Tuesday, April 17, 2012

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake




This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was a seemingly simple lemon pound cake. You see, the batter for this cake comes together in a flash. No fancy kitchen tools required. Just a bowl and a whisk.  



Start by whisking together some eggs and sugar. 


Add in some flour. Don't overmix!


Lemon zest and cream give this cake it's flavor and (eventual) yummy texture.*


Fold in some melted butter. (I think this step should be in every single recipe. Just sayin')


Fill up a loaf pan, pop it in the oven and viola! Delicious cake...

*Uh, not so fast. This is where (for me)  this cake turned from simple lemon loaf, to Diva Cake.

First this cake wanted to take it's sweet, sweet time in the oven. After the longest suggested baking time, I pierced the cake with a clean knife and came out with a LOT of ooey-gooey batter on it (which I may or may not have licked clean, shhh). After an additional ten minutes (for a total of  70 minutes! Impatient me was not happy) I pulled this cake out of the oven and figured if it's not done at least it will be moist, right? Oh, silly me. 

After a cool down, I sliced into the cake expecting creamy lemony goodness and...blech! Dry, dry, dry. Seriously, I could not believe how dry/almost crumbly this cake was, and where had all that flavorful lemon zest gone to?

Well, I had heard before, and the book does mention,  some pound cakes need a day to ripen to their best texture. I begrudgingly wrapped up my cake, possibly cursed it a few times, and let it be.

After returning from a weekend trip to Vegas, I decided it was time to see if the lemon loaf and I might be able to amend our relationship (you all are this personal with your food too, I assume?) and it worked!

The lemon flavor had developed and the texture was much more moist and creamy. Ahhh, lemon cake and I had finally made up. :)

So, the lessons I learned from this recipe: Lemon loaf cakes are total divas. But! Let them take their time in the oven, then wrap them up, stick them in the corner, and try not to think about how you will not be outdone by a little ol' pound cake (the book suggests a day, my cake sat in the corner for about 48 hours) and you will be justly avenged rewarded with a deliciously moist, lemony cake.

This week's recipe can be found at Treats and The Beauty of Life.

5 comments:

  1. Glad your story has a happy ending. Next time I make this loaf, I'm planning to let it age a day or two. I was happy with the way it turned out, but you and others had good experiences by waiting.

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    1. Thanks Judy! And yes, this is not something I would whip up last minute, but it's definitely worth the wait.

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  2. Glad it worked out in the end. It's funny how some foods just need their time to rest...

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  3. I like how you did not immediately throw out the cake and instead had the patience to wait for the flavor/texture to develop. I am going to have to keep that in mind for when it happens to me. Hope you had fun in Vegas!

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  4. Glad it worked for you! I still was not impressed the following day. Maybe it needed two. I sent the rest to work with the hubby.

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