My sister Micki (who, incidentally, has a new book out on the foodie phenomenon that is Zingerman’s of Ann Arbor) gifted me several Meyer lemons recentl
y. Pondering what to do with these sweet waxy beauties, the thought of a rich, lemony pound cake crossed my mind. After perusing recipes from several of my favorite cookbook authors, I settled on a hybrid approach, borrowing ideas from several. The cake turned out firm but not dense or heavy, rich without being overly buttery, and sweet without too much sweetness. The lemons added the perfect amount of brightness and the glaze made the cake nice and moist without being soggy.
Meyer Lemon pound cake
You could use ordinary lemons, but if you can get hold of Meyer lemons, by all means use them.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons good vanilla
- 3 medium Meyer lemons, zested and juiced (see recipe)
Method
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a standard loaf pan (8×4 inches) and line it with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Zest one of the lemons, then juice all three. You should get about 2/3 cup of juice. Measure out 1/4 cup of lemon juice for the batter and set aside the remainder for the glaze.
Fit an electric mixer with the paddle attachment. In the mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, then add one cup of sugar and beat until well combined. Lower the speed and add the eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Add the vanilla and zest and beat until combined.
With the mixer on low speed, alternately add one-fourth of the flour mixture, then one-third of the lemon juice (four teaspoons or 20 ml), ending with the flour, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Remove the bowl and give two or three more stirs and scrapes with a rubber spatula to ensure all flour is combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth out the top. Bake in the center of the oven for 60 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through the baking time. Remove, test with a toothpick or skewer (cake is done if no batter sticks to the tester), and cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
While the cake is cooling, combine 1/3 cup of sugar and the remaining lemon juice (approx. 1/3 cup) in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
After cooling the cake for 15 minutes, remove it from the pan, peel off the parchment paper, and set it on a wire rack over a quarter-sheet pan with a raised lip. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, re-spooning the excess that drips into the pan, until all the glaze is absorbed into the cake.
Let the cake cool completely. If not consumed immediately, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator, where it will keep for about a week – if it lasts that long!