I've lost this recipe and Googled it and found it! Yeah!
This is probably the best cake I've made so far and I make it for all family or important functions...YUMMY!!! I believe that I got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated mag.
This is basically a lemon pound cake using a poke cake method.
Makes: One 9 by 5-inch cake
Servings: 8
You can use a blender instead of a food processor to mix the batter. To add the butter, remove the center cap of the lid so it can be drizzled into the whirling blender with minimal splattering. This batter looks almost like a thick pancake batter and is very fluid.
Ingredients:
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus 1 tablespoon, softened, for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) cake flour, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) sugar
2 tablespoons grated zest plus 2 teaspoons juice from 2 medium lemons
4 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions:
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon softened butter; dust with 1 tablespoon cake flour, tapping out excess. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, microwave butter, covered with plastic wrap, at full power until melted, 1 to 2 minutes. (Alternatively, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. ) Whisk melted butter thoroughly to reincorporate any separated milk solids.
3. In food processor, process sugar and zest until combined, about five 1-second pulses. Add lemon juice, eggs, and vanilla; process until combined, about 5 seconds. With machine running, add melted butter through feed tube in steady stream (this should take about 20 seconds). Transfer mixture to large bowl. Sift flour mixture over eggs in three steps, whisking gently after each addition until just combined.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F and continue to bake until deep golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking time. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto wire rack. Poke holes in the top and sides of the cake with a skewer or toothpick.
5. Brush on Lemon Glaze (recipe follows), if desired. To add more glaze, wait about 20-30 minutes and unwrap the cake. Brush more glaze onto the cake and rewrap. Wrapping the cake gives it time to soak in the glaze without drying it out.
6. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour. Cooled cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Lemon Glaze:
Makes: Enough to glaze one 9 by 5-inch cake
Brush this glaze onto the warm cake to give it a fresh sweet-tart lemon kick.
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup juice from 1 or 2 medium lemons
While cake is cooling, bring sugar and lemon juice to boil in small nonreactive saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Apply glaze using a pastry brush.
Tips:
If you want more lemon flavor, brush on more glaze after letting the cake rest for about 20 minutes or so. The more glaze you put on, the more intense flavor you'll get. Doing this too much will give too much of a lemon flavor, so be careful.
