A lemon pound cake seemed like a good idea. Rather similar to what we know in the UK as Madeira Cake, I found a recipe on Foodnetwork.co,uk, I think taken from one by Anna Olson, but with metric weights.
This version is heavy on butter and has soured cream too, plus lots of eggs, which is significantly different to other recipes I found. Reading it made me think it would taste so good, so I decided to give it a try.
The recipe calls for cooking at 160c, so I started mine at 140c Fan, but decided that would be a bit risky, so I quickly switched, after about 5 minutes, to 160c without the fan. I cooked for a full 70 mins, since I started out in that way.
It certainly cooked through well enough and the end result, with the lemon brushed over the top has given me a most tasty cake, which will be enjoyed by all who taste it.
Ingredients:
- 220g unsalted butter, just cooler than room temperature
- 300g sugar
- 1 tbsp finely-grated lemon zest
- 5 large eggs, almost at room temperature
- 80g sour cream (full-fat)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 120g plain flour
- 50g flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the glaze:
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp water
- 85g sugar
- Preheat the oven to 160°C and grease a 9-x-5-inch loaf pan.
- Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest using electric beaters or a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs with a fork and add this to the batter in a few additions, scraping down the bowl in between.
- Stir the sour cream and vanilla together and beat this into the batter.
- In a separate bowl, sift the plain and cake flours and the salt and add this to the batter, mixing until fully incorporated, scraping to the bottom of the bowl to ensure this.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and tap it a few times to make it level and allow any air bubbles to escape. Bake the cake for 65 to 70 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and prepare the glaze while the cake is still warm.
- For the glaze, heat the lemon juice water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Poke holes in the warm pound cake using a bamboo skewer and brush the warm glaze over the cake.
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan (the glaze will set once the cake is cool) before removing to serve.
The cake will keep well wrapped and unrefrigerated for up to 3 days.