Maida Heatter's Best Darn Lemon Cake Ever
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
16
ingredients
-
Cake
- 1⁄2 cup almonds, blanched
- 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (double-acting)
- 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, graded large
- 1⁄2 cup milk
- 1 ounce lemon extract
- 3 lemons, sized medium (or 2 large, use grated rind in cake, and 1/3 cup of the juice for the glaze)
-
Glaze
- 1⁄3 cup granulated sugar, plus
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1⁄3 cup lemon juice, fresh (from lemons listed above)
directions
- Spray an 8-1/2"x5" loaf pan with baking spray.
- Grind almonds very fine and set aside.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
- In a small heavy saucepan, melt butter. Transfer to a large bowl. With electric mixer, add sugar and beat a bit to mix.
- On low speed, beat in eggs one at a time, beating only to mix well.
- Add dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with milk in two additions, scraping bowl with a spatula and beating until mixed after each addition.
- Mix in lemon extract.
- Remove from mixer. Stir in grated rind, then stir in ground almonds.
- Turn mixture into pan. (It will be thin.) Bake at 350 for 65-75 minutes. (During baking, cake will form a large crack or two on top, and crack(s) will remain light in color.).
- A few minutes before cake is finished, prepare glaze: stir sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan over moderate heat, only until sugar is just dissolved. (Don't boil!).
- When cake is removed from the oven, let it stand for 2-3 minutes. Then, using brush, brush the hot glaze gradually over the hot cake. Glaze should not be applied quickly; it should take about 5 minutes to apply all the glaze.
- Let cake stand until not quite completely cool. Then gently invert onto a rack and turn right side up. When cool, wrap in plastic wrap or foil and let stand 12-24 hours before serving.
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RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
<p>My husband and I live in Cambridge MA with our dog Archie. <br /> <br />I used to be a mediocre cook, with little interest in cooking ... then I joined Weight Watchers in Oct. 2006. I finally realized that to maintain my weight, I needed to find lots of extremely yummy, healthy foods that I enjoyed eating -- and the best way to do that is to learn to cook, and to learn to enjoy cooking. This web site has been 95% responsible for getting me there! <br /> <br />As of Oct. 2007, I am a lifetime member of Weight Watchers, having lost 70 pounds and weighing less than I've ever weighed as an adult. I owe a lot of it to the recipes I've found here! <br /> <br />Re: rating recipes -- I only give out five and four stars, and very occasionally three stars. I don't see any point in giving lower scores; I can't be sure a recipe has turned out badly because of something I've done. Besides, even if I don't like it, the next person might -- and if they see a one-star review, they'll never bother to try it. So I review the ones I've loved, and don't say anything about the ones that didn't work for me. <br /> <br />Hooray for vegetables! <br /> <br />. <br /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/projects/200_PACpic.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e347/Saturn6666/KiwiDutch/3chefstag1.jpg alt= /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/DUCHESS13/Zaar%20World%20Tour%203/ZWT3-Participation.gif alt= /> <br /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/Adopted1smp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/smPACp.jpg border=0 alt=Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket /> <br /><img src=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/susied214/permanent%20collection/PAC08Main.jpg border=0 alt=Photobucket /></p>