Lemon Pound Cake
Total Time
2 hours
Rating
0 out of 5 stars
(0)
Ingredients
2 loaves
- 1 cup (225 grams or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 cups (500 grams) sugar
- 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
- 3 cups (390 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon (5 grams) kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) plus 3 1/2 tablespoons (50 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
- 2 cups (240 grams) powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy
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Preparation
Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 8 1/2- by 4 1/4-inch loaf pans, and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Alternatively, you can generously butter and flour a bundt pan.
Step 2
Cream butter and 2 cups (400 grams) of the 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.
Step 3
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup (60 ml) 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 loaf pans or pour into prepared bundt, smooth top(s), and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Step 4
Make soaking syrup: Combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan, and cook over low heat until sugar dissolves.
Step 5
When cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes. Invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon lemon syrup over cakes. Let cakes cool completely.
Step 6
Make the 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.
Step 7
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Chef's notes
New 2019 notes:
I have been making this cake for well over a decade and still consider it the height of lemon pound cake achievement. I try to one-bowl the recipe while enhancing the flavor along the way. Some shortcuts include zesting the lemons directly into the sugar and using large eggs instead of extra-large.
Six additional tips and shortcuts, added in 2019
Zest the lemons right into the 2 cups sugar used for the cake. Use your fingertips to rub the lemon zest into the sugar, which helps release the most oils and flavor, and break the zest down. Use the sugar as directed in the recipe.
I do not use extra-large eggs because I never buy extra-large eggs. The way I see it, there are 4 to 5 extra-large eggs or 5 large ones in 1 cup of eggs, so unless a recipe calls for more than 5 extra-large eggs, I don’t bother adding an additional large egg to compensate for the change in volume. In short:
I use 4 large eggs here.
I add the salt with the butter because I think the sooner you amp up the butter flavor, the better.
I skip the vanilla extract. To me, this is a pure and wonderful lemon cake and vanilla is either barely noticeable or when it is, it gets in the way.
I somewhat one-bowl this recipe:
I don’t pre-mix the wet ingredients and instead of pre-mixing the dry ingredients, I do it my own way. Where the recipe says “Add flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately…” for the first dry addition, I add the first cup flour, all of the baking powder, and all of the baking soda (the salt, as I mentioned, went in with the butter) and mix it well, a bit more thoroughly you would normally mix flour in. Scrape the bowl down. For the first liquid addition, I add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup buttermilk. Mix it and scrape down the bowl. For the second dry addition, I add the second cup of flour, and mix it gently. For the second wet addition, I add the remaining (1/2 cup) buttermilk, and mix it gently. The third and final dry addition is the last cup of flour. I mix it gently and scrape down the bowl. Voila! You’re done and you’ve dirtied a lot fewer bowls.
