Lemon Pound Cake

Lately I have been craving something warm, cakey and full of lemon. Pound cake popped into my mind and when I found this recipe and realized we had all of the ingredients, I got to work. This pound cake was a bit more involved than the easy-peasy lemon squeezy recipes I have been posting recently, but I enjoy a challenge, and this was a welcomed one.
I decided not to skimp on any of the directions, so I found our old, yet fun sifter and actually sifted the flour three times. I would be interested to see if it actually made a difference, but Deb insisted it was imporant, so I sifted on.
The next step was to whip up egg whites until they held soft peaks. I had to ask my mom for help with this one. She has 30+ more years of baking experience than I do and it's fun to learn some techniques from her. Together, we got these eggs to a great peaked consistency. Sometimes I am impressed with eggs. They can do so many different things.

                    Soft peaked egg whites                                                    Folding the egg whites into the batter

The batter was pretty easy to whip up. Cream the butter. Add the lemon zest and sugar. Then throw in some egg yolks. I added a step. I bruised the lemon zest in the sugar first. I learned this trick when I made her grapefruit olive oil pound cake a while back. I think it really brings out the flavor of the lemon. I also didn't have cognac, so I used 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. Maybe next time I will try the cognac, see what difference it makes.

                                               

Bruising the lemon zest

The final step was to fold the egg whites into the batter. I was a little worried by this step. The egg whites made the batter lumpy and slimy looking. It was strange. But I looked back at Deb's post and noticed hers looked the same, so on I went. Learned another tip from my mother at this step. How to correctly butter and flour a pan. Usually I skip this step and just use parchment paper, however, this cake fell out of the pan with little to no effort. Thanks Mom, my future cakes thank you too. 

While the cake was baking, I whipped up a quick lemon glaze. I have yet to master the glaze. I think I put too much lemon juice in this one. It didn't stick like a glaze, just dripped right off and onto the plate. Oh well, next time. It did however, make the cake more moist and added an extra layer of lemon flavor. I also borrowed this from the grapefruit pound cake recipe. I really liked the flavor it added. 

The final product was a light, airy, moist, lemon-y, warm, lovely creation. I highly suggest it. It was also great the next morning with a cup of Earl Grey. Yum.
 

Recipe: Pound Cake

Recipe for the Lemon Glaze:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Combine the sugar and juice until smooth. Pour over the slightly cooled cake. 

How to bruise lemon zest

In a bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugars with your fingertips. This will bruise it and help release the oils trapped in the zest, bringing out the most lemon flavor possible.