[Recipe] Glazed Lemon Pound Cake.
I decided to get a bit of an early start on the whole 250-new-recipes-in-a-year project, and after a quick stop by the grocery store for various supplies got home and began working on my first piece. (This recipe is straight from Emeril's Potluck, page 267.)
Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons lemon zest (this is equal to 1/8 cup, or about as much as I was able to get by cheese-grating the outer skin of 2 medium lemons; trust me, trying to gather lemon zest into a 1/4 cup is much easier than trying to do so into tablespoons)
* 1 1/2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon, cake flour (I used all-purpose flour, and it did not seem to turn out bad at all)
* 1 1/4 cups white sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (instead I used 2 tablespoons of reconstituted lemon juice -- you know, the stuff that looks like it's in yellow hand grenades at the market?)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* Lemon Glaze (recipe follows) (don't make this until your cake is out of the oven and cooling on the wire racks)
Method
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan with 1 tablespoon butter, and dust with 1 tablespoon cake (or all-purpose) flour, tapping out the excess.
3. Place the 1/2 pound butter and the lemon zest in a small saucepan set over low heat. Gently melt the butter, whisking constantly. Set aside near your mixer.
4. Sift the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside with the melted butter and mixer.
5. Combine the sugar, eggs, and lemon juice in the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the whip attachment to beat the mixture on medium speed for about 30 seconds. (Lacking a whip attachment, I merely used the usual paired mixer beaters. It seemed to turn out fine.) Reduce the speed to low, and in a slow and steady stream pour the melted butter and lemon zest into the mixing bowl. Add the sifted flour mixture in 3 parts to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the standing mixer. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure an evenly blended batter. Mix the batter just until mixed, add the sour cream, and mix to blend.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and continue to bake the cake until the top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan after 20 minutes of baking. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan (tougher than it might sound; I recommend using a knife to divide between the side of the cake and the loaf pan before attempting to upend your cake. If you don't, you may lose portions off the top of your cake without actually getting the cake out of the pan. Voice of experience there...) and continue to cool on the rack until just warm. Pour the lemon glaze over the cake while just warm.
Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon lemon zest (I skipped this bit, having run out of fresh lemons to zest; the final product tastes quite good even without it)
Method
Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest and use immediately.
(As you can see, though, it's highly recommended that you put paper towels down underneath the wire cooling racks to catch any overflow from the glaze. Trust me, you WILL have some.)
Despite my complete inexperience with making cakes (I've only made cookies, muffins, and the solitary attempt at bread in the past), this turned out astonishingly good. It's sweet, light, incredibly delicious cake and the sweet tartness of the lemon glaze adds an excellent kick. I just about had a foodgasm when I took my first bite. Highly recommended, and I'll no doubt be making this again in the future... either for others, or to keep all to myself. : )
Crossposted from Kitchenklutz.
Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
* 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon, at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons lemon zest (this is equal to 1/8 cup, or about as much as I was able to get by cheese-grating the outer skin of 2 medium lemons; trust me, trying to gather lemon zest into a 1/4 cup is much easier than trying to do so into tablespoons)
* 1 1/2 cups, plus 1 tablespoon, cake flour (I used all-purpose flour, and it did not seem to turn out bad at all)
* 1 1/4 cups white sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (instead I used 2 tablespoons of reconstituted lemon juice -- you know, the stuff that looks like it's in yellow hand grenades at the market?)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* Lemon Glaze (recipe follows) (don't make this until your cake is out of the oven and cooling on the wire racks)
Method
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center position, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan with 1 tablespoon butter, and dust with 1 tablespoon cake (or all-purpose) flour, tapping out the excess.
3. Place the 1/2 pound butter and the lemon zest in a small saucepan set over low heat. Gently melt the butter, whisking constantly. Set aside near your mixer.
4. Sift the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Set aside with the melted butter and mixer.
5. Combine the sugar, eggs, and lemon juice in the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the whip attachment to beat the mixture on medium speed for about 30 seconds. (Lacking a whip attachment, I merely used the usual paired mixer beaters. It seemed to turn out fine.) Reduce the speed to low, and in a slow and steady stream pour the melted butter and lemon zest into the mixing bowl. Add the sifted flour mixture in 3 parts to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the standing mixer. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure an evenly blended batter. Mix the batter just until mixed, add the sour cream, and mix to blend.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and continue to bake the cake until the top is a deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the pan after 20 minutes of baking. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan (tougher than it might sound; I recommend using a knife to divide between the side of the cake and the loaf pan before attempting to upend your cake. If you don't, you may lose portions off the top of your cake without actually getting the cake out of the pan. Voice of experience there...) and continue to cool on the rack until just warm. Pour the lemon glaze over the cake while just warm.
Lemon Glaze
Ingredients
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon lemon zest (I skipped this bit, having run out of fresh lemons to zest; the final product tastes quite good even without it)
Method
Sift the confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest and use immediately.
(As you can see, though, it's highly recommended that you put paper towels down underneath the wire cooling racks to catch any overflow from the glaze. Trust me, you WILL have some.)
Despite my complete inexperience with making cakes (I've only made cookies, muffins, and the solitary attempt at bread in the past), this turned out astonishingly good. It's sweet, light, incredibly delicious cake and the sweet tartness of the lemon glaze adds an excellent kick. I just about had a foodgasm when I took my first bite. Highly recommended, and I'll no doubt be making this again in the future... either for others, or to keep all to myself. : )
Crossposted from Kitchenklutz.