If you pressed me, hard, I might be able to come up with a flavor I like better than lemon, but I’m not sure. I do know that if I had to live without it, my life would certainly suck.
There’s something so seductive about the fruity, sharp, sour, acid-y, refreshing, familiar-but-elusive aroma and flavor of lemon, on its own or in combination with others. Most anything, sweet or savory, can take a hit of lemon and be better for it. Grilled and squeezed over steak, sliced and incorporated into tossed or composed or chopped salads, zested over French fries, tossed in chunks with pasta, cooked with stew, twisted over cocktails, even rubbed along the rim of an espresso shot: Lemon makes sense nearly everywhere.
Because it is so bright and fresh, and because lemonade is a national summertime obsession, it’s easy to forget that lemon isn’t exactly at the height of its season in summer. The best lemons, like other citrus fruits, come around on the opposite side of the calendar.
But I can’t help it. I like lemons in the summer, especially in cake.
This recipe is from the September 2008 issue of Cook’s Country magazine. In my Denver kitchen, I didn’t need to adjust the leavening for altitude. But the cake took a bit on the longer side to bake, either because of the altitude or the vagaries of my own oven. Be patient. At elevations higher than Denver, you might need to adjust the leavening downward.
Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake
Serves 16
Ingredients
CAKE
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
3 tablespoons grated zest and 1/4cup juice from 3 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
GLAZE
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons buttermilk
Directions
For the cake: Adjust the oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Combine buttermilk, lemon juice and vanilla in liquid measuring cup.
With electric mixer on medium speed, mix granulated sugar and lemon zest until moist and fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture to small bowl, cover and reserve for glaze. Add butter to remaining sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and yolk, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixture, and mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Scrape batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack, and let cool 10 minutes.
For the glaze: Whisk confectioners’ sugar, lemon juice and buttermilk until smooth. Spread glaze over warm cake, and sprinkle with reserved sugar mixture. Cool completely, at least 2 hours. Serve.
