Lemon Cake

My tween(soon to be seventh grader) has shown an interest in baking and cooking lately. She baked Victoria Sandwich Cake(haven't posted yet) and Brownie Bottom n Brownie Swirl Cheesecake last week following my recipe all by herself except for the oven part. To make this cake, I contributed only 20% and rest was taken care of by my tween; having said that, I did the baking part, icing and of course photography, write up and tween did the rest. This is a wonderful way to find happiness during this mundane moments of quarantine life. It's a sheer bliss to see the cake rising in the oven so beautifully and releasing from the pan very easily. Measuring and mixing were just perfect. It was an excellent job; what's a pleasure to taste something delicious and perfect made by my little girl.

This is a wonderful lemony cake for lemon lovers, baked to a nice golden color. Its moist tender crumbs is simply delicious and bursting with fresh lemony flavor, so refreshing. All you need is very basic easily available refrigerator and pantry ingredients. It's a perfect for summer picnics or parties and loved by kids and grown ups. Serve with strawberry, blueberry or mixed berry compote and a dollop of whipped cream! 

The cake wasn't overly sweet even after lemon syrup was brushed and icing was poured over it. You can leave out the icing but the lemon syrup is necessary to keep the cake moist. So don't skip the lemon syrup. Sift flour at least  three times before measuring and level it off with a knife and use room temperature wet ingredients to get the best cakes every times.

I zest lemon inside the bowl I cream butter and sugar, so the lemon oils stay there. This gives extra lemony flavor while incorporating all wet ingredients into the bowl. This cake was baked in a 6 cup bundt cake pan. Double the recipe and use either 12 cup bundt pan or 2, 9x5 loaf pans. Lets get baking!

Ingredients~ 

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour, plus more for the pan

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk 

1 tbsp grated lemon zest

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar 

2 large eggs

For the syrup:

1/8 cup water

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the icing:

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Method~

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter and flour one 6 cups bundt pan or 9x5 -inch loaf cake pan and tap out any excess flour. Sift flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together in a bowl. 

Zest lemon in the bowl and keep aside. Beat butter and sugar in the same bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Beat the eggs, one at a time. Mix buttermilk, lemon zest and lemon juice together, then mix with the butter mixture. At this time mixture will look curdled; no worries at all. Combine flour mixture to wet mixture until it becomes a smooth batter. Do not over mix. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a back of a spoon. Tap the batter filled cake pan on the kitchen counter for a few times to get rid of air bubbles. Bake for about 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. Poke holes all over it and invert the cake onto a wire rack. Combine sugar, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar melts completely. Brush or spoon the lemon syrup over the cake and cool completely. For the icing, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a small bowl and mix with a spoon until smooth. If the mixture too runny add more sugar. Drizzle icing over the cake. Transfer cake to a serving platter. Slice with a serrated knife. Cover and store left over cake in the refrigerator and serve at room temperature. Enjoy! 

Happy Baking!