Thursday, June 23, 2011

Lemon Pound Cake


Lemon Pound Cake
Before i loose anybody, this isn’t anything like the frozen pound cake you buy at the store. It’s closer to that lemon pound cake that they sell (or used to sell) at starbucks... only better. I found this recipe and it was too good not to share! I have barely changed the recipe, because it is such a good recipe to use.

Better Than Starbucks Lemon Pound Cake
adjusted from Dozen Flours
Cake
-5 good lemons
-3 cups flour- (i usually use ap while the original calls for cake flour. if you have both i would recommend a mix of half all purpose half cake flour)

-1/2 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, that is completely softened*
-3 cups of sugar
-6 eggs, warmed for 3 minutes in hot tap water before using
-1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
Glaze
-2 lemons
-2 cups powdered-sugar, sifted
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease your pans. (I use 2-3 bread pans, although you could use a tube or bundt pan. I just find that the bundt pan is difficult to remove from the pan and slice. In the bread pans it’s really tight in two and kinda small in three. The choice is up to you, just remember to adjust the cooking times accordingly. Around 50 mins for three loaves.
Scrub the lemons with hot soapy water to remove any dirt or wax (wax is often applide to lemons at the place where they are processed to protect against spoilage). Rinse well and dry completely. Zest the lemons, being careful to avoid the pith (the white part that is right below the yellow part of the lemon). With a very sharp paring knife, cut the tops and bottoms off of each lemon.

With one cut side down on the cutting board, trim the pith off the lemon, vertically, going all the way around each lemon, exposing the flesh of the lemon. (About.com has a great little tutorial how to do this. They illustrate the technique with an orange but it translates to any citrus fruit). Over a bowl, cut segments from membranes, letting fruit and juice fall into the bowl, and squeezing any juice in the remaining part of the lemon. Be sure to discard the seeds and the remaining membranes. With a fork, break segments into  approx. 1-inch pieces.





In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Set aside.
Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. 
Beat the butter for 2 minutes at medium speed in the electric mixer. Add half the sugar and mix for 2 more minutes, then add the rest of the sugar and mix again for 4 minutes, stopping once to scrape down the bowl and the beater blade. 
Remove the eggs from the warm water and dry them. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition (about 30 seconds). On the lowest setting, mix in the dry ingredients, then the sour cream. Lastly, gently fold in the lemon juice and segments. Transfer batter to prepared pan. 
Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean (depending on what pan you use anywhere from 45 min-1 hr and 30 mins). Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut around the cake in the pan, turn out the cake. Carefully turn cake right side up on rack. 
While the cake is cooling, zest and juice the 2 lemons in a bowl for the glaze. Slowly add the powdered sugar to the lemon juice and stir until smooth. It should look thick, opaque, and should be just thin enough to be pourable. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. Poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a fork or toothpick. Carefully pour the glaze over the tops and the sizes of the cake. If you have the patience let the glaze harden for about 2 hours or overnight. 
Store in a covered container, either in the fridge or at room temperature.

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