(Mostly) Organic Lemon Pound Cake
A bright and sunny Saturday calls for a bright and sunny lemon pound cake. I started by rifling through the kitchen cupboards to see what sort of ingredients my brother and his girlfriend keep on hand. Finding aspirin mixed in with the spices and an entire cupboard shelf dedicated to canned beans (which neither eat), I pulled everything out of the cupboards, threw out expired goods, made a bag to be donated and put everything back in an orderly and contained fashion. Then, I headed out to Whole Foods to buy what I needed for the pound cake. My roomies have a strong preference for organic goods, so I bought the organic version of every ingredient, except butter (because I grabbed the wrong package) and baking powder (because there wasn't an organic one available).
It takes me a lot longer to mix and prep food in an unfamiliar kitchen, but it felt nice to back at a kitchen counter, working the beaters and tasting batter in its many stages. This is the first time I've made this recipe, and the first time I've made an almost-wholly organic cake. It had three stages of flavor: the cake contained lemon zest and some juice, a lemon-sugar syrup brushed on the top of the warm cake, then finally a lemon juice and icing sugar glaze drizzled over the top. The glaze had the most lemony-tart flavor; the cake flavor was very mild.
Pound cakes are usually better after sitting a day, but I've never been able to wait that long before cutting a slice for myself. This time, though, I baked, syruped and glazed the cake, then left it to cool completely while I watched the UFC fights Saturday night (probably the only thing that could have made me forget there was a lemon pound cake cooling on the kitchen counter). I did have a small slice Saturday night, but there was still plenty left to sample the next day (shocking!). And it's true. This pound cake is much better the next day, moister and lemonier. If you can wait that long.
Lemon Pound CakeCook’s Country, 4/2006
Lemon pound cake is one of the simpler desserts you can make--just flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and flavoring--but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to make. Every little step during preparation can make or break the results.· For the lightest, most delicate texture, thoroughly cream the butter. The butter should be soft but still cool, and it should be whipped with the sugar until very airy, light, and almost white in color.
· Add a little baking powder. Classic recipes eschew chemical leaveners, but we much preferred the lighter crumb of cake leavened with the aid of baking powder.
· For the brightest lemon flavor, combine lemon juice and lemon zest in the cake; soak the cake in a lemon-flavored syrup; and glaze the cooled cake with a lemon-flavored glaze. A little sour cream in the cake batter helps boost the lemon flavor as well.
For best results, the butter should be between 65 and 70 degrees--it should give slightly when pressed with your finger but still hold its shape. You will need three lemons for this recipe.Cake:
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened but still cool, plus extra for greasing pan
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour , plus extra for dusting pan
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar plus 2 additional tablespoons
5 large eggs , at room temperature, beaten
Syrup:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
Glaze:
1/2 cup Confectioners' sugar , sifted
1 tablespoon lemon juice1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with butter; dust pan with flour, then tap out excess. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into bowl. Stir sour cream and lemon juice together in second bowl.
2. Using fingers, toss lemon zest and sugar together in large bowl until clumps are gone. Add butter and beat with electric mixer at medium-high speed until smooth and light, about 3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add beaten eggs in three additions, mixing until smooth and scraping down bowl after each addition (mixture will begin to look curdled). With mixer on low, add one-third of flour mixture, followed by half of sour cream mixture, stopping as necessary to scrape down bowl. Repeat, ending with flour mixture. Scrape down bowl, then mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Use rubber spatula to give batter final stir.
3. Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Gently tap pan on counter to release air bubbles. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 55 to 70 minutes.
4. For the syrup: While cake bakes, stir sugar and lemon juice together in saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 2 minutes, remove from heat, and set aside.
5. Cool cake in pan on cooling rack for 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Brush top and sides of still-warm cake with syrup and cool completely, about 2 hours.
6. For the glaze: Whisk confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in bowl until smooth. Spread glaze over cake, allowing some to drip down sides. Let glaze set for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Serves 8
Make Ahead:
The test kitchen found this cake to be more moist the day after it was baked. In fact, when tightly wrapped, the cake will stay fresh up to 5 days. This cake also freezes well. Apply syrup, let cool, and wrap, unglazed, in two layers of plastic wrap and freeze in a zipper-lock plastic bag for up to 1 month. When ready to serve, defrost the cake, still wrapped, at room temperature, then remove the plastic wrap and proceed with the recipe from stepTo Make Two Cakes:
Double all ingredients except the eggs, using 9 eggs (instead of 10). Cream the butter and sugar in step 2 for 6 minutes (rather than 3 minutes) and add the eggs in four additions (rather than three). Divide the batter between two buttered and floured loaf pans and bake as directed, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time.
Getting to Know All About You: Do you buy organic? What products?