Lemon Cake

Lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting and topped with candied lemon peel. It sounds like overkill, but the flavors are quite delicately balanced and leave you coming back for more.


Here is my standard, make-your-mouth-water lemon cake adapted from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties.


1/2 lb unsalted butter, room temp
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 extra large eggs, room temp
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6-8 large lemons)
3 cups all-purpose flour (or substitute 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sifted cake flour for each cup of AP)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 lb unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 lb cream cheese, room temp
1 lb powdered sugar, sifted
zest from 1-2 lemons (to taste)
lemon juice (as needed)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 loaf pans, two round cake pans, or a 12 cup bundt. Line cake or loaf pans with parchment; flour bundt.

2. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, and the lemon zest.

3. Sift together the flout, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, begining and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake (45 minutes to an hour for loaf and bundt pans, check round cake pans at 30 minutes) until they pass the toothpick test. (A toothpick inserted into the middle will come out with moist crumbs attached but no raw batter.)

4. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves.

5. When cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a rack set over a tray or cookie sheet and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. (Or use a pastry brush.) Allow the cakes to cool completely.

6. For the frosting, combine the butter and cream cheese in a mixer until smooth. Sift in the powdered sugar and add the lemon zest. Add lemon juice to taste to reach desired consistency. Frost cake, and enjoy. (Lemon curd or raspberry jam make excellent fillings if you want to use something other than the frosting for inside the cake.)

Breakfast of champions: I substituted grapefruit juice and zest for the cake and used the pulp in the frosting.


Kate

Yorkshire Pudding Pan Review and Piano Man's Birthday Dinner

Mom,


The pan is nice except for a couple things- because of its shape it tends to spill the drippings all over the oven- last Christmas I made puddings but forgot about the "minor" issue and almost ended up starting an oven fire. The whole cabin we were staying at was filled with smoke! The worst part? I couldn't keep them in the oven long enough to finish cooking so we went sans puddings for dinner. I think Piano Man (my piano-playing husband) almost cried- I caught him eating a half raw yorkshire when no one was looking! 

The other problem is that while the puddings turn out incredibly tall and beautiful, there just aren't enough! So I say stick with the muffin tin- there are lots of other fun gadgets and toys for the kitchen. 

I made some more the other day for Piano Man’s birthday dinner. I've tried to keep the tradition of the birthday person getting whatever they want for dinner. His meal of choice: prime rib with roasted veggies, yorkshire puddings, and my lemon cake for dessert (only he wanted to try something a little different, so I made it into a grapefruit cake...)

The Birthday dinner was a success. I made a two-rib standing rib roast (yes, just for the two of us- I wanted to make sure there were leftovers!) roasted carrots and onions, and yorkshire puddings. That's all he wanted, besides the cake. It all turned out beautifully!  While the roast was amazingly delicious (if I do say so myself), it was the cake that was the most interesting. It's based on the lemon loaf cake in Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Parties cookbook, but I make a few changes. I always use cake flour instead of all-purpose. It makes for a more tender cake. Just substitiute 1 cup plus 1 tbsp sifted cake flour (sifted twice- before and after measuring) for each cup of all purpose. And this time I used grapefruit instead of lemon and baked it in a bundt as I was short on time with a fussy baby. I also switch out the glaze for a delicate grapefruit cream cheese frosting. I still prefer the lemon version to the grapefruit, but Piano Man loved the grapefruit, so I think that's just a matter of taste. 


Kate