I've long been a fan of Starbucks' lemon pound cake. Recently, I decided to try and cut back on the old SBux habit -- seriously, 5 bucks for a grande latte??!! -- by buying my own coffee beans to grind at home, and my own sugar-free flavored syrups. That was no problem. One trip to Cost Plus World Market netted me sugar-free syrups in my four top flavors -- white chocolate, English toffee, peppermint, and mocha (chocolate).
So, I had the coffee expense under control, but what to do about the pound cake that I like to treat myself to every so often? As I do with almost everything these days, I hit the internet.
There's no shortage of recipes online for just about anything you can think of (including mine!), and some claim to be copycat versions of the real thing. And I did find a recipe on several sites that said it was the "real" Starbucks lemon pound cake recipe. I saved it, intending to use it, but because I'm me, I kept looking anyway.
I ran across another recipe for a soaked lemon cake by Ina Garten, aka the Barefoot Contessa. I'm a fan of her show and think she has some fantastic recipes. And I was really intrigued by the "soaking" part of her recipe, so hers won out.
I'll tell you here that I can never seem to follow someone else's recipe without making a few changes, and as good as Ina's original recipe sounded, I had to put my own twist in there. If you're interested in seeing her original recipe, you can find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-yogurt-cake-recipe/index.html.
As you'll see, her recipe calls for plain yogurt. I only had Greek yogurt on hand and wasn't sure how that would work in this recipe. But, because I planned to make cornbread for some real Southern cornbread dressing (coming soon), I did have buttermilk in the fridge. So I substituted buttermilk for the yogurt, in the same amount (1 cup). Buttermilk works fabulously in recipes, as it gives an added level of moistness, and no, you can't really taste the buttermilk.
Also, because I'm a huge fan of lemony taste, I added a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract, along with the vanilla extract called for in the recipe. That brought me to another level of lemony deliciousness! (As an aside -- always use PURE extract, not imitation! Imitation might be cheaper, but pure extract is worth a little extra $. And really, most recipes call for only a bit, so one bottle will last quite a while).
Finally, we get to the frosting. I'll tell you straight out that I wasn't completely happy with the frosting I used for this cake. Ina's cake recipe has one for frosting, as well, and I'll probably try a version of that one next time. For whatever reason, though, this time I tried the cake with a lemon buttercream frosting.
Don't get me wrong -- the frosting was delish -- but I think it was just a little too much for this particular cake. And the version I made was very, very lemony. My husband, who is not a fan of that robust lemon flavor (yet loves the Starbucks cake), thought the lemon was super-prominent in the frosting. He thought the cake part was great, though.
I'm including the frosting recipe that I actually used, and if you're a fan of very sweet buttercream and hyper-lemonness, you may enjoy it. If you don't think this one is suitable for you, though, you can always try Ina's version at the link I gave you above. If you try hers, comment and let me know how it turns out.
Oh, and a word about my photo!
I was a little worried about the cake coming cleanly out of the pan, but it let go perfectly. (I definitely recommend using the parchment paper on the bottom). My cake was beautiful and stunningly perfect as I turned it out of the pan onto the cooling rack. I poured the soaking liquid over, and left it alone to cool for a while, then frosted it and left the kitchen again. Unfortunately, the cake wasn't exactly alone. When I went back into the kitchen, I noticed something was wrong with my perfect cake. It looked like one side had either slithered off or crumpled down. Then I figured it out.
One of my 4-legged children, Gracie Lou, must have been overcome by the luscious lemony smell. And I hadn't thought to push it back farther on the counter. So Gracie helped herself to some, licking down the whole side of the cake (as far as she could reach, thankfully). I couldn't even holler at her, because I was laughing so hard. And really, it was my own fault. I just sliced away the side she got to, and the rest in just fine. But when you look at the photo below, it's not as perfect as it was originally -- but I promise, the taste more than makes up for it!
Now, on the the good stuff!
The How:
Lemon Loaf Cake
(Makes one medium 8.5 by 4.25 by 2.5 inch loaf)
1 ½ C. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 t. grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
½ t. lemon extract
½ C. vegetable oil
Soaking Liquid
1/3 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3 C. granulated sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray one 8.5 x 4.25 x 2.5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Using a little vegetable oil, oil and flour the bottom and sides of the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, using a hand-held mixer, beat together the buttermilk, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla and lemon extracts. Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, prepare the soaking liquid by cooking 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in.
Allow to cool, then frost.
Lemon Buttercream Frosting
2 C. confectioners sugar
¼ C. butter, softened
1 T. fresh lemon juice
½ t. grated lemon zest
3 T. buttermilk
To make frosting: In large bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, butter, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth. Beat in buttermilk, and increase speed and continue to beat until light and fluffy.
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