This one made without frosting. |
From Daryl:
I made these lovely lemon tea cakes for Sifting Through Clues. I adore lemon-y desserts. As I write this, I'm already craving lemon meringue pie.
What is it about sour paired with sweet that works so well? I remember as a kid loving lemon drops. My grandkids adore Sour Patch candies. My husband couldn't get enough of sweet and sour stir-fry pork.
I guess it's simply a delight for our taste buds. We make them work overtime when trying to figure out what is going down the gullet. Which means, of course, that our taste buds are not shy about exercise. I think we should keep them working hard, don't you? We don't want our taste buds to get fat and lazy.
Enjoy this delicious cake. I'm sharing both versions, regular and gluten-free. They're quite long because of the drizzle and syrup instructions. Lots of pictures at the end.
By the way, I made both the large loaf and mini loaf versions. For the large, I didn't frost and it was delicious. For the minis, I did, and they were delicious. You decide.
Lemon Tea Cake
(Yield: l large or 5-6 small loaf cakes)
For the cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons lemon zest, approximately 3-4 lemons
8 ounces unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the syrup:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
For the frosting:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 1 large or 5-6 mini loaf pans with
nonstick oil. *Depends on the size of your pans.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and stir well to let
the lemon oil mix with the sugar.
Cream the butter and the lemon/sugar mixture. Add the eggs and beat to combine.
In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder,
baking soda, and salt.
In another small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup lemon juice, the
buttermilk, and the vanilla.
Add half of the flour mixture to the eggs/lemon/sugar
mixture, then add half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat and beat until smooth.
If using the mini loaf pans, divide the batter evenly between the pans, filling about 2/3
full.
Bake mini loaf pans for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
(Bake larger loaf pan 40-45 minutes.)
When the cakes are done, remove from the oven and let cool
for about 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.
Meanwhile the cake is cooling, make the syrup. In a small
saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to
simmer and cook until the syrup thickens, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
After turning the cakes out of their pans, set on a tray
lined with parchment paper and poke holes in the bottom of the cakes using a
skewer. Then drizzle half of the syrup
over the holes. Turn the cakes over and drizzle the remaining syrup over the
tops of the cakes. Smooth with the back of a spoon. Let cool.
While the cakes cool completely, make the frosting. In a
small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a smooth
but thin frosting. Add more lemon juice
or water, if necessary. Pour the frosting over the tops of the cakes and let
the frosting firm up. Serve immediately
or cool in the refrigerator. By the way, these cakes do well in the freezer. Wrap
tightly in saran wrap and store in freezer bags.
Lemon Tea Cake
Gluten-free
(Yield: 1 large or 5-6 small loaf cakes)
For the cake:
2 cups granulated sugar
5 tablespoons lemon zest, approximately 3-4 lemons
8 ounces unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the syrup:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
For the frosting:
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice, no pulp, no seeds
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 1 large or 5-6 mini loaf pans
with nonstick oil. *Depends on the size of your pans.
Put the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl and stir well to let
the lemon oil mix with the sugar.
Cream the butter and the lemon/sugar mixture. Add the eggs and beat to combine.
In a small bowl, sift together the gluten-free flour,
xanthan gum, baking powder baking soda, and salt. (*Note the extra baking
powder for the gluten-free version of the cake.)
In another small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup lemon juice, the
buttermilk, and the vanilla.
Add half of the gluten-free mixture to the eggs/lemon/sugar
mixture, then add half of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat and beat until
smooth.
If using the mini loaf pans, divide the batter evenly between the pans, filling about 2/3
full.
Bake mini loaf pans for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (Bake larger loaf pan 40-45 minutes.)
When the cakes are done, remove from the oven and let cool
for about 15-20 minutes before removing from pan.
Meanwhile the cake is cooling, make the syrup. In a small
saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Turn the heat
to simmer and cook until the syrup thickens, about 5 minutes. Set aside to
cool.
After turning the cakes out of their pans, set on a tray
lined with parchment paper and poke holes in the bottom of the cakes using a
skewer. Then drizzle half of the syrup
over the holes. Turn the cakes over and drizzle the remaining syrup over the
tops of the cakes. Smooth with the back of a spoon. Let cool.
While the cakes cool completely, make the frosting. In a
small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a smooth
but thin frosting. Add more lemon juice
or water, if necessary. Pour the frosting over the tops of the cakes and let
the frosting firm up. Serve immediately
or cool in the refrigerator. By the way, these cakes do well in the freezer.
Wrap tightly in saran wrap and store in freezer bags.
SIFTING THROUGH CLUES buy link
The latest Cookbook Nook Mystery (#8), available in trade paperback and e-book.
What's it about?
Book clubs from all over have descended on Crystal Cove to
celebrate the library’s Book Club Bonanza week, and Jenna Hart has packed the
Cookbook Nook with juicy reads and tasty cookbooks. But she’s most excited about
spending an evening with the Mystery Mavens and their moveable feast, when they
will go from house to house to share different culinary treats and discuss the
whodunit they’re all reading. It’s all good food and fun for the savvy armchair
detectives, until one of the members of the group is found murdered at the last
stop on the tour.
As if that weren’t enough to spoil her appetite, Jenna discovers
that all the evidence points to her friend Pepper as being the guilty party.
And with Pepper’s chief-of-police daughter too close to the case to be
impartial, Jenna knows she’ll have to step in to help clear her friend’s name
before a bitter injustice sends her to jail. Sifting through the clues, Jenna
unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way
to catch the killer before Pepper’s goose is cooked.
Includes tasty sweet and savory recipes!
SAVOR THE MYSTERY!
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Daryl and Avery on Facebook
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Plus check out my website
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A SOUFFLÉ OF SUSPICION, the 2nd French Bistro Mystery.
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Sifting through the clues, Jenna unearths any number of possible culprits, but she’ll have to cook up a new way to catch the killer before her friend Pepper’s goose is cooked.
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Wow! Lemony goodness!
ReplyDeleteAnd this morning I made lemon poppyseed muffins. I'll share those soon. Delish. ;) ~ Daryl
DeleteOh my gosh, I love lemon poppyseed muffins! Well, actually I love anything that starts with Lemon! And any bread that has Poppyseeds as one of the ingredients! I don't bake very often (I'm the only one who eats sweets at my house) so I am very choosy when I decide to bake! Either of those recipes will up my want probably to need! lol Have a great day!
Deleteteddi1961(at)arcemont(dot)com
Lemon! Mmmmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! ~ Daryl
DeleteLove lemon anything - so thanks for a yummy sounding recipe!!
ReplyDeleteI feel the same, Lori. ~ Daryl
DeleteOh how I love lemon. Thanks for the recipe!
ReplyDeleteAdd this to my recipes from you. Sifting Thru the Clues is in my summer reading stack.
ReplyDeleteYum!
ReplyDelete