Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake

Ultimate Lemon Pound Cake - made May 10, 2011 from Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham (book #105)

(ARGH - since Blogger went down on Wednesday/Thursday, it looks like it "ate" my last entry and only left an old draft that didn't get posted.  Re-writing and re-posting.  This should've gone before the ensaimada recipe.)

Although the lemons I used for this recipe came from my aunt's lemon tree rather  than my own (mine is still in the budding stage), making a lemon dessert gives me an excuse to post a pic of how my lemon tree is doing.  I planted a dwarf lemon tree back in January (dwarf because my backyard isn't very big) and it's grown about a 25-30% bigger than it was when I first planted it.  Last week I was gratified to note it's got a tiny little lemon growing out of what used to be a blossom.  That's rather  thrilling.  Of course, it's also rather tiny at the moment so it's probably going to be awhile before I can actually harvest any lemons from my own tree.  But still, it's kind of cool to see how it grows and where it comes from.  Truth be told, I never gave it that much thought before and probably wouldn't have if I wasn't growing it myself.  In the meantime, I'm still well supplied from the lemon trees of friends and relatives.

This is a fairly standard pound cake recipe - the tender texture comes from both the cake flour and creaming the ingredients together to incorporate more air.  The lemony flavor comes mostly from the lemon soaking syrup you brush over the hot cake after it's baked.  Brush a first layer over the cake, wait for it to be absorbed, and brush again until you've used all the syrup.  This cake is actually better the day after it's made, to give time for the lemon to be fully absorbed into the cake and for the flavors to meld.  It's a sturdy cake and can be used for picnics or care packages without worrying too much about it in transit.

3 ½ cups sifted cake flour (not self rising)

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 ¼ cups sugar, divided

6 large eggs

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon pure lemon extract

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ cup fresh lemon juice

1.      Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 300⁰F.  Butter and flour a 10-inch (12-cup) Bundt pan.

2.      Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together twice.

3.      Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in 1 ¾ cups of the sugar, about 3 tablespoons at a time, and continue beating until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the milk in batches, beginning and ending with the flour.  Stir in 1 tablespoon of the zest, the lemon extract and vanilla.

4.      Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.  Bake for 1 ½ hours or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

5.      Meanwhile, bring the remaining ½ cup sugar, 2 teaspoons zest, and the lemon juice to a boil over medium-high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

6.      Turn the cake out onto the rack and immediately brush the hot syrup over the hot cake.  Let cool to room temperature.  Serve the cake cut into wedges.

Linked to Everyday Sisters blog