picking this up with my next order of concentrates, mainly because there's a lot of mixers recommending certain flavours inawera do best.
In the UK I'm struggling to find anything I can use to pad out a donut juice I've been working on. I've looked at all the options I would use freely in a juice... jf yellow cake isn't sold by chefs flavours any more. I can't find flv lembas bread either!
Do you think this is a suitable addition, say at 2 - 3%, if I'm looking at making a strawberry jam/glazed donut??
It would not work well for that. Have you tried FA WoW or Zeppola?
I believe that note you're getting is poppy. INW lemon cake smells and tastes almost exactly like a lemon poppy pound cake. The older bottles of it have little black specks throughout the cake on the label too
For purposes of making a lemon cake/ lemon pound cake FA Pandoro is probably the better option. INW Lemon Cake carriers some weird off note that I also get from INW Biscuit.
FA Pandoro is a beauty and you're probably right, it's probably a better option for lemon cake.
INW Lemon Cake got problems, but this LMN# recipe does an amazing job of fixing them and I imagine these do as well:
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/15888#simple_lemon_cake_by_rageisalotofwork
https://alltheflavors.com/recipes/17821#simple_lemon_cake_w_cream_cheese_frosting_by_rageisalotofwork
If you think you don't like INW Lemon Cake, try that LMN# recipe by /u/Runtdastardly or one of Rage's things and see if they don't change your mind.
INW Lemon Cake is a difficult ingredient to make work, but it can be used to make outstanding stuff by mixers who either more talented or more persistent than I am, or both. But one of these days I'm finally going to finish this honeysuckle syrup-drizzled lemon cake I've been messing with forever and it'll be awesome. The latest version has both INW Lemon Cake and FA Pandoro in it.
That LMN# is the recipe from Runtdastardly that I adapted to my personal tastes in that recipe I posted above in the review. He/she? made the perfect ratios for the cream cheese icing, so yummy!! All those recipes look good and I haven't tried them. I don't like any of the cookies I've tried so far in combination with the lemon cake as it seemed to dry it out and turn that off note grainy and more prominent for me.
I couldn't stand Pandoro. It's very potent, and even diluted at low percentages it was very very offensive to my taste buds. Tasted like a lemon flavored cleaning product with a hint of vomit. I must be sensitive to something in it, but I found it extremely difficult to work with as well.
Strange you say that cause I get the same effect from INW lemon Cake. I find it violently repulsive. When I smell a hint of it I feel like gagging. There's something about it that sets me off. FA Pandoro on the other hand, IMO is the Greek God of lemon Cakes. It's interesting how flavours can be so visceral.
I always think the same thing! It's amazing how all our palates are all different and pick up different things. That's why I always expect some differences when reading tasting notes. I always hope I taste what is described, and a lot of times do, but there are some that I get strange off notes with. I still haven't found a doughnut that isn't playdough. I have a list of quite a few popular flavors that I can't stand. And then some unpopular ones I actually like. They still are very helpful in what to expect and strength though :)
I've only had a few tries with INW Lemon Cake. I've only taken it up to 2% and this was when I tried it out the first time as a standalone. It's definitely very cakey, both texture and taste. However, I am getting a slightly waxy taste which is a bit off-putting. I can't really taste the lemon all that much, at least not to a level that would make un-mixable with other flavor profiles. So I'm currently trying to use the cake side of this concentrate in all sorts of cookie/cake recipes. I've even made a somewhat decent peanut butter cake, so I would say this flavor is quite versatile in that sense. The lemon might push through more at higher percentages, but I fear that the waxiness would increase as well, so I decided to keep it below 2%.
INW Lemon Cake is an old concentrate right? Cause i can't find it here in Europe. Anyone who knows a company in Europe that sell this baby?