Lemon Loaf

If I ever went to Starbucks, (not very often; I don't drink coffee) I used to love getting their lemon loaf.  It was so moist and lemony and hard to resist. Also, when I was a kid, my mom, aunts and grandma used to throw a cookie party at Christmastime, and someone always brought a lemon loaf.  I've always loved it.

What I didn't love was the artificial flavor of the ones you got at the store.  Even a mix you baked yourself had that Mr. Clean aftertaste (no, I've never actually tasted any).  So I went on a search for a lemon loaf recipe with real lemons.

When I moved to Southern California, I thought my search was certainly over! Surely someone I met would have a recipe for this beauty.  But alas, no success.

Finally, someone else in the foodie world made and provided the recipe for (what had become) one of my favorite cakes.  I baked it as written in the recipe the first time (always a MUST), then adapted it slightly.  I didn't want to change anything about the cake--just use cheaper ingredients and simplify the process a little.

It's still not an easy cake--but it's totally worth the effort!

First, wash and dry those lemons.  Then zest them.  

To get your sugar superfine, whirl it around in the food processor for a couple minutes.  Add your zest and pulse a few times until the sugar is moist and aromatic.

Prepare lemons for segmenting by cutting around the flesh.  Top and bottom first, then stand it on one end and cut down the sides, removing the peel and the pith.

To segment, cut towards the center of the lemon on both sides of each segment, just inside the membrane.  Slide the segment out of the lemon and into your bowl, leave the membrane behind and move on to the next segment.  When all your lemons are done, break up segments into one inch pieces.

Sift your dry ingredients together if you have a sifter; otherwise, put them together in a large bowl and whisk to get all the lumps out.

You'll notice the pan below is a different shape than the cake pictured above.  That's because I have an important message for you:  please grease and flour your pans.  This is a MUST!  See those spots where there's no flour?  My cake stuck to those tiny corners and ripped little chunks out of my pretty lemon loaf.  Don't be lazy like I am.  The blog author I got this from says she uses Pam with Flour, but I've never tried it.

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add eggs one at a time.  Mix in dry ingredients and sour cream.

Add the lemon segments last and gently fold in.

Bake until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Leave in pan for 10-15 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool.  Glaze if desired (but it tastes great without it!).

Lemon Loaf 
adapted from dozenflours.com

Cake
4 small lemons, organic if you can find them
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups superfine sugar
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature

Glaze
2 lemons
2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 325.  Grease and flour your pans.  You will be making 16 cups of batter.*

Scrub the lemons with hot soapy water. Rinse well and dry completely. Zest four of the lemons, being careful to avoid the pith (the white part right below the yellow part of the lemon). With a very sharp paring knife, cut the tops and bottoms off of each lemon.

With one cut side down on the cutting board, trim the pith off the lemon, vertically, going all the way around each lemon, exposing the flesh of the lemon. Over a bowl, cut segments from membranes, letting fruit and juice fall into the bowl, being sure to discard the seeds and the remaining membranes. Break segments into 1-inch pieces.

Measure sugar into food processor or blender and whirl for 3-4 minutes until it reaches superfine consistency.  Combine the sugar and the lemon zest; pulse a couple times until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. 

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside. 

If using food processor, add butter and turn on food processor for 3 minutes to cream.  If using blender, add butter and sugar mixture to separate bowl or bowl of stand mixer and mix 2-3 minutes until creamed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition (about 30 seconds).  Mix in the dry ingredients, then the sour cream. 

Lastly, gently fold in the lemon juice and segments. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Cut around the cake in the pan, turn out the cake. Carefully turn cake right side up on rack.

While the cake is cooling, juice the remaining 2 lemons. In a small bowl, slowly add the powdered sugar to the juice and stir until smooth. Poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a fork or toothpick. Carefully pour glaze over top and sides of cake.

Store covered in refrigerator or at room temperature.

*follow this link to find the right pans to use.  Adjust baking time accordingly.  I usually do a bundt pan (bakes approximately 1 hour) for a party or potluck, which leaves just enough for a 4" cake (bakes 20 min.) for my family to have for dessert.  Otherwise, I make our family one large loaf (bakes 50 min.), and 8 mini loaves (20 min.) to pass out to friends.