Showing posts with label Pound Cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pound Cake. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Lavender-Lemon Pound Cake

Two of my favorite things are lavender and lemon. When I saw this recipe on Savoring Time in the Kitchen, I knew I had to make it.

I've been wanting a mini bundt pan. We're making Chocolate Canneles on Chocolate With Francois in March. I don't own the molds but Sarah, our host for the month says we can use muffin tins. Wouldn't mini bundt pans be perfect? Two recipes, for sure I need the mini bundt pan. I bought this pan and I just love the different shapes. I bought mine at The Kitchen Connection and only paid $19.99.

We're lucky enough to have a Pezney's in Omaha. A few months ago, I purchased culinary lavender. I made Lavender Simple Syrup, a wonderful addition to cocktails.





This pound cake is a delightful recipe. The beautiful lemony batter is lightly scented with lavender. It doesn't have a typical pound cake texture. The texture was much more like a traditional cake. This cake was great with a small scoop of the Lemon Sorbet I made last week.

Recipe Courtesy of Monica Glass, Pastry Chef
12 miniature cake molds or cupcake molds

For the cake:

2½ cups sifted all-purpose flour*
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons dried lavender, coarsely crushed or ground
¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature

For the sugar glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Generously grease two 6-cup mini Bundt pans or muffin cups with butter or non-stick cooking spray and dust lightly with flour, knocking out excess. Do not preheat oven.

Sprinkle the lavender into the buttermilk and let sit for 10 minutes. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula. Then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating only until incorporated after each addition. Mix in the zest, lemon juice and vanilla.

Mix in the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately, starting and ending with the flour. Beat the final addition only until smooth. Do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into each cup, filling it only ¾ full and distributing it evenly between the 12 Bundt or muffin cups. Tap each pan several times on the counter to eliminate air bubbles and level the tops. Place both pans in the cold oven and turn the oven to 325? F. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the tops (which will eventually become the cake bottoms) are risen and golden. Do not open the oven until at least 30 minutes into baking so your cakes will not fall.

Let the cakes cool in the pans for about 30 minutes, then run a thin knife around outer edge of each cake to loosen and unmold by inverting the pan over onto a wire rack. The cakes will be right-side-up at this point.

Prepare the glaze:

Combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir with a rubber spatula until the glaze is smooth and of drizzling consistency. Spoon the glaze over the top of each slightly cooled cake, letting some run down unevenly on the sides. Zest the lemon over the tops of the glaze and serve.

Wrapped in plastic or aluminum foil, the cakes will keep for 3-5 days at room temperature and for up to 3 months in the freezer.

*Sift the flour, then measure for accurate results.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake - SMS

This week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's recipe was chosen by Raeann of Basically Baby Boots . Great choice, Raeann!!! I love pound cake!! I couldn't wait to try this recipe. Sour cream pound cakes are my favorite!!! This cake batter had the most beautiful lemony color and fragrance.

I have a habit of not always reading a recipe thoroughly and missing a ingredient or a step. Not this one, this recipe came together perfectly. Somehow I messed up the timer and went to check how long left and what? it wasn't counting down. I had to estimate how long it had been in the oven, so I began checking it way before it was done. I believe it took close to 1 hour and 30 minutes to bake. I did feel that some of the edges were getting too brown before the center was done. I covered it with foil for the last 10 minutes.

The end pieces of the pound cake were a little dry. Once you made it to the middle, those pieces had a nice moist texture and the best flavor. This recipe is a keeper!!!


Next Sunday's recipe, Black Bottom Brownies.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Perfect Pound Cake - Sweet Melissa Sundays

I am excited to announce my first official Sweet Melissa Sundays (SMS) post. This weeks recipe was chosen by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. You will find the recipe on her blog. Check out some of the other wonderful SMS bakers here.

I wanted to do something besides just a plain pound cake. I am trying to get a little more adventurous with my baking. After some deliberation as to whether or not the recipe would work in a bundt pan, I decided to go for it. I adjusted the baking time to 40 minutes.

In addition, I thought it would be yummy to give the pound cake a touch of lemon. I added 1 teaspoon of lemon zest to the batter. As well, I made a lemon syrup to go on top of the cake.

Lemon Syrup
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
Combine over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Place cake on cooling rack. Poke holes in the bottom of the cake with a toothpick. Brush 1/2 of the lemon syrup over the cake. Let the cake cool about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan. Poke holes in the top of the cake and brush with remaining syrup.



Although the cake isn't as tall as I would like, I think it turned out beautifully. The lemon is a nice addition to the already buttery pound cake.