I love lemon cake, but I have often found that pound cakes and bundt cakes dripping in syrup or white frosting are too sweet for their (my) own good. This cake is the answer to my need for lemony-goodness without a bellyache. This cake is moist; it has sublime levels of lemon and sweetness, but it's not going to fill you with regret. Is this cake an after-dinner dessert? An afternoon snack? I think it works for both occasions.
The standard for the super sugary lemon cake that we're all familiar with (whether we know it or not) is Maida Heatter's East 62nd Street Lemon Cake. I used her cake as a starting point for this recipe, but then I changed everything. I significantly reined in the amount of sugar, switched from milk to buttermilk for extra tang, added some vanilla for a more complex flavor, and then added baking soda to complement the buttermilk. In fact, the only thing that I really kept from her cake ended up being the breadcrumbs that she uses to coat her bundt pan. They work so well! The hint of texture and the extra salt from packaged bread crumbs are magic creating the finest layer of "crust." Just make sure you don't accidentally use Italian bread crumbs!
NOTE ABOUT SIZE: This recipe makes one 6 cup bundt cake's worth of cake. If you'd like to make a 12 cup bundt cake, just double amount of each ingredient, and add about 15 minutes to bake time.
NOTE ABOUT BUTTER TEMPERATURE: This cake relies on creamed butter to help it rise. That means that you actually need your butter to be room temperature! I did not allow my butter to come to room temperature the second time I made this cake and, although the flavor and texture were fine, it was a much smaller cake.
NOTE ABOUT LEMON ZEST IN SUGAR: This allows the lemon to disperse better in your cake and helps to up the lemon flavor by releasing the oils. I don't know who discovered this, but it's all over the internet. I don't blindly trust "the internet," but it's right about this.
LEMON CAKE
Serves 7-8 . Takes 20 minutes to prepare, 50-60 minutes to bake. Adapted beyond recognition from Maida Heatter's East 62nd Street Lemon Cake
Equipment: 6 cup bundt pan, stand mixer or hand mixer
Ingredients
2-ish tablespoons fine breadcrumbs (cheap ones work well)
1 stick of butter at room temperature
2 eggs at room temperature
2/3 cup buttermilk at/near room temperature
3/4 cup white, granulated sugar
1.5 cups all purpose or cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Diamond Kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon zest (zest from 1 large lemon)
Glaze to finish
2 scant tablespoons lemon juice
2 slightly heaped tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
STEP ONE
Bring your butter, eggs, and buttermilk to room temperature. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
STEP TWO
Grease your bundt pan and then dust the with breadcrumbs. Make sure you get the round part in the middle! Once crumbs are distributed tap the side of your bundt pan while you hold it over the sink to get rid of any extra bread crumbs. In a medium sized bowl mix together your flour, baking soda, and salt, and then set aside.
STEP THREE
Measure your 3/4 cup of sugar and put it in a the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl Then remove 1 tablespoon of sugar from the 3/4 cup and place in a small bowl. Mix your lemon zest in with one tablespoon of sugar. Don't be afraid to smoosh your lemon zest and sugar together so that the lemon oil is released. Set your zest-sugar mixture aside.
STEP FOUR
Cream your butter and sugar on medium speed until butter lightens and becomes puffy. Add one egg at a time to sugar mixture mixing on medium-low until each egg is incorporated. Next add half of the flour mixture to the butter-egg-sugar and fold in. Fold in the buttermilk, vanilla and the lemon zest with sugar, and then fold in the second half of the flour mixture.
STEP FIVE
Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake in center of the oven for 45-55 minutes until tester comes out clean. Don't over bake. The top doesn't need to take on color for it to be done.
STEP SIX
Allow cake to cool for 5 minutes. Use this time to make your glaze, combing 2 heaped tablespoons of sugar with 2 scant tablespoons of lemon juice and microwave until warmed and sugar melts. Set lemon syrup aside, and use a spatula to carefully nudge the edges of the cake away from the sides of the pan.
STEP SEVEN
Invert cake onto cooling rack or a plate lined with parchment paper. Use a silicone brush to paint the glaze onto the cake. Allow cake to cool completely (1-2 hours), then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
This cake keeps well covered on the counter (away from sun and heat for 3 days). It can be refrigerated for longer.
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