Very Lemony Lemon Cake

I was in the mood for a fluffy cake with a strong lemony flavor to it and for this you will use at least two large or three medium lemons for this and must use all the (scrubbed) peel for it. You will use most of the juice and save a couple tablespoons for the icing, as well as a tablespoon of grated lemon peel. The flavor is intensely tart/sweet and it is exactly what I wanted it to be. I saw people slicing “just one more piece” from the cake and it disappeared with amazing alacrity.

I decided to use oil as opposed to margarine/butter and this helps make it fluffier. While you can make it by hand, it’s extremely important to whip the eggs and sugar together for almost 5 minutes to achieve a pale color and you are whipping air into the eggs this way, thereby making it lighter. This is a large and generous cake and slices quite beautifully.

So start with your lemons, scrub ’em and pat dry and use a zester or microplane or small holed grater to finely grate the peel from the lemon. Remember, only the yellow part of the lemon, not the bitter white pith beneath!

Note that I put aside a tablespoon of the lemon peel for the icing.

Good, now juice ’em.

Put the juice in a measuring cup to measure 1/3 cup for the cake and put aside 2 tablespoons for the icing. If you have extra (you might!) either freeze in ice cube trays for another time (a great hack) or make some techina with it or whatever you like. Onward.

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C.

Assemble your ingredients by the mixer.

(yep the lemons are unpeeled there, but we’ve handled them already, no worries 🙂 ). K. Now this is a critical component of the cake, no skipping. Whip the eggs and sugar together for about 5 minutes or till they more than double in volume and turn lighter in color.

As you can see, they are “fluffed up” and thickened.

The lemon juice, oil and vanilla extract, in other words, the liquids should be added at this point, 1/3 liquids and then 1/3 dry ingredients, i.e. flour, baking powder and salt, and the grated lemon peel, whipping together to a smooth consistency and scraping down sides with a spatula as necessary, using up the liquid and dry ingredients intermittently. Do not overbeat, just till smoothly combined.

Grease and flour a bundt pan thoroughly.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, scraping it out with your spatula.

Place cake into preheated oven and bake about 50 minutes or till fully baked through, checking with a wooden toothpick or skewer. It should come out clean. Remove pan from oven and let cool completely. While the cake is baking, prepare the icing.

Take the tablespoon of lemon peel and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and mix together with the powdered/icing sugar (sift the sugar into the bowl so there are no lumps) with a whisk or fork, till smooth and glossy. Cover the bowl and pop into the fridge to set up while the cake is baking.

When the cake is completely COLD not even a little bit warm at all (or the icing will melt right into the cake) gently pry loose all around and at the tube part and carefully place a platter on top of pan and flip cake out onto platter. Drizzle the icing over the cake in a pretty pattern. You will see the bits of lemon peel throughout the icing. Let the icing set on the cake till firm and serve to all your lemon lovers who will keep sneaking pieces of cake behind your back till it’s all gone!

Very Lemony Lemon Cake

6 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar (350 grams)
Grated peel of 3 medium or 2 large lemons, approximately, save a tablespoon of lemon peel for the icing
1 cup vegetable oil (240 grams )
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon juice (76 grams)
3 1/2 cups flour (420 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Baker’s Joy or extra flour and oil spray for the pan

Icing:

1 cup powdered/icing sugar, sifted (120 grams)
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.

Scrub 3 lemons and pat dry. Using a fine grater, microplane or zester, peel the lemon part of the peel off not using the white bitter pith beneath. Set aside one tablespoon for the icing, putting it in a small bowl, the rest will go into the cake batter. Then juice the lemons, taking 1/3 cup of lemon juice for the cake batter and 2 tablespoons set aside for the icing, put it in the same small bowl as the tablespoon of zest.

For the cake batter, whip the eggs and sugar together until very thick and light in color, about five minutes. When adding the wet ingredients, i.e. oil, lemon juice and vanilla to the egg mixture, you will add 1/3 of the liquids, and then add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, i.e the flour, salt and baking powder and grated lemon peel, whipping just till incorporated and smooth continuing by 1/3 wet and 1/3 dry until you alternately use the wet and dry ingredients all up, scraping the sides and bottom with spatula till totally combined. Do not overbeat.

Prepare the bundt pan (or tube pan) by spraying with oil and flouring well to prevent cake from sticking (or use the prepared type of flour/oil spray). The cake will rise high in the pan. Bake for approximately 50 minutes or till cake is fully baked and when tested with a wooden toothpick or skewer, comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool completely till COLD in pan on wire rack. While cake is baking, prepare icing.

Mix powdered sugar with the lemon juice and grated peel in the bowl which you’ve set aside. Whisk together till smooth and glossy and cover bowl and pop into fridge while cake is baking. Leave in fridge till cake is completely cold and gently loosen cake from sides of pan and middle and press down lightly all about to help cake release. Take a platter and carefully place on top and flip cake out onto platter. Drizzle the cake prettily with the icing – this is just enough icing to drizzle the cake, it is not an enormous amount. If you wish, you can always double the icing but I like it just this way.