Tuesday with Dorie
This week's recipe by contributing baker Norman Love is a lemon cake that is made with only the zest of lemon - no lemon juice. I thought it strange that there was no lemon juice and after reading the Ps and Qs I found out that many who had already made the loaf thought it didn't have a strong lemon flavor. So when I made this loaf on Easter Saturday, I followed the recipe exactly except I added three drops of lemon oil. I thought the lemon oil would give it more of a lemon flavor, but after the cake cooled and we sliced it there was not even a hint of lemon.
The recipe stated that when the cake cools completely to wrap it tightly and wait to cut it after a day, but, of course we couldn't wait that long. The loaf rose beautifully and was a pretty cake, but it just didn't have any flavor. That first night John said he didn't like it. I made a lemon glaze for my slices (John doesn't like sugary glazes) which made it very lemony and very sweet. I was really disappointed, but thought it might make a good cake for strawberry shortcake, so on Easter Sunday that's what I served for dessert and it was a hit with the family. The cake had developed a very mild lemon flavor overnight and paired with the strawberries and whipped cream it was really delicious.
What we discovered, however, is that this cake tastes even better on the third day - plain. That is when the lemon taste shines. So I made another one this past Sunday, but this time I used the zest of meyer lemons and added a little bit of meyer lemon juice, along with three drops of lemon oil. Adding that little bit of juice required about 10 minutes longer of baking time, but the loaf had a lovely lemon smell and taste. I served it again with strawberries and whipped cream and it was just as delicious as the first time. On Monday we ate it plain again with coffee and it tasted wonderful. This is a cake that I will make often.
Thank you to Truc of Treats and Michelle of The Beauty of Life for hosting this week's recipe. You can see their beautiful cakes and get the recipe on their blogs. You can also see what the rest of the bakers thought about the lemon loaf cake over at Tuesdays with Dorie.
