Friday, June 11, 2010

Lemon Lemon Loaf

My good friend Choy gave me a cook book called ‘Best of the Best Cookbook’. It is the BEST RECIPES from 25 best chefs of the year. It consist recipes of Giada de Laurentiis, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, Pauline Nguyen and many more talented chefs. I flip through the books and there are many recipes that I wanted to try out but there is one recipe that stands out among the rest. It is a Lemon cake by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito from their book Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. I like it for the fact that it is a lemon cake and also the cake is made solely with a food processor which I've never done before. . For a lemon freak like me, this is heaven. It's so light-tasting, not heavy or greasy at all despite all the butter. I leave one without the glaze and both tasted just as good. The original recipe makes 2 big loaves but you can always halve it to make a loaf.



Ingredients for the cake:(From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)
Makes 2 loaves


1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups sugar (I used only 2 cups)
8 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup grated lemon zest, from about 4 lemons
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients for the syrup:

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar

Ingredients the glaze:

2 cups confectioner's sugar (I used 1 cup)
4 to 6 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I use 2 tbsp)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line and greased two loaf pans. Sift both of the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
2. Put the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until combined. With the motor running, drizzle the melted butter in through the feed tube. Add the sour cream and vanilla and pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.
4. Fold in flour with a spatula, one third at a time, folding gently after each addition until just combined. Do not over mix.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, rotate the pans, and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, and bake for another 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
6. Invert the cake to a cooling rack. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the loaves. Brush the tops and sides with lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the loaves and brush again. Let the cakes cool completely before glazing it.

To make the lemon syrup:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.


While the cakes are cooling, make the lemon glaze:

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar and 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. If too stiff, add up to another 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a little at a time until the right consistency is reached. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes.


Note: The soaked but unglazed loaves will keep, wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and frozen, for up to 6 weeks. If you are making a full recipe you might need a big food processor as mine was pretty small in size so it leaked a bit when I added the butter.
 

P/s My laptop just went 'kaput' on me so I am using my old PC (which is super slow) and I may having problem visiting your blogs and replying to your emails. Sorry about that. Is time to get a new laptop :(

28 comments:

Elin Chia said...

Gert,..I can smell the lemony lemony loaf from here :p The brain has been attuned to your post :)) Reminds me that I should do something with my lemons in the fridge. Great lemony loaf and nice pics :)

ijayuji said...

hi, must try this recipe ;-) sukeeeeee sgt aroma lemon ni :-) tq ya.

ReeseKitchen said...

Hi Gert, this is a nice one..:)
Its quite similar with Sonia's lemon butter cake but hers is without the glaze. Since I still got some lemon left in my fridge, will try this out tomorrow..thanks for sharing..:)

Quinn said...

Gert, you really really really love lemon and anything citrus!!!! I saw the comment on lemon curd tart from Jo's blog and I was like, oh okay, everyone loves lemon curd, no biggie. And here you are making a lemon cake, that is big deal because the cake looks so dense, moist and good. I would do without the glaze though.

Kitchen Corner said...

I like lemon cake too! Anything with citrus I will like it. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I'll give it a try. Cheers!

Little Inbox said...

So much of lemon zest is added, sure this is extremely fragrant with lemon essence.

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

wor, the lemon glaze is beautiful and tempting.

Jeannie said...

First time came across this method ...sounds interesting. The result looks yummy! Going to bookmark this recipe...Thanks!

busygran said...

That's a reminder that I have a couple of lemons in the fridge. Lemons taste good in cakes too. Looks like I am tempted to make another of my lemon cake.

Honey Bee Sweets said...

Wow...nicely glazed! But I'm like Quinn...can do without it though. :P Indeed, 4 lemons! So many, the cake should be very lemony and fragrant! And that cookbook sounds tempting...should get it too. :D

Cheah said...

The loaf looks great, new method using food processor, must try it!

MaryMoh said...

Wow...beautiful! I bet this one will take me to cloud 9. I love lemon in desserts.

Zurin said...

beautiful! I love lemon too. the icing really looks gorgeous draped over the top like that. I think we had the same mind cos I made a loaf cake too!

Catherine said...

Wow this looks wonderful! I am so happy I found your site!
Cheers!

FoOd FaNaTiC said...

I love how pretty the lemon glaze looks! well done!

mycookinghut said...

Yum!! This is great for the world cup season.

PlumLeaf 李葉 said...

Looks fantastic! I l-o-v-e lemon cakes!
My favourite is a lemon flavoured pound cake that I drizzle with a little lemon icing or lemon drizzle cake or cupcakes with lemon butter icing.

Mumto4Angels said...

Hi, This is the first time I commented on your blog, although I have been following your blogs for quite a few months now, i just love your bakings......and have tried and liked it. Will definitely try this one too as I am a Lemon lover too....;) Thanks Gert for sharing :)

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Oh my, look at that glaze! I am sure this will be an easy favourite among friends and family!

pigpigscorner said...

Wow best of the best?! Would love to know what other recipes they have. This looks fantastic, so moist and soft!

Bakericious said...

I love lemon cake too, this looks so gd as Sonia's lemon butter cake!

lily;s wai sek hong said...

i love making cakes in the food processor. In fact, i just did make a pound cake and wanted to post it but could not locate my pictures. Love your lemon cake

ICook4Fun said...

Elin, ha ha this is what lemon can do to us.

Ijayuji, thank you and you can link to my blog :)

Reese, I have to try out Sonia recipe one day since so many people said it is good.

Quinn, I do love citrus a lot especially lemon. You can always omit the glaze.

Kitchen Corner, yes I did notice you like lemon too :)

Little Inbox, yes I used 4 lemon zest for this two loaves :)

Sonia, thanks.

Jeannie, yes it was the first time for me too. You can always halve the recipe.

Busygran, lemon always taste good in cakes and dessert. Looking forward to see your lemon cake.

Bee bee, thank you. Go ahead and buy the book as I know you like to collect recipe books like me ha ha..

ICook4Fun said...

Cheah, this method will produce and denser cake but much easier method.

Mary, thanks.

Zurin, yes I notice you bake a pound cake too :)

Catherine, thanks you and hope to see you often here.

Food FaNaTic, thanks.

ICook4Fun said...

Leemei, yea we are watching England and USA match now and eating this with tea. Too bad it was a draw :)

Plumleft, if you like lemon you should like this cake too.

Mumto4Angels, thanks for you comment. I love all your baking too. Going to visit you often :)

Shirley, yes in fact I share some of it with my group of Malaysian ladies here :)

Pigpigscorner, thank you.

Jess, I have to try out Sonia recipe soon.

Lily, thank you. It was my first time mixing the cake with food processor and I know it won't be my last :)

Angie's Recipes said...

The tangy lemony cake looks very pretty and it must have tasted as good as it looks!

Aaron John said...

Your lemon loaf looks beyond good!! It looks really moist!! YUM!!

Would you mind checking out my blog? :D http://ajscookingsecrets.blogspot.com/

Baking is my Zen...sweet nibbles for the soul said...

Hi,
Nice post on the Lemon Loaf. I'll be posting this as well on 8/8/10. I will link your site to my blog.

You are welcome to enter my COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY.
http://bakingismyzen.blogspot.com/2010/08/cookbook-giveaway-by-baking-is-my-zen.html

Carmen