lemon cake
Though a big fan of the small nuances that remind you that home cooked food is precisely that — tart crusts with the inevitable corner pieced together from a scrap, a dark spot on loaf of bread that wasn’t rotated in the oven in time — I find it nearly impossible to eat something I’ve made without making a mental note of how I’d do it differently next time. More hot pepper. Less baking time. Ease up on the olive oil. Blanche the peppers for thirty seconds less.
Which kind of brings us to the lemon pound cake (made here in bundt form) from Ina Garten, a name I’m almost embarrassed to mention I am using as a source once again, as I know I said just a couple weeks ago that we should spend some time apart. I can’t resist this cake though, I think it’s one of the ten great cakes every cook should have tucked into their repertoire. It’s buttery yet bright, and nearly every granule of sugar has been countered by fresh lemon in some form so it never lands cloying or saccharine on your tongue. It keeps well, travels wells and if you make it in pound cake form, you even have an extra that you should feel in no way obliged to share.
So Debbie Downer, what went wrong this time? Well, the lemon syrup that in basting the warm cake with, raises it to that higher plane of moisture-packed crumb, it wouldn’t absorb! When the large spoonfuls rolled down the sides and pooled at the bottom, I made them smaller and smaller until I could find an amount the cake would agree to absorb – but one or two droplets at time. I suspect this is something like feeding a child, where you beg and plead for the thing to just take in two bites and we’ll call it a day. But, as no child’s well-being rested on the absorption of syrup, when fatigue called twenty minutes into this expedition, I simply dumped the remaining liquid over the cake, absorption be damned as it flooded the plate underneath, gumming it nearly permanently to rack underneath, which is by the way the second thing I would do differently next time: not let the cake cement itself to it’s base, so that when it needs to be transferred to a cake carrier, it loses small chunks and the otherwise flawless white glaze becomes cracked.
I remember having this problem the last time I made the cake, but it was less significant in the pound cake form, with it’s more level top surface. Yet this time, I could taste the lack of extra moisture. Without that basting, this cake is wonderful, but a lot more like the simple pound cake it’s based on. Not sure how I’ll do it differently next time — would a lemon syrup-filled syringe be considered a step too far? — but without a doubt, I will be musing over this for a while. Let me know if you’ve tried this, and found anything that worked better. My unrelenting inner persnicketer is dying to know.
Lemon Cake
Adapted from ‘Barefoot Contessa Parties!’
Yield: 2 loaf cakes (or one bundt)
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted.
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8 1/2-by-4 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Cream butter and 2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Mixing at medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, and lemon zest.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to butter and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Divide batter evenly between pans, smooth tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
4. Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
5. When cakes are done, let them cool 10 minutes. Invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cakes cool completely.
6. For glaze, combine confectioners’ sugar and remaining 3 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a whisk until smooth. Pour over top of cakes, and allow glaze to drizzle down the sides.
I really like the way your icing looks! And unfortunately I can’t recommend something better… I would suggest however, asking http://www.culinaryconcoctionsbypeabody.com/ how to fix it, she’s doing things with cracked cheesecake I just wouldn’t think of!
Using a bundt pan just dresses things up so much more than a rectangular cake.
One option might be to use a skewer or a toothpick (or hey, even a fork) to poke holes into the cake before spooning the glaze over it. It will help the syrup get into the cake more easily.
what if you slipped some foil over the bundt so the top is doughier (sp?) instead of that crisper top? that might make the surface more absorbent. i love this cake too! the first time i made it i ran out of lemons to juice and used the refrigerated lemon juice. GAH. i called it napalm cake until it redeemed itself the next time. now it’s the best cake i’ve ever had. :)
Brilynn – Thanks, I’ll have to check her out.
Gretchen – I tried that, but maybe not enough? It seemed like a lot of holes. Coincidentally, I saw this similar suggestion on Chowhound today, convincing me that I should do more next time. Since you coat the top with the liquid icing sugar, you never see the holes anyway.
Bawdy – I’ve been tempted many times, hand squeezing all those lemons and straining the juice, to use bottled but I agree there is no comparison. Next time, I’d like to make this with meyer lemons, if I can find them without breaking the bank.
As you know, I didn´t have much luck with the syrup either. In my case, it was because the syrup was too thick, so if that´s the case with you, I´d try making it more liquid.
Another tip I´ve heard for this type of cake is to have two different temperatures: that is, if the syrup is hot, the cake must be at room temperature, if the syrup is cold, the cake must be hot. Apparently, if both things are hot or cold, the cake won´t absorb the syrup properly.
I´m gonna try this recipe myself again and see how it goes, since it had great potential and was yummy even with this problem.
Cake(eee) Monster says “Chocolate version better!”
Ive made it a dozen (or so) times and havnt had an issue. {hears deb say .. Well la de freakin dah good for you}
When i removed the cakes from the oven I immed ladel the syrup (hot as well) over the cakes… I let them sit a few mins then flip them over so the syrup absorbs more evenly.
I’m going to introduce it as a cupcake around Christmas.. My customers love all things lemon.
My two cents…
If I am reading the recipe correctly, one is to wait about 10 or so minutes before drizzling the lemony goodness? What if you didn’t wait and did the drizzle immediatly out of the oven? I have a carrot cake recipe that does not have the traditional cream cheese frosting, but rather a glaze. If the glaze does not go on immediatly after pulling the cake out of the oven, it just pools right up. For what it’s worth…
I’ve never followed this recipe, and this approach might be riddled with problems for other reasons (like making it hard to turn out of the pan), but you might try putting the syrup on right out of the oven while the cake is still in the pan, and then turning it out – that way the syrup has no escape. It’s worked well for me in the past….
I made the white batter bread today with hummus for some friends, and all I have to say is THANK YOU! It was awesome, totally moist and delicious. It turned out great even though it was my first attempt at bread (i´ve made pizza before, but not bread). Of course, it helps that I´ve seen my mom make bread tons of times and I know how the dough is supposed to feel, but still, I think virtually anyone could pull it off.
So thank you for the recipe and all the tips. Unfortunately, this means I´ll have to keep trying your recipes… and keep on adding meat to my latin bum hahaha
i AGREE.. POKE TINY HOLES WITH A NEEDLE! SO AS NOT TO DISRUPT THE EVENTUAL NICE SMOOTH SURFACE, THEN SPOON THE HOT SYRUP OVER WHILE IN THE OVEN PAN, BEFORE THE TOP WAS COMPLETELY BAKED, SAY ABOUT…25-30 MINUTES INTO THE BAKING, AFTER SETUP BUT BEFORE IT BECOMES COMPLETELY DRY. OOPS, SORRY ABOUT CAPS :(
THEN NOTHING GETS MUSHY.
I don’t think the syringe filled with syrup is in any way over the top. In fact I think its the perfect idea esp if hte syrup and cake are both hot.
I love this site…the recipes…the ideas. Its going to make me so fat.
That looks so good! I am one who loves all things lemon. I highly recommend eating the lemon cake while drinking pinepaple white tea. Actually, it’s probably better that you don’t. Once you start, there is no stopping.
I think the cake looks wonderful! I make a cream cheese pound cake with lime glaze (it’s yummy! http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/recipedetail.cfm?objectid=E07EE2EE%2DC5B8%2D4B34%2D88B5E1EA81F8DB0A) and use a pastry brush to apply the glaze. It works really well. You might want to try that…
Now here’s a quandary of mine that likely just sounds like semantics. The recipe says: “Invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cakes cool completely.”
I interpreted “invert them onto” as “flip them out onto”, because the first time I made cake, I did the former and ended up with a really messed-up top where the lovely curve top of the cake gummed itself to the rack as it cooled. That said, when I did it the first way, I definitely had the best absorption, as when you peel back the parchment paper, you have a nice porous surface. (Needless to say, the bundt cake pan wasn’t lined with parchment paper!) Since then, I have assumed she meant the more-traditional “flip them out onto” so the cakes cool right-side up, as they do in most recipes.
Which leads me to believe Cupcakes has the right idea, and also bragging rights (heh) because she’s never had this problem: a couple minutes upside down and then cooling it the rest of the way right-side up.
I’m definitely thinking hot syrup + hot cake will lend to the best absorption next time, as many of you have suggested. (I’m too scared to ladle the syrup over while it’s in the pan, as even a dry-ish cake is better than one that never came out of the tin! Wimpy me.)
But, this doesn’t really solve the same problem for Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake, which is intended for a bundt pan. (I forgot to mention that they are really the exact same recipe, with, you know, the orange replaced for lemon and added chocolate.) I had the same problem when I made that a couple weeks before, but I was more patient, not quitting until every last drop was painstakingly dribbled on. In both cases, I ended up using a pastry brush, but it didn’t make it absorb much, just gave them both a shiny-ish and not-very-pretty exterior.
See how the syringe idea gets more and more tempting?
343 words on syrup-basting techniques! I think this must be a record.
Marce – Glad you loved the white batter bread.
Jen – I totally want to make that cake, too, but you see, I have these people (SantaDad, husband and most of the Russians) who don’t understand the purpose of non-chocolate desserts and occasionally even heckle them. What pests, right?
SantaDad – See above.
oooh, pretty pretty! i bet that looks awesome on a nice cake stand! i need to make cake for a dinner party this weekend, this looks so good! thanks for the recipe :)
Why are you trying to make me fat? Seriously, can’t you write a diet or exercise blog? I’d even accept one about personal growth (although I would complain bitterly about it each time I see you). This only makes me salivate all day and then return home to an empty kitchen full of take out menus and bad ideas. I blame you for my weight gain and Jocelyn for my drinking problem. I’m so glad there are blogs so I don’t have to take personal responsibility for anything.
Aria – And you can even make it a day in advance, maybe two. I think it keeps pretty well. You can put the white glaze the day you want to serve it.
Jill – I mean, I could be. I did bring like 150 miniature cupcakes to your apartment a couple weeks ago, way more than you’d ever need. But, my cruelty seems fair in exchange for the new liver Alex will have to buy me before I’m 35 due to the excess I’m incapable of saying no to in your presense.
That said, my diet blog would be heinously boring. “This morning, I had Stoneyfield Farms Strawberry Yogurt with 1/8 cup Bear Naked Granola and an iced skim no-foam sugar-free latte. For lunch I had steamed vegetable dumplings and a green salad…” See, I did. But you’re already sleeping. Shoot, I’m already sleeping.
Anyway, you should make these or these for you and Joc. Healthy and tasty! Zzzzzzz….
What you can do is take a tea towel/hand towel and that pretty new pot alex bought you (blah i want 1) and make a lil bed for the crown of the bundt to rest on so it doesnt smush.. pour on the syrup, let it sit and take it off the tea towel and let it rest so the syrup absorbs more evenly. The problem with trying to use any syrup on the top part of the cake is the cakes surface.. it has a “crust” so to speak.. the heat from the oven basically seals the top of the exposed surface.
The analogy you used about the parchment paper is great, i was trying to think of a way to describe my point..
Thats why you’re the writer and Im just Tims crazy stalker.
Personally I think that your cake looks fab. I recently used a Stephanie Alexander recipe for a glazed lemon cake – not using a bundt, and using granular sugar and a hot syrup over a hot cake gets great absorption. Also the cake is glazed while still in the pan – leaving the glaze to simply sink in. Personally I like it when glaze dribbles down the side of cakes. It says something about abundance and that is what cakes are all about!
Deb. I just realized…in over a year of reading and posting on blogs…you are the nicest blogger I have ever met. You always make an effort to respond to multiple peoples posts, and, so far, you are the only one I have ever been to that really does that consistantly, if at all! I just had to say that, because you are the first blog I ever read consistantly, and you are like, still the best one. Funny, in a neat kinda way.
Hi all–
On the topic of lemon syrup/glaze…if you use a long skewer, the wood kind, you can poke a lot of holes with no damage to the cake. I do this the minute I pull the cake out of the pan, then drizzle the hot syrup over. You could definitely do it both ways–on the bottom while still in the pan, then again once you invert it onto a cooling rack. THEN just because gilding the lily is always a way of life for me, add your lovely glaze to drizzle down the sides. That way you get that extra blast of lemony-sweet when you get an outside bite. Also I’ve found that using non-stick bundt pans create less “crust” on the outside. Love this site, you all rock! I’ve been on a lemon tart binge this past year, apparently I need to get back to cakes once in a while…I’m lucky, my in-laws can’t eat chocolate, so I get to use them for lemony dessert guinea pigs :)
I poked holes in the BOTTOM of the cake[s] with a long metal skewer (didn’t want holes in the top and I, like you, read the directions to say to turn cakes out) and poured the syrup in from the bottom and let the cakes settle/soak on wire racks.
However, I made several individual pound cakes with the recipe, rather than one bundt cake.
You know, I followed the recipe to a tee and I found it overly lemony and soursweet. I didn’t love it and I was so disappointed because Ina loves the many steps when it comes to cakery baking.
A year Later! I am just seeing this recipe now yet am feeling compelled (by the glaze ghost?) to respond.
The instructions say to cool the cake completely before pouring the glaze over it. This is why you were having the glaze absorption problem. The cake has to be warm when pouring the glaze onto it. The cooler the glaze is, the warmer the cake has to be for it to absorb the glaze.
I see that #5 Marce responded with the same type of solution.
I’ve been looking for the perfect lemon pound cake recipe-thanks!
can’t wait to try this one…
This is so, so yummy. Made it over the weekend, “one of the greats” is right.
I’ve made this recipe about 5 times now over the last year. I’ve completely eliminated the powdered sugar+lemon juice glaze, it doesn’t need it, in my opinion. It tastes like lemon glue to me. By the 3rd time, I went the bundt cake vs pound cake route. I allow it to cool about 15 minutes, flip it right side up onto an open grid rack. Then I used a pastry brush & painted the lemon juice+sugar syrup all over it, allowing it to drip off & through the rack, therefore no soaking of the bottom. I didn’t even use all of the syrup. I’d rather have it less moist vs gummy…blechhhhh. This recipe also works really well as a cupcake without ANYTHING else on it. I recognize that this may be wayyyy too minimal for some folks but, I’m telling you, it works, it’s yummy. So there you have it!
Do you think this cake would be way too heavy to make as a layer cake/birthday cake type thing? I’m looking for a good lemon birthday cake recipe…
I am curious about the need to both grease and flour AND line with parchment paper. I just started using parchment paper for cookies and such, but thought that the whole idea of parchment paper meant you don’t need to grease and flour everything first (this is usually a messy affair, and I don’t like the little clumps of flour and layer of flour on my cakes).
By the way, this cake looks wonderful! I was looking for a recipe to use up some buttermilk that’s in the fridge. I’m off to buy some fresh lemons!
hi
- i too am interested in knowing if this would be too heavy as a layer cake.
- also does anyone know how many cups of batter this recipe makes?
- in previous posts (#6/#15)there was mention of a chocolate version. where can i find the recipe?
Pound cakes are generally too heavy for layer cakes, but it is not that it can’t be done. Personally, I’d use more of a traditional, lighter layer cake. Bundts hold about 12 cups of batter if filled to the top, this is probably less (maybe 10 cups). There is an orange chocolate chunk cake also in the archives, very similar to this.
I made the lemon pound cake yesterday and I had a problem I’ve never experienced before. They fell just before they were due to come out of the oven. Have any of you experienced this with this recipe? The cakes look funky but taste wonderful!
Hi guys! This looks like a really great recipe…I’m trying it out as a cupcake. Any recommendations about baking times? Also, I’m freezing them for future use, would that compromise the texture? Thanks, and thanks for the great recipe!
I am about to confess something semi-shameful: my dad requests the old Bacardi Rum Cake every Christmas, which requires a lot of soaking in rum glaze. So I bake the thing, turn it out of the pan and brush glaze on it. Then I pour some glaze into the Bundt pan, drop the cake back in there, and pour over the rest of the glaze. The cake sits in its little bath of rum and liquid sugar, and turns out gorgeously with only the slightest bit of syrupy rivulets.
The idea of putting the cake back in the pan is scary the first time, but now I hardly have to think about it. *g* I am SO looking forward to trying out this fantastic-looking lemon cake in the same way!
I just wanted to jump in and say hi to all the wonderful people on this blog. I just discovered this site through Alexis Stewart’s blog and love all the fabulous recipes and helpful comments. Deb, you are truly a gift to us.
Wherever I went wrong it was a good place.. well I know, I made one cake not two and started out halving the ingredients but then forgot and added the doubles, roughly as is my want – so 250g butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and three eggs, 4 lemons but they were good ones, 2 cups flour and everything else sort of approximately as suggested, poured the syrup and the glaze over soon out of the oven and tried the flipping it over things, and all in all – wow, pretty good cake. Served warm and fresh. Could only be made wowier with lemon curd icecream..
excellent
I made this cake for Christmas Eve. I like lemon cake, but I have to say this was totally amazing! Such an amazing cake. It was a brilliant non-chocolate addition to an otherwise chocolate-soaked holiday season. Not that I mind the chocolate! But this was sooooo good…
I used a bundt pan–the two-cake recipe works nicely for one bundt pan. I tried drizzling the syrup on partly with the cake upside-down and the rest right-side-up, that seemed to work nicely. When I was putting on the glaze I wasn’t sure if I needed an entire recipe, but when we ate the cake, everyone wanted extra glaze, so I definitely wouldn’t skimp on it in the future. Anyway–everyone loved this cake. Thanks for a great recipe!
Which part of the recipe is the syrup? I can’t determine it.
It’s step 4, the combined 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice.
I just made this over the weekend for my mother-in-law’s birthday. It was a BIG hit! You’re right, definitely a top 10, especially in a bundt pan. I actually tried the syringe method after reading the comments and it went pretty well. Still a little tedious, but definitely worth the extra time. This recipe is definitely a keeper. THANKS!
ok, the two piece tube pan did not work. my cake fell apart. so my family got to eat some of the ugly cake. and, it tastes yummy! second try in loaf pans was great. they look pretty, just a tad small. zesting 12 lemons was SOOOO worth it.
I have just found this website, and absolutely love it. Cooking is fun for me, and I’m always looking for new ways to do stuff. All you people who comment on the recipes are probably very much younger than I am (you all talk like my grown daughters), but the love of fixing food is a great equalizer. Anyway, this recipe is similar to an orange cake that I have made, and the trick is to first use a skewer to punch holes in the top of the cake and then pour the hot syrup over the cake when it comes out of the oven and still in the bundt pan, then leave it to cool off before taking it out of the pan. Put the glaze on when the cake is cold, and you could put wax paper under the cake in three or four small pieces which you can pull out when the glaze is cool. Thereby leaving no messy plate. I am making this cake for my husband’s 86th birthday.
I do the lemon pound cake from Everyday Food all the time and if you poke holes in the top with a skewer (lots of holes) while they are warm and the syrup is warm it does get in there and then the holes get covered with the icing glaze at the end. They will never get a moist as my grandma made (she died with that secret – well I never thought to ask!) but they are a close second. And a really yummy tip for this – skip the icing glaze, make a summer berry sauce (we have TONS of blueberry farms here in Mission), cut off thickish slices, grill them and pour the warm sauce over them. YUMMM!!! And don’t forget that glass of bubbly!
I made this with Meyer lemons that are in season. It was very good. I couldn’t wait till the cake to cool and had a slice slightly warm.. mmm…
the syrup thing does not work for me, i poured it while the cake is still hot in the bundt pan. i didn’t want to poke too many holes in the cake so the syrup only soaked on the top and sides of the cake. Delicious nonetheless! Maybe next time i’ll try to use a thin long prong or needle instead of the fat skewer i had..
you’ve motivate me to get a bundt pan last night. thanks!! so pretty…
oh… should make some lemon curd while i’m at it… what? i’m not crazy…
Deb:
I found your site about two months ago. Your recipes are absolutely fantastic. I know this is an adaptation…but I love this recipe any way.
This may be excessive, but this is what I did with the lemon syrup. I think I poked about 100 holes in my cake with a metal testing stick. Then I took a skinny baster and dribbled the syrup on the cake very slowly over the holes. There was still a lot of syrup run off, but it absorbed a lot of it.
I modified the glaze and made a raspberry glaze. The pink glaze contrasted nicely with the cake, and it was a nice balance of tart and sweet. I garnished with fresh mint and fresh raspberries.
So, I FINALLY made this. It was great, very lemony pound cake….. Ate way too much and no regrets!
Looks delicious, but I don’t have a bundt pan and would still like it to look nicer than a loaf; can I make this in a spring-form pan?
Check out this awesome page for cake pan size conversions. I have only done this in the bundt or two loaf pan versions.
I make a key lime version of this cake, and what I do is cool the cake for 15 minutes, while still in the pan, then jiggle the pan to ensure the cake is loose, then skewer holes into it, and pour the syrup over the top of the cake. I leave it soaking in the pan for 10 minutes, then pour off the syrup that has pooled to the bottom of the pan into a measuring cup, and then pour it back over the cake. This sits for another 10 minutes before I turn it out onto a wire rack.
For anyone else going to try this, I had great success using a basting brush to get the syrup on. It really was too difficult using the spoon, lol.
i also had great success with a basting brush! great cake.
This is IT! The perfect lemon cake. Tastes just like the one I buy at Starbucks. Its a little labor intensive and I had problems with the lemon syrup soaking in too. I do think next time I will make the syrup with a tad less sugar and a bit more lemon juice, then poke holes in it. That lemon syrup really makes the flavor POP! I also noticed it dries out super quick. So wrap it up tightly with plastic wrap. THANK YOU for your recipe find!
the best thing about your blog is the wonderful pictures :) I just discovered this page and now visit everyday!
Made this as a bundt cake last week and I also had trouble with the syrup which I tried pouring while both cake and syrup were still warm. The cake itself had great flavor but I thought it was a little drier than I would have preferred. However, the texture improved over a few days and my coworkers loved it when I took the leftover half to work.
I also brush the syrup on when the cake is straight out of the oven. Works great for me! I also poke a few holes in the cake with a toothpick for better absorption..
Thanks for this recipe – I made it once at home, then a few weeks later for a party, because it was so, so good. I overheard someone who didn’t know me saying, “Oh my god, did you have that lemon cake?” It was a hit all around!
Hi, I halved the recipe but it turned out just as amazing as promised! two people already asked me for the recipe and I’ve directed them to your site. Thanks for sharing!
Deb,
I’ve been making recipes from your website for some time now but this is the first time I have reviewed a recipe. Like you, I love the art of cooking. I just wanted to say thanks for all the wonderful stories and recipes.
As for my review of this lemon cake well…it was wonderful. My family especially loved the fantastic texture of the cake. I am going to make it again soon using orange instead of lemon. My husband even requested it in grapefruit! I might just give that a try. He does have good ideas from time to time.
I’ve been wanting to make something that I can bring into work for a treat and finally settled on this. Not quite enough lemons, so I usaed half lemon juice, 1/4 lime juice and 1/4 run and just mixed them together so some of it went into the cake, some was the syrup and the rest was used to make the glaze. Sooooo good. I had to immediately freeze 2/3 of the cake I was keeping for myself so I wouldn’t eat it all.
Now I want to experiment with using combos of citrus & herbs in the future. I am thinking lemon & basil, pineapple & rosemary or orange and tarragon!!
Hello –
I have discovered your website and I think I’m going to love it! I love all the ideas and the discussion. Looking forward to learning from all of you out there!
S
PS Liz – I would have never thought to put lemon and basil together! Mmmmm sounds delicious!
Deb – made this and it smells SO good! Was that supposed to be a 10 cup or a 12 cup bundt? Seemed a little … short for my 12 c. bundt pans (yeah, that’ll make me not eat it – hah)
Thanks for your site, and congrats on your wee bairn!
deb, why is everything you make wonderful. Seriously.
Hi! Commenting from Canada. How much are ‘2 sticks of butter’? Thanks! I have really had a craving for lemon cake lately.
2 sticks of butter equals 1 cup.
Hi! I somehow stumbled onto your site and it is great! The photos look amazing too. I had a look at the cake pan conversion page you mentioned but I don’t really get it, so thought I’d ask. I don’t have a bundt or loaf tin, could I make this in one 8in round deep cake tin? Or would I need two of those? Might have to buy a bundt tin cos it looks so pretty! I can’t wait to make this cake! Thanks!
Also, slightly off topic – do you have a recipe for a Key Lime Pie – I am from England, so after some Google searches, am still a bit confused as to a traditional recipe (and I’ll have to just use regular limes)!
A very good cake that I will definitely make again. I made 2 loaf cakes to give to 2 neighbors as thank you gifts. I had a 1/2 pint of raspberries on hand so I added them. First, however, I tossed the raspberries with 1 TBS of flour.
i am planning to make this cake this weekend for my sister’s birthday. she is a huge fan of lemon. the party is on saturday, but we will be travelling on friday. can i make this and freeze it? or if i make it on thursday, will it still be good on saturday? any suggestions?
It will freeze well. I would not glaze it until you are ready to serve it, however.
made this (with only one lemon). delicious!
Excellent!! I didn’t have any ‘absorption’ problems. I think hot cake, hot glaze and a brush instead of spooning is the trick. It really was phenomenal and I took it to work where there was moans from the entire floor!
Hey Deb,
I was planning on making gingerbread cookies today (have some molasses I need to get rid of), using Martha Stewart’s recipe, but I wanted to add a citrus-y zing to them, kind of like lebkuchen. Do you think that this glaze would work well on cookies? Would I need to make adjustments in amounts, etc.? Thanks!
Sara — This is not a glaze that hardens. For cookies, you probably want a glaze based on a Royal Icing. Martha Stewart has many recipes/approaches to it on her site (such as linked from those snowflakes, which I made in December and were the spicy-best!).
I poke the cake with a toothpick as soon as it comes out of the oven and pour the syrup on before turning the cake out of the bundt pan.
I haven’t read through everyone’s posts, so it’s possible someone has already suggested this. But when I make my lemon cakes (not this recipe, but my own concoction), I spoon the hot syrup over the hot cake while it’s still in the pan… just pour it over. Let it cool about 10 mins, then unmold. Any longer cooling time and the syrup will cause the cake to stick to the pan. I believe this is actually how some of those famous lemon cake bakers do theirs, too – pouring hot syrup over hot cake. Both have to be piping hot in order for it to absorb into the cake.
It looks lovely, however, and I’m actually going to try this recipe out. I haven’t made mine in quite some time and never really wrote it down completely, so I’m hoping this one will turn out even better than I remember mine being!
Okay so I realize this recipe/posting is years old but I was wondering if you solved your icing dilemma? A trick I learned when working at a bakery was to take your reserved lemon juice and slowy, over a couple hours, work in some regular sugar to make a simple lemon syrup. Making sure not to stir for at least 30 minutes before you apply to your cake to let the undissolved sugar sink to the bottom. Then dab on the cake with a pastry brush taking care not to hit the sugar at the bottom of your bowl, and coat the cake two or three times. Perhaps you already use this trick/syrup and want a nice white frosting-glaze on the cake, but the syrup certainly makes a nice moist cake. Which, after reading this recipe, I will be making this weekend.. Thank you!
This cake was a big hit our get together last night. I handled the lemon syrup absorption the way another poster recommended. I took the cake out of the bundt pan, poured lemon syrup into the bundt pan and returned cake to pan and let it sit in the syrup for awhile for it to absorb. I did this while the cake was still hot, right out of the oven. When returning the cake to the pan it cracked a little — but not so you’d hardly notice. I also froze this cake (glazed) about a month before serving it. I think the glaze would have looked a better had I put it on the cake after thawing. Bright lemony flavor and so moist. Perfect lemon cake in my opinion. Thanks for another great recipe.
Honestly, if I had read through the whole recipe before starting I might not have made this. But I’m glad I did! I used a bundt pan and dealt with the syrup issue by pouring half of the hot syrup onto the cake immediately out of the oven while still in the pan. I let it soak in (with the help of a brush) for 10 minutes. Then I dumped the cake upside down onto the plate, poked some holes with a toothpick and brushed the rest of the syrup onto the top of cake and around the sides. It all soaked in no problem!
This is a very lemony cake and soooo good, especially with the glaze in addition to the syrup. The consistency is perfect. Lighter than as a true pound cake but more dense than a regular layer-type cake. Yum!
I was craving lemon cake .. don’t ask. I used disposable loaf pans and poured the hot syrup over the cakes as soon as they came out. But being disposable I was able to bend out the sides of the pans and let it drip down the cake. Easy as pie! I turned them over a couple of minutes later. its still hot … but i know its gonna be awesome, your recipes always are!!
As someone else said try putting toothpick holes around the cake top before taking out of pan; put glaze on and stick back into the hot oven for about 10 minutes – it helps the glaze melt into the cake…
The Lemon cake that I always make is “The Best Damn Lemon Cake” from Maida Heatter’s New Book of Great Desserts pg. 113. I has ground almonds in it…the secret to getting the lemon glaze to absorb entirely is to make the glaze the last 2 – 3 minutes that the cake bakes…then remove the cakes from the oven and let them sit for 2 – 3 minutes…Then apply the hot glaze with a brush over the Hot cake..do it slowly – it should take about 5 minutes to finish this part. Let the cake stabd until tepid, not completely cool and then invert it onto a cake rack (gently turn the cake over) and cool completely. My late husband loved this cake…and it is still my mother-in-law’s favorite which I need to send to her for her birthday. If you apply the glaze this way you will NEVER have any problems with it plus the hot cake absorbs the entire amount of lemon syrup…remember to apply it slowly…the first time I made this I wasn’t patient and just poured the syrup on the cake in one motion…result soggy cake…that never absorbed the syrup. I also set wax paper until the cake rack to catch the extra syrup and use wax paper when I wrap it up. I always refrigerate the cake before serving it..as it is best the next day and slices like a dream when cold…this cake also freezes well. That is if no one eats it before it cools, etc. Take your time with the syrup and you will certainly be rewarded. My customers love this cake.