Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake

Happy Fourth of July! I’d drape some bunting over the balcony, but I’m in another Latitude and Time Zone, at the moment. Still, I must reflect that life offers two basic choices about celebrations: You can have fun, join the crowd, and invite someone over, or you can pine away and feel sorry for yourself. My sister Louise - one of the least likely people to pine away - is also one of the funniest people I know. A couple of years ago, she and my daughter, Sam, improvised this video that shows exactly what I’m talking about! They called it “Lonely Lou.”

Today’s recipe is a very easy Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake you can make in the morning and serve in the afternoon. How did the term “pound” cake come about? Each of the four principal ingredients of a traditional Pound Cake weighs exactly one pound. That’s too much cake for us, so I always cut the traditional recipe in half. If you choose to make the classic Pound Cake, double the recipe below, pouring the batter into a bundt pan (or two loaf pans) and extending the baking time until the cake is light gold in color and until a skewer poked near cake’s center comes out clean.

Simple and quick to make with ingredients most people have on hand, this cake is best baked in a loaf pan. As you prepare it, you’ll probably figure out where and how it gets its name! I always add a little lemon extract and zest to the batter and drizzle it with Lemon Glaze for good measure! I hope you’ll enjoy this cake with your family and friends on a relaxing Fourth of July. 

Lemon-Glazed Pound Cake:

1 c. butter or margarine (½ lb.)

1 c. plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar (½ lb.)

4 large eggs (½ lb.)
½ tsp. lemon extract

½ tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

1-¾ c. all-purpose flour (½ lb.)

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Have all ingredients at room temperature. Cream butter with electric mixer until soft, gradually adding sugar and beating between each addition. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon extract and zest. Add flour to creamed mixture, scraping down sides of bowl. Continue to beat at high speed for at least 5 min. Spoon into a standard 9 x 5 in. loaf pan that has been greased and floured. Bake 50-to-55 min. Use a skewer to poke several holes over top of hot pound cake. 

To Prepare the Lemon Glaze:

1-½ c. granulated sugar 

2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

½ c. lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine sugar, zest, and juice over medium heat until sugar is fully dissolved. Stir and heat almost to a boil, drizzling about a third of syrup evenly over top of cake. When cake and remaining syrup are warm (not hot), pour remainder over cake. Cake will absorb syrup to form a glaze as it cools. Cool glazed cake completely on wire rack before turning out of loaf pan. 

Cake's four main ingredients each weigh 1/2 lb. Even giving
cake away, Ron and I couldn't consume a true “pound” cake.

Fresh lemon zest is superior to dried zest.

Fresh-squeezed lemons are superior to bottled juice.

Prepare lemon glaze on stove top.

Use a skewer to poke holes throughout cake.

Pour a third of hot glaze over hot cake.
Repeat with remaining glaze after 30 min.

Ron describes this pound cake as “Yummy!” It is!

Tomorrow, I’m blogging a very different lemon cake - light and airy, with a whiskey infusion and softly whipped lemon cream. See you then, Dollinks!