Pucker Up Lemon Loaf
This lemon loaf cake recipe has been a long time in the making, so obviously, I had to have it make two! My family will often opt for the Starbucks one when out but typically lament that it's a bit too sweet and heavy. This one, however, is nothing but citrus sunshine in loaf form. The syrup infuses an extra lemony layer throughout the loaf at the end. And who doesn't love a glaze???
Spring is in the air….I hear some birds starting to chirp, the clocks have changed which means longer hours of sun. Change is on the horizon and I’m now turning over a new leaf from nesting with comfy foods to trying new baking with fresh flavours.
Lemon is one of the most revered of the citrus family for flavours due to its delicate and balanced taste. Citrus captures sweetness and acidity perfectly. While the fruit itself can lend itself towards slightly sour with a high astringency, the lemon rind in this loaf whispers a hint of floral notes to curb the tartness of just the juice itself.
Pucker Up Lemon Loaf evokes spring on a plate, awakening your tastebuds and leaving blossoming sentiments of invigoration, purity, and that childlike need for sugar (mmm, icing).
It’s not necessary, but I do prefer using caster sugar for baking as the granules are much finer and dissolves easier.
Don’t get confused thinking this is the same as icing or powdered sugar!
MAKE NOTE: 1 cup of granulated sugar (200g) does not weigh the same as caster sugar (225g). Pound cakes are all about the right ratios, so do yourself a favour and invest in a kitchen scale. You won’t regret it!
What you’ll need:
eggs
lemons
plain yoghurt
lemon juice
vanilla bean paste
icing sugar
all purpose flour
salt
baking powder
baking soda
unsalted butter
sugar
What you’ll do:
Bring ingredients to room temperature Bringing perishable items such as eggs, butter, and any other dairy-based ingredients to room temperature before adding them to the mixer will make them easier to emulsify, resulting in a cake with an even crumb consistency.
Use fresh lemon juice I find this is a key step. The fresh lemons provide a brightness that even “pure lemon juices” can’t.
I have used the bottled stuff before, but the acidity cuts through a bit too harsh. If anything, use 4 large lemons and if you find you’re short on juice (because you need close to 1 cup total for the recipe), divvy the bottled juice between the loaf, syrup, and glaze.
Also, make sure those lemons are room temperature to give you the most bang for your buck! And zest the two lemons before juicing otherwise you’ll need even more.
Expect a heavier/thicker batter Dissimilar to cake batter, the only liquid to thin it out in this recipe is a small amount of plain yoghurt and the lemon juice, and only a ¼ cup per loaf. The dairy ensures a moist cake without weighing down the crumbs. Pound cakes get their name from the ratio of staple baking ingredients in its traditional form. Here, we use fresh lemons - both the zest and juice - to enhance the flavour profile in both the cake, glaze, and icing. Modern pound cakes today typically have less than what the originals required, but the ratios are pretty darn close. You won’t be able to completely pour the batter - you’ll most likely need a spatula to help coax it out in to the pans.
Loaf pans A 9”x5” or 8”x4” (if you want a taller loaf) are great choices to keep its trademark consistency. Just know that if you use what you normally bake your banana bread in, it will not be as high. Personally, I have one of each so when I do this, I spray both pans with non stick spray and line them with parchment to be able to easily lift them out for cooling and icing. My larger pan is actually 11”x7” heavy gauge carbon steel loaf tin by Le Creuset, linked here. My smaller one is the standard 9”x5” ceramic loaf pan. I find that even though they are different sizes and materials, mine bake just fine on convection bake for 55 minutes.
Citrus Syrup & Glaze The citrus syrup infuses the cake with a bit of extra whimsy and moisture while cooling. And why stop at just the citrus syrup? You could. In fact, you could even bypass the syrup. BUT WHY WOULD YOU??? The glaze on top of the pound cake cultivates a sweet and sour harmony that adds a whole other dimension of lemon flavour to every bite.
Make it your own Next time, think about adding blueberries to it or possibly switching the citrus notes up. Grapefruit, orange, and even yuzu sound like great options!
Pucker Up Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Lightly spray and line two loaf pans with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Fix your stand mixer with a fitted paddle attachment and cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Make sure to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add eggs slowly and beat. Add the lemon zest, scrape down sides of bowl, and beat again
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste.
- Turn down the mixer and add half the dry ingredients and half the liquid ingredients. Mix until incorporated. Repeat with the remaining half of both.
- Pour and divide the batter evenly into loaf pans.
- Bake for approx 55 minutes (will depend on size of loaf pans) or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean. The tops should be golden brown.
- While loaves are baking, make citrus syrup.
- Remove from oven and allow them to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes before adding citrus syrup.
- In a small pot, combine lemon juice and sugar. Turn to medium heat and bring to boil, stirring frequently, until thickened and sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Once loaves have cooled for five minutes, use a toothpick and poke the top of each loaf for syrup to drip in to and infuse the loaves. Use a pastry brush to coat the top of each loaf with lemon syrup.
- Wait 10 minutes and then remove loaves from the pans and parchment and allow them to cool completely on a wire rack placed over a piece of parchment paper before adding glaze.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar and lemon juice to create a slightly pourable and glossy glaze. You should be able to gently coax it out of the bowl with a spatula and pour gently over the top of each loaf. Let the glaze overflow on to the sides.
- Allow to set for about 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
*make sure to use a full fat yoghurt otherwise your loaves will be too runny.
**I typically use half fresh squeezed lemons and half pure lemon juice, such as Santa Cruz organic lemon juice
***You can always use a bit of lime juice to break up the flavours a bit, if you so wish.
****Keep these loaves in an airtight container or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
