Experiment 06; Butternilk Lemon Pound Cake 06.25/26.11

"I love lemon cake"
"I'm craving that lemon cake thing from Starbucks"
"Mm.. Lemon cakey loaf.."

I hear this every time we go into a Starbucks from the husband. Nearly every time we go in, he gets a lemon loaf cake slice to go with /whatever/ he orders to drink. The man is almost a lemon fiend. I personally sold so much of the crap during my stint as a barista at Starbucks (Would you like some of Lemon Loaf?) that I don't have a great love for the stuff.

So, given it was father's day recently, I mentioned I may try to make him a lemon pound cake as an offering since we couldn't do much for father's day (what with sleep deprivation and being covered in vomit. and recovering from a c section.) (I admit Ive been aching to cook again.)
 He seemed interested in this venture. I did some research; and opted to go with something that involved actual lemons, not this lemon extract shit.  The lemons I obtained from my dad's tree in his front yard. Why buy the shits when I can grab um for free? =p


Having tried the batter I can already tell this will not be the lemony sweet decadence that is the mass produced Starbucks confection. (well, the glaze is obnoxiously lemony and sweet..)

So to start off with..
My cat, was fascinated by the bag of lemons we left in the living room. In fact, she had a lemon party.

Totally left them there for you Ekko.

My cats clearly run this house. (not really.)

So.. Lemon cakey. stuff.. I used this recipe.

This was a unique adventure; namely because I was able to use my newly replaced mixer. The awesome folks at Sunbeam replaced the one the husband bought for christmas that never worked. Rather then throw the vexing thing out and replacing it, i opted to call the customer support time and inquire about fixing it.

They sent me a new mixer.
Oh why thank you, Sunbeam. You made my day you did. (it arrived the week I was in hospital trying to deliver the spawn >.>)

So; this bread.. You need lemons for this recipe. Maybe more then I brought home. (six.)

(but don't forget, I have a lemon fiend. but hold onto that thought, of lemons.)

Tonight. YOU.

I play with my food. Don't judge me. Or judge me, I don't care.

 This recipe was not hard. Infact, I expected it to be harder; but really it was pretty simple. The only thing that threw me was the mixer.  I have a confession:

Ness has never, until last night used one of these. It's like adding a whirring vibrating toy into the bedroom when one has never been there. I hand mix everything I bake (not always practical.), so having a working mixer that I can use was a dazzling prospect. And frightening. LOOK at this thing go:

It seriously cut down the time I would have spent mixing this by hand.

It's just clear I have to refine my skills though.

Now the recipe said it would fill two of these pans..

 I'm not sure what happened here; the recipe said it would be enough batter for two of these pans. Or a bundt pan. I lack a bundt pan, so I got my loaf pans out; and either I cant judge width and shit for crap or the recipe is a liar. Whatever. I just put it all into one pan. It worked out ok.

This looks a lot scarier then it really is.

 The glaze; I was somehow expecting a more.. uh.. glazy.. whitish look. But really this was interesting. It was so godamn lumpy as to be revolting. But yeah. Mix the hell out of this; the lumps do go away.

Before it was lubed with sugary lemony pleasures.

 The loaf itself formed nicely. I was a little wary of the cracks, but after it cooled, I was able to get it out of the pan without a disaster. See below for proof:

aaaaand after.

My god, LOOK at that..

 I've never made anything that utilized a glaze, and I have to admit I was amused by this. it soaked up the glaze like a SPONGE...

Mm..

End results: Lemon cakey thing was created.
Taste findings: This is most definatly NOT the treat from Starbucks; though having had a taste last night, and some for breakfast this morning, I admit I think I prefer this one. The flavor of the loaf it'self is insanely light; reminding more of my beloved soda bread in flavor; but less dense (a lot less dense) and softer, moister. The lemon flavor was lacking; but there, it just didn't shine through as one expected in a treat made with lemons.

The glazed portions of the loaf screamed LEMONS though; as was a delight for the tongue.

I think that were I make this again (and I probably will; judging how Hubbasaur just ate two portions for breakfast, my god) I will use a lot more lemon juice. I used quite a bit more then was recommended for the glaze and that came out fine. I used the required amount of juice and zest in the batter and found that to be lacking. Refine, refine refine!