Iä! Batter fhtagn!
Feb. 18th, 2024 08:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Meyer Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.
I have a soft spot in my head for lemon poppy seed cake, having grown up with it. I have tried a number of variations but usually go back to something approximating my childhood's version (because that tastes "right").
10 oz Meyer lemons (about 3-4 small)
1/2 tsp baking soda
butter, for coating the pan
Demerara sugar, for coating the pan and topping the cake
1 3/4 cups flour
3 Tbsp poppy seeds (Ha! I used... more. Actually 1/4 cup total.)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggses
1/3 cup whole Greek yogurt
Slice 1 lemon in half lengthwise and then slice each half into thin, 1/4" half moons. Discard seeds and set aside. Slice the remaining lemons into thin discs and discard seeds. Finely chop lemon slices into tiny pebbly pieces. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the baking soda. It will bubble.
Heat the oven to 350°. Butter the inside of a loaf pan and then fully coat in demerara sugar, shaking off any excess. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and melted butter until combined. Add the eggses and whisk vigorously until light and thick, about 30 seconds. Fold in yogurt until smooth.
Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula until evenly mixed. Fold in the chopped lemon. Fill the prepared loaf pan with the batter. Smooth out the top and arrange as many lemon slices on top as you can comfortably fit. Generously sprinkle demerara sugar over the top.
Bake until the cake has risen and the top is fully golden brown, about 50-60 minutes. Lower the heat to 325 and keep baking 20-30 minutes longer, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and, once cool enough to touch, run a knife along the sides, unmold, and transfer to a plate. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
What worked: It was a lemon poppy seed cake, which is to say in my comfort zone. The demerara sugar added a nice touch to the sides and top.
What didn't: The batter rose nicely... and then blorped unevenly over the sides like a recipe from the HP Lovecraft cookbook, scorching in the oven. I am not sure why; I double-checked the measurements, so it wasn't more liquid than intended. The top also scorched unevenly due to the toaster oven's corner hot spot. That's not the recipe's fault though.
The wife said she could taste the lemon pith and it was a bit too bitter for her (she does not like citrus pith/bitter at all). Meyer lemons do not have much pith, but.
Will I make it again? No. I have several other lemon-poppy seed cake recipes that I habitually use that are less fiddly, not eldritch-messy in the oven, and not pith-bitter to the wife. I might steal the "coat the sides/top with demerara sugar" though.
I have a soft spot in my head for lemon poppy seed cake, having grown up with it. I have tried a number of variations but usually go back to something approximating my childhood's version (because that tastes "right").
10 oz Meyer lemons (about 3-4 small)
1/2 tsp baking soda
butter, for coating the pan
Demerara sugar, for coating the pan and topping the cake
1 3/4 cups flour
3 Tbsp poppy seeds (Ha! I used... more. Actually 1/4 cup total.)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
8 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggses
1/3 cup whole Greek yogurt
Slice 1 lemon in half lengthwise and then slice each half into thin, 1/4" half moons. Discard seeds and set aside. Slice the remaining lemons into thin discs and discard seeds. Finely chop lemon slices into tiny pebbly pieces. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the baking soda. It will bubble.
Heat the oven to 350°. Butter the inside of a loaf pan and then fully coat in demerara sugar, shaking off any excess. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk the sugar and melted butter until combined. Add the eggses and whisk vigorously until light and thick, about 30 seconds. Fold in yogurt until smooth.
Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula until evenly mixed. Fold in the chopped lemon. Fill the prepared loaf pan with the batter. Smooth out the top and arrange as many lemon slices on top as you can comfortably fit. Generously sprinkle demerara sugar over the top.
Bake until the cake has risen and the top is fully golden brown, about 50-60 minutes. Lower the heat to 325 and keep baking 20-30 minutes longer, until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on a cooling rack and, once cool enough to touch, run a knife along the sides, unmold, and transfer to a plate. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.
What worked: It was a lemon poppy seed cake, which is to say in my comfort zone. The demerara sugar added a nice touch to the sides and top.
What didn't: The batter rose nicely... and then blorped unevenly over the sides like a recipe from the HP Lovecraft cookbook, scorching in the oven. I am not sure why; I double-checked the measurements, so it wasn't more liquid than intended. The top also scorched unevenly due to the toaster oven's corner hot spot. That's not the recipe's fault though.
The wife said she could taste the lemon pith and it was a bit too bitter for her (she does not like citrus pith/bitter at all). Meyer lemons do not have much pith, but.
Will I make it again? No. I have several other lemon-poppy seed cake recipes that I habitually use that are less fiddly, not eldritch-messy in the oven, and not pith-bitter to the wife. I might steal the "coat the sides/top with demerara sugar" though.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-19 05:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-20 03:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 06:13 pm (UTC)What is "demerara sugar"?
Maybe you could do your FAVORITE Lemon Poppy Seed Cake for us (me) so that we (I) can read what you think and then copy it.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-21 08:58 pm (UTC)Here is a lemon-poppy seed Resolution recipe I made some time ago that is pretty similar to the one in my recipe box.