lemon cake

After my midterm on Thursday, with a sack of lemons in my fist, I decided to finally make a lemony pound cake. I'll admit I only at about three bites of it (I left the rest out for the sorority sisters to sample), but since it went, I'll assume the first few bites were a decent indicator. The only thing I wasn't in love with about this cake was the crust, which felt a bit cornbread-like to me, but since I've made this before in a glass loaf pan (I used the glaze suggested by the original recipe that time) with superior results, I'll blame the silicone loaf pan. I am really not a big fan of silicone.

I think a ginger-vanilla glaze on top would be fantastic. I also think this would be delicious toasted and spread with a great strawberry jam.

This cake is ever so slightly adapted from David Herbert's Simply Perfect Every Time, a book I took home on a whim during an internship at a publishing house. I've tried some of the other recipes with mixed results. I used the juice from the meyer lemons I'd zested to make his lemon curd, and it came out quite nicely.

lemon cake

1 1/2 cups ap flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (I used meyer lemons)
3 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven the 325. Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine thoroughly. In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add the eggs, in three additions, alternating with one tablespoon of the flour mixture. Beat the rest of the flour mixture in on low speed. Spread the batter (it will be thick) in the pan. Bake for 55 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center emerges cleanly. Cool on a wire rack and serve.

Yields about eight delicious slices.