When your tree hands you lemons, make pound cake

[madbaker]

Lemon Pound Cake

4 large eggses, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
pinch salt
grated zest of 3 large lemons
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cream, at room temperature
5 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled to guess what? Room temperature!

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9x5" loaf pan, shaking out any excess flour.
Whisk together eggses, sugar, and salt for a minute or so, until foamy and smoothly blended. The mixture shouldn't thicken (which it will if you whisk too long). Whisk in the lemon zest. Sift the baking powder and about a third of the flour into the egg mixture. Whisk, mixing lightly. Sift in the other two thirds in two additions just until everything is incorporated. Whisk in the cream. Give the whisk a rest and switch to a rubber spatula; fold in the melted butter.

Pour and scrape the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the toothpick test shows clean. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool completely.

Slice with a serrated (i.e. bread) knife and serve in thin slices, two to a plate.

What worked: Very yummy, nice lemon flavor. One of the lemons came from our backyard Meyer tree. I served it with strawberries and whipped cream which complemented it nicely.

What didn't: I used the convection setting on the toaster oven but forgot to turn it down 25 degrees, which meant that the cake browned a bit more than it should have (there was even a line in the center where the cake rose and hit the heating element) but I rescued it in time, so it didn't taste burned at all. Just a bit crunchy 'round the edges, which I personally like. Also, the strawberries weren't great - it's still too early for strawberry season, especially with the weather we've been having.

Will I make it again? Absolutely.

What I'm reading: Michael Stackpole, Cartomancy

Comments

[loup_noir]

Why melt the butter and then cool back down? What if the butter was already soft, would that work? Curioius about the science here.

Also, oh bread master, can you make suggestions for a good rising agent for a half and half durum flour and regular flour bread? The WBH is very fond of this combination and, as I'm very fond of the WBH, I'd like to make this for him more often, but it barely rises. He doesn't really care, but it looks funky to me.

Tell me about Cartomancy. I like the title.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

I'll check Harold McGee, but I would guess that you melt the butter so that it mixes in thoroughly, but cool it so that it doesn't curdle the eggses. Durum wheat has high gluten, but according to my bread books it does indeed rise less than pure wheat. So it's not just you. When I make pizza dough I use about 1/4 durum and sourdough starter - that seems to work fairly well. Cartomancy is the second novel in a fantasy trilogy. The main characters are a mapmaking family. It's reasonably good; there's lots of character focus and no D&D-style spellslinging.

[nitetygress.livejournal.com]

lemon pound cake...mmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

[misagillian.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh. This sounds really good - I love lemon things.

[madbaker.livejournal.com]

Dead easy, too.

[misagillian.livejournal.com]

I've gone and added it to my Memories section so I don't lose it. :)