Have you ever been walking through a store and you see “lemon pound cake” and wonder, “Does it really weigh a pound?” Well, by the time you’re done with this recipe, it won’t matter how much it weighs because it’s DELICIOUS! This is an adaptation of King Arthur Flour’s Lemon Bliss Cake. Here’s our Will Bake 4 Food twist:
Ingredients:
Cake:
WET:
^8 oz of butter, I always use salted, at room temp
2 C Granulated Sugar
4 Large Eggs, room temp
1 C milk, whole is best, room temp
Zest of 2 large lemons
DRY:
3 C All-Purpose flour
^½ t salt
2 t baking powder
^if using unsalted butter, increase salt in dry mixture to 1 t
Glaze:
1/3 C Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice (Use those two that you zested)
¾ C sugar
Icing (optional, but TRUST me, don’t skip it!):
1 ½ C powdered sugar, sifted
2 T salted butter, melted
1 ½ t. pure vanilla extract
2-3 T freshly squeezed Lemon juice (I had enough from my 2 lemons)
12-15 Candied lemon slices.
Other Stuff:
Bundt pan (10-12 cup)
Non-stick cooking spray, I use Baker’s Joy
Stand/handheld mixer, fitted with paddle/beater attachment
High rimmed serving platter
Heavy bottomed pot for glaze to dissolve
Small/medium mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Instructions:
Allow butter to come to room temperature. Measure out the milk and in a separate bowl break eggs open into a bowl to allow the chill to be knocked off while putting everything together. Preheat oven to 350DegF. Thoroughly grease a standard 10-12 Cup bundt pan.
In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This is the part that I’ve learned takes WAY longer than we might think. I literally set my timer for about 3 minutes and let it go. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl measure out flour salt and baking powder and whisk together, set aside.
Into the creamed butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. After the final addition, scrape down to bowl to ensure all of the creamed butter is coated and the mixture is homogeneous. Add the Dry mixture in three parts alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the dry. Lastly, pour in lemon zest and then give a final mix.
With a spatula spoon the batter into your pre-greased bundt pan and smooth the top out. TAP on a hard surface to release any air bubbles that may have formed in the batter from this pouring.
Bake in the center of the oven for about 55 minutes. I usually do “25 and turn” and then start testing after 50 minutes. Once a toothpick/cake tester come out clean midway from flute to edge of the pan, the cake is DONE!
In the last 5 minutes of baking, begin your glaze by combining the sugar and lemon juice in a heavy bottomed pot (or if you feel comfortable microwaving, that’s an option). Stir and place over med-high heat. Heat just until sugar is dissolved. No need to boil. Once cake has passed the done testing, remove from oven and carefully loosen edges of cake from pan with an offset spatula or a butter knife, Don’t forget the flute! With a cooling rack placed on the top of the pan, invert and allow the cake to cool for about 5 minutes in the pan. I like to put wax or parchment paper underneath my cooling rack during this time. Remove the pan and with a brush, apply glaze until it’s all gone; THIS is why I use wax paper. Let the cake cool completely before applying the final icing.
Mix the confectioner’s sugar, melted butter, and vanilla together then gradually add in the lemon juice to get the consistency that you would like. You may not use all of the lemon juice prepared.
Pour the icing over the cake making sure that the icing runs toward the inside as well as the outside of the bundt shape.
Finally, garnish by making a slit in the lemon slices and spreading them so that they stand up all around the iced cake.
It does take a little time, but the result of your guests eyes will be mesmerized by this Citrus Dream!
