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Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake Recipe

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Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake Recipe

A Lemon Frosted Lemon Cake is sweet and buttery and its moist yet dense texture will have you thinking of a pound cake. As its name implies, this lovely cake has a tangy lemon flavor that comes from adding both lemon zest and lemon juice to the cake. The lemon flavor is also found in the lemon flavored frosting, made with confectioners sugar and lemon juice, that dries to a hard crusty glaze. A lovely cake to serve in the afternoon with a hot cup of tea.

When choosing lemons look for ones that are fragrant with brightly colored oily yellow skins. If you can buy organic. The best lemons have firm, plump, and heavy for their size. Don't buy lemons that have blemishes, soft spots, or are hard and wrinkled. Lemons consist of a yellow outer rind (skin) that can be of varying thickness and graininess, and can have either a bumpy or a smooth texture. This outer skin is where most of the lemon's wonderful tangy flavor is located. Before removing the outer rind (zest) make sure you wash the lemon thoroughly (soap and water is best). When removing the zest do not remove the white membrane (pith) that is underneath as it is very bitter tasting. Once you have removed the outer rind, inside the lemon are small vessels called 'pulp vesicles' which contain the pleasantly acidic lemon juice and seeds. Squeezing the lemon by hand or with a lemon squeezer or reamer releases this clear tart juice. Always use fresh lemons to make lemon curd as the bottled lemon juice is a poor substitute and won't give you that wonderful sharp and refreshing citrus taste.

This lemon cake recipe is one that I find over and over again in some of my favorite English cookbooks. There is a recipe in Arabella Boxer's wonderful book Arabella Boxer's Book of English Food which is about British foods served before WWII. Another similar recipe for can be found Jane Pettigrew's The National Trust Book of Tea-Time Recipes which pays tribute to present day tea rooms in the United Kingdom. But the recipe I use the most comes from the English food writer, Jane Grigson in her excellent book Jane Grigson's Fruit Book.

 

Lemon Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.  Butter, or spray with a nonstick spray, a 9 inch (23 cm) spring form pan and then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer) cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and pale in color (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and then add to the batter along with the lemon juice. Mix only until incorporated. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Bake about 40 - 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool, then gently remove the sides of the pan.

Lemon Frosting: In a bowl, combine the sifted confectioners' sugar with the 2 tablespoons lemon juice. (You want the icing to be thicker than a glaze but still thin enough that it will just run over the sides of the cake. If not the right consistency add more lemon juice or powdered sugar, accordingly.) Pour the frosting over the top of the cake, allowing the icing to drip down the sides.  Let the icing set before covering.

This cake will keep for several days in an airtight container.

Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) cake.

 

Lemon Cake Recipe:

1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon

2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice

Lemon Frosting:

1 cup (115 grams) confectioners' (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

 

 

 
   

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