Lemon Pound Cake

Ashley and I had just come back from teaching a cooking party - a nine year old and her 11 friends! Under our supervision and instruction, they cooked their own lunch of spaghetti and meatballs, panzanella salad and mini oreo cheesecakes and we all had a lot of fun. Her mom made a fantastic looking birthday cake, which looked like a giant hamburger and fries. So, when we got home, we were craving CAKE!

We decided that a moist lemony cake would do the trick, so I did some research and came up with this recipe for Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake, adapted from the King Arthur's flour Bakery Companion book. This recipe, I discovered is quite unlike the conventional method of creaming the butter and sugar, adding eggs and finally flour (maybe alternating with milk). It starts with mixing butter and cream cheese, then all the dry ingredients are added with a good heaping tablespoon of lemon zest. Lastly the eggs are added one at a time to produce a light creamy cake batter. This recipe makes 2 loaf pans or 1 large cake, which I baked in an angel food tube pan. The remaining lemon juice can be made into a syrupy lemon glaze which is poured over the baked cake to infuse more lemon flavor. I decided against this last step, due to the additional sugar calories and still the resulting cake had a delicious lemon flavor with a dense but moist texture. Here's the recipe:

Lemon-Glazed pound Cake

Ingredients:
Cake:1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperaure
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon lemon zest (2 lemons)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
5 large eggs

Glaze:
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350°Fahrenheit and grease two 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pans or one tube or bundt-style pan.
• Prepare cake: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy.
• Add the salt, sugar, flour and baking powder, and beat for 5 minutes; the batter will be stiff.
• Add the vanilla and lemon zest, and 1 egg. Beat well.
• Continue to add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. When done, the batter will be very fluffy.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake the cake for 55 to 60 minutes (for the tube or bundt-style pans) or 35 to 40 minutes (for the two loaf pans), or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

• Prepare glaze: Just before the cake is done, combine the lemon juice and sugar and heat over low heat (or in the microwave) till the sugar is dissolved; don't let the mixture boil. Remove the cake from the oven; allow it to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Turn it out onto a wire rack or serving platter. Poke the top all over with a cake tester or toothpick, and gradually drizzle the glaze over it, pausing occasionally to let it sink in. Allow the cake to cool for several hours before slicing.