Luscious Lemon Loaf Cake

A few weeks ago we were heading over to a friend's house and wanted to bring something other than cookies for dessert.  I was focused on making something lemon because we had just bought two bags of lemons at the store.  Why two bags?  I'm not sure.

I spread my cookbooks out on the table and began the search for the perfect lemon recipe.  There wasn't time to make pie or something frosted, but there was time to make a simple cake.  I wanted a recipe that resulted in a single dense and satisfying loaf.  Nothing seemed to fit the bill until I remembered the chocolate ginger cake.  It was just what I wanted, except it was chocolate and ginger and not lemon.  So I took out the cocoa powder and ginger, added some lemon, and voila, there was the lemon cake (after some careful measuring, mixing, and scraping.)  We ate the cake with strawberry-cranberry compote and whipped cream.  I highly recommend it.

Notes:
The lemon zest has a tendency to cling to the beater in this batter, so be sure to fully scrape the beater often.  The batter is very thick for this cake, and the resulting loaf is very tender and moist.  I could also see using lime or orange zest in place of the lemon zest.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of 2 lemons
1 cup sour cream (full-fat)

Yields one 10x5 inch loaf cake (about 12 servings)

Recipe adapted from Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers

Mix and Bake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F, and adjust the rack to the middle of the oven.  Butter a 10x5-inch loaf pan, and line it with parchment paper or wax paper, leaving some overhang on the 10-inch sides of the pan to easily lift the cake out of the pan once the cake has baked.  In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, until each egg is fully incorporated, then beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Scrape the beaters well, and add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture.  Beat until the dry ingredients are incorporated, scrape the beaters and bowl, and add all of the sour cream.  Beat until the sour cream is fully incorporated, scrape the beaters and bowl, and then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until fully incorporated.  Use a spatula to transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top of the batter.  Bake at 350°F for 55-65 minutes or until the cake has raised and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Allow the cake to rest in the pan for 5 minutes, and then use the parchment paper overhang to lift the cake out of the pan and allow the cake to fully cool on a rack.  You don't have to remove the parchment paper.  Store the cooled cake at room temperature in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic.  You may also freeze the cake. Pin It