Recipe: Buttermilk Lemon Pound Cake

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Buttermilk Lemon Pound Cake
Source: Joan Mathew, May 1998

4 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
16 tbsp (2 sticks or 1 cup) butter; softened
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp lemon extract
2 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan or two 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 2-1/2-inch loaf pans.

Put the uncracked eggs in a bowl and pour hot tap water over them. Let stand for several minutes to warm the eggs gently.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat until it is smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar, beating constantly, and continue beating until smooth and well-blended. Add the eggs all at once, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the lemon extract and lemon rinds; mix until well-blended. Add salt; sprinkle about half the flour over the butter mixture and beat until well-blended. Beat half the buttermilk mixture into the batter. Add the remaining ingredients and beat until the batter is smooth and fluffy.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake the bundt cake for 60-75 minutes, the loaf cakes 40-45 minutes, or until a broom straw inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto the rack to cool completely before serving.

NOTE: I saw a recipe for liqueur-soaked pound cakes recently. The liqueur syrup is wonderful when soaked into this fluffy, tender pound cake recipe. Basically, you leave the pound cake in the pan and poke holes into it with a toothpick or small skewer. Then take some liqueur of choice (e.g, Grand Marnier, amaretto) and pour it slowly over the pound cake which is still in the pan. Do this several times, letting the liqueur soak into the cake deeply, then serve or wrap and freeze for later use. If you use Grand Marnier, you can also add a bit of fresh orange juice to the liqueur for a nice effect.