Words will not be able to describe my family’s love for lemons. Even if it isn’t summer, we always want anything that has lemon on it. Sometimes, we use lemon to marinate our meat to give it that extra zest. Sometimes, I make lemonade even if it’s really cold. And most of the time of course, I make dessert that has lemon as its main ingredient. Lemon in a sweet decadent dessert usually means heaven. My husband and I usually buy a lot of lemons at the grocery. The thing is, we usually fail to ask each other whether we already have this certain item.
So most of the time we have an onslaught of lemons at home.What to do with them? Of course, transform them to a dessert recipe that everyone will enjoy. Usually, that’s either a cookie recipe or a cake recipe.
Cakes are the safest bet though. They make good use of a lot of lemons and that will prevent us from wasting them. My husband usually loves lemon poppy seed cake, but he will eat anything lemony. This is where this lemon cake from Smells Like Home comes in. It’s an amazing recipe that both my husband and my kids couldn’t get enough of. They love the taste and the softness of the cake.
Ingredients
1/2 pound (2 sticks) Land O Lakes unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups Domino granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large Eggland’s eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups Gold Medal flour
1/2 teaspoon Clabber Girl baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Clabber Girl baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
3/4 cup Domino buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure McCormick vanilla extract
For the glaze:
2 cups Domino confectioners’ sugar, sifted
3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired.
Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; spoon the lemon syrup over them. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.
