Albanian Walnut Cake With Lemon Glaze

Submitted by MsBindy

"I have not tried this cake yet. It is supposed to be moist and rich, but not overly sweet. I'm posting this for the Zaar World Tour. It's from a Moosewood cookbook."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 12-15

ingredients

• Cake

• 1⁄2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄3 cup plain yogurt
• 1⁄3 cup buttermilk (or additional 1/3 cup yogurt)
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon rind
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted and finely chopped

• Glaze

• 3⁄4 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon)
• 1⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 dash ground cloves

directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, and then mix in the eggs.
3. Blend the yogurt with the buttermilk.
4. Sift together the cake dry ingredients and add them alternating with the yogurt mixture into the egg mixture.
5. Stir in the lemon rind and walnuts.
6. Pour the batter into a buttered 9X13 baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake will still be moist.
7. Make the glaze by simmering together all the ingredients, covered, for about 15 minutes.
8. Remove the cinnamon stick.
9. When the cake is done, remove it from the oven, turn off the oven, pour the glaze over the hot cake and return it to the oven for about 10 minutes.
10. Cut the cake into squares and serve it warm or cool.

Reviews

[MuddPies]

This really IS an awsome cake and it's very simple to make. My boyfriend called this cake "intoxicating". I used all yogurt and I did toast the walnuts, takes a bit longer, but well worth it in flavor. You could put candied lemon rind on top of each slice. This is from "Sundays at the Moosewood", a GREAT cookbook that I use often.

 

[Cat R.]

This is a really sound recipe - made a few changes and it was very tasty and well received. I didn't have enough walnuts, so added some candied citrus peel, chopped glace cherries and dried cranberries. Subbed half a cup of flour with wholewheat. Used all yogurt. Followed the glaze recipe very loosely, based on the 'too sweet' comment, so it just added a hint more lemon and cinnamon to the initial aroma of the cake. I also made some in mini muffin moulds, which worked really well!

 

[ArieCat]

Nicely spiced, moist, simple, and yummy... I used additional yogurt instead of buttermilk, and it was great. The glaze was too sweet for me, though! Next time I'll leave that part out.

 

[bismarck]

Pretty sure the glaze recipe was supposed to call for 1/4 cup of water...not 3/4 cup. Prepared as directed, your cake will be drowned in 2 cups of sugar water after it's baked and you'll end up with a sodden mess.

 

[momaphet]

This cake is scrumptious - the combination of the lemon, cinnamon and toasted walnuts were so delicious! With the comments about the glaze I reduced the amount but proportionately add more lemon juice. This was a mistake the glaze was delicious and I wanted more - I should have just increased the lemon juice. The one problem with this recipe was the cooking time. The cake was done at 30 minutes, and the extra cooking time with the glaze just dried it out especially in the middle. Next time I will put the glaze on at 25 minutes and maybe poke it to allow the glaze to seep in and just cook it for 5 more minutes. I look forward to making this again, thanks for sharing. Made for "My Food Odyssey" - Albania