Lemon Pound Cake
Light in texture, this pound cake has a subtle, not too overpowering lemon flavor from the use of both fresh squeezed lemon juice and zest. The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to five days, or a month when wrapped in the freezer.
Lemon Pound Cake
After a week-long storm, one of my dwarf Meyer lemon trees was suddenly overflowing with big and beautiful fragrant lemons, which also happen to be my absolute favorite citrus to cook with… That means over the next several weeks you can expect to see a couple more lemon recipes before I run out of lemons and inspiration. So far in my lemon expedition, I’ve mostly been making sweets with one main dish (or side dish) recipe to likely fill out my editorial calendar for February and into March, right when lemons are at their best!
Today’s lemon pound cake was the result of a happy accident after I juiced and zested one too many lemons for my all-time favorite lemon squares. Unsure of what to do with the leftovers, I decided to take a chance and add a bit of both to my go-to summer pound cake, which I typically serve with freshly sliced strawberries.
Pound cake tends to have a reputation for being really thick and dense, however a few years back I picked up the ultimate trick to ensure moist, fluffy pound cake every time. Rather than using my stand mixture, I use my food processor to combine all of my liquids, including the still-hot-from-the-microwave butter. With the blade still running, it makes it impossible for the eggs to curdle against the hot butter. Initially I was concerned that the lemon juice would still curdle against the hot butter, but those concerns were quickly put to rest.
The finished result ended up working out better than I could have anticipated. Since I didn’t use a lot of lemon juice or zest, the lemon flavor is subtle; not too overwhelming on the palate. I couldn’t help but quickly jaunt down exactly what I did and remade it when we had guests over for dinner a few days later for a simple, yet impressive dessert to end the evening.
The two times I baked this lemon pound cake, I had two different obstacles to tackle due to the rain. The first time, the top of the cake cracked, which to me isn’t a huge deal, but if you’re looking for something picture perfect, the solution is pretty easy: lemon syrup followed by a lemon glaze that will help fill in any cracks. I actually preferred the cake with the syrup and glaze topping, mainly because it gave the overall cake a more refined appearance. The second time I baked it, there was an unusual humidity in the air (which some of us Californians call earthquake weather), and the batter took a bit longer to fully bake, so you’ll notice the estimated baking time is anywhere from 50 to an hour and five minutes. In other words, keep an eye on this lemon pound cake as it gets closer to the desired cook time.