Lemon Love Bundt Cake

First I'm going to tempt you with lemon in this luscious lemon bundt cake before I explain about the lemons of blogging.  Please see below for my update. 💛😡

I've had this lemon bundt cake recipe for over 10 years and it's still a favorite!  Originally found on a blogging friend's website.  She no longer posts but her recipes are still online here.  She found the recipe through Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.  I renamed it because it's not a true pound cake since it only uses 2 sticks of butter and not 4, but the 1 cup of sour cream kind of makes up for that! It is moist and so delicious. 

I used a light lemon glaze over the top.  This cake is wonderful on it's own but even better with some berries on the side and maybe a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!  

Susan

Lemon Love Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

2¾ cups flour

½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
5 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
½ cup fresh lemon juice, from about 4 lemons

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare a 10-inch Bundt pan with lots of pan spray and sprinkle it with granulated sugar.  (Flour will leave an unattractive residue on the cake.)

To make the cake:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Add vanilla and lemon zest, mix them together.

Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  

Mix sour cream and lemon juice together. Add flour and sour cream mixture alternately, finishing with the flour.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.  

Place a wire cooling rack over the top of the bundt pan and carefully flip bundt pan and rack over using oven mitts.  Allow cake to cool about 5-10 minutes before lifting the pan off of the cake.  Cool completely.

To make the glaze dizzle:

1-2/3 cups fonctioners' sugar, sifted.
Pinch of Salt
2-4 tablespons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Mix the sugar and salt, then add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stir, add more lemon juice as needed to create a thin glaze that can be poured artfully over the cool cake.  Add sprinkles, if desired.  

Lemon Posset with Berries and Grand Marnier

Lemon posset is a deliciously refreshing dessert for summer because it's served chilled, but great at any time of year using whatever berries you can find. You know how I love do-ahead desserts, especially when you're entertaining and have a lot of other things to do!  Lemon posset actually needs to be made at least several hours ahead of time for the cream to fully thicken and set so making it the day before is best.  

Last spring, after my husband and I were fully vaccinated, we traveled to Georgia to visit good friends who were also vaccinated.  One night, they hosted a dinner party and one of the guests brought this dessert.  We loved it so much I asked for the recipe.  Thank you, Debbi!  When we were recently invited to dinner at a friend's home,  I offered to bring dessert and made Debbi's lemon posset.  Everyone loved it and also requested the recipe.  

Posset gets it's name from an old-time English drink dating back to the Middle Ages made by curdling milk with spiced wine or ale.  Thank goodness, it is more commonly known today as a creamy, pudding-like dessert made by boiling cream and sugar and adding lemon juice and zest or other citrus flavors.  That's it!  No temperamental eggs or gelatin, flour or cornstarch needed to thicken it. Many Americans have never encountered posset but it's so delicious and fairly easy to make that I think it will become very popular.  This recipe is based on one by Ina Garten, and we all know her recipes are wonderful!  

This particular recipes uses cream, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and limoncello to make the posset.  If you have a good liquor store near you, you can find small bottles of limoncello which hold at least 3 tablespoons, enough for this recipe.  Our Total Wine had several varieties to choose from.  I was also able to find a very small bottle of Grand Marnier for the berry topping.  The Grand Marnier and sugar-soaked berries are so delicious with each spoonful! 

I made some pecan shortbread cookies to go along with the posset but store bought pirouettes would also be a lovely garnish, although neither is really necessary as this is a satisfying dessert on its own.  

I hope you give it try!  

Lemon Posset with Berries and Grand Marnier

Printable Recipe

The Lemon Posset should be prepared the day before serving in order for the custard to fully set. 

Hands On Preparation Time, 20 minutes

Servings: 6  

Note:  I needed 8 Servings so I increased the recipe, ingredient amounts for 8 in parentheses. I used strawberries and raspberries but any berries would also work well. 

3 cups (4-1/2) heavy cream

1 cup (1-1/2) plus 2 (3) tablespoons sugar

1 (1-1/2) tablespoon lemon zest (2 to 3 lemons)

¼ (1/2) teaspoon kosher salt

⅓ (1/3 c plus 2-2/3 T) cup lemon juice

2 (3) tablespoons limoncello liqueur

1 (1-1/2) cup fresh raspberries, picked over

1 (1-1/2) cup sliced fresh strawberries

3 T Grand Marnier (or limoncello)

Combine the cream, 1 (1-1/2) cup of the sugar, the lemon zest, and salt in a medium saucepan.* Bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Lower heat to a vigorous simmer and cook 6 minutes, without stirring.  Watch the mixture carefully. If it begins to boil up toward the edge, take the pan off the heat for a few seconds before continuing to simmer.

Off the heat, stir in the lemon juice and limoncello and set aside for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a 4-cup glass measuring cup, pressing on zest to release as much liquid as possible. Discard zest. Divide mixture evenly among six (or eight) 8- to 10-ounce glasses or bowls.  Allow to cool on the counter and then refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, either overnight or up to 3 days.

Thirty minutes before serving, combine raspberries, strawberries, the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and 3 T Grand Marnier (or limoncello) in a bowl and allow to macerate. To serve, spoon the berries and their juices onto the custards.

*Don't use a saucepan smaller than 6 inches round and 5 inches tall.

Adapted from: English Lemon Posset  - Barefoot Contessa