Texas Lemon Cake

Texas Lemon Cake - made March 29, 2014 from Food.com

I've done Texas Fudge Cake, Texas Vanilla Cake (several kinds of each), the brownie version of Texas Fudge Cake, and Texas Fudge Cookies. With lemons still to use up, I was delighted to find a lemon version of Texas Cake. Because my one-track baking mind is never far from the Texas Cake incarnations.

Although it wasn't chocolate or vanilla, it has the same hallmarks of a traditional Texas Cake in that the liquid ingredients are brought to a boil, added to the dry ingredients, poured into a sheet pan (or, in my case, a 9 x 13 pan) and baked. The only main difference is you do let the cake cool before pouring the lemon frosting over it rather than letting the frosting melt into the warm cake. Otherwise it was just as easy to make. I thought it had a great cakey texture and the sweetness of the frosting paired well with the flavor of the cake. A lot of the lemon flavor is derived from lemon extract rather than lemon zest or juice so that's probably the only tweak I would make; cut back on the extract and add more zest and juice. You can also give this more of a lemon punch by adding zest to the glaze, mixed into the glaze itself or sprinkled on top.

I reserved a small amount of batter to bake in a taste test ramekin and thought it tasted good. It's also easier to eat warm with the icing melting over it if you bake it in a ramekin in case you ever want to serve slightly warm as a "spoon dessert".

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons lemon rind, grated
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon extract

Icing
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract
3 cups powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, eggs and sour cream. Beat at medium speed until blended.
3. Combine butter, water, lemon rind, lemon juice and lemon extract in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add to flour mixture, stirring well. Pour into a greased and floured 15 x 10 x 1-inch jelly roll pan.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Alternatively, you can bake in a 9 x 13 pan but adjust for a longer baking time, 25-30 minutes.
5. Icing: Combine butter, milk and lemon extract in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Gradually add powdered sugar, stirring until mixture is spreading consistency. Spread frosting on top of cake. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.