What better way to celebrate life’s big and small achievements than with cake? There is something inherently festive and special about a homemade cake. Master baker, Jill O’Connor walks home cooks through the cake-making process with crowd-pleasing recipes, perfect for the holidays. Cake: I Love You
Organized by flavor profile (banana, coconut, chocolate, caramel, spice, fruit) and level of difficulty, each chapter in this cookbook presents a wide range of sweet choices, from easy weeknight sheet cakes to showstoppers layered with frosting and ganache. With photos that will make readers want to reach out and swipe their fingers through the frosting, Cake, I Love You offers foolproof cake-making advice for beginning bakers and master mixers alike.
From the simple to the
more detailed, Jill’s delicious cake recipes include:
- Old-Fashioned Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Melted Chocolate Bar Frosting
- Dixie’s Banana-Bourbon Stack Cake
- Vintage Coconut Cake
- Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Layer Cake
- Chocolate-Peanut Butter Blackout Cake
- Hummingbird Morning Cake
- Proper Victoria Sponge with Ginger-Roasted Rhubarb and Devonshire-Style Cream
- Raspberry-Hazelnut Financier
- Blood Orange-Ricotta Pound Cake with Spiced Blood Orange Compote
, a no-butter-spared tribute to this classic indulgence.
Luscious Lemon Loaf
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups 300 g granulated sugar
- 2 large lemons
- ½ cup 120g sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1-1/4 teaspoon lemon oil
- 1-1/2 cups 245 g all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup 110g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ¼ cup 60 ml canola oil
- 3 eggs room temperature
Lemon Icing2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/8 teaspoon lemon oil
- ½ to 2 cups 180g to 240g confectioners’ sugar, sifted
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 325º. Coat a 9-by-5-inch metal loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with an 8-1/2-inch-by 15-inch strip of parchment paper so it covers the bottom of the pan and hangs over the long sides.
- Put the sugar in a small bowl. Using a microplane zester, grate the zest from the lemons into the sugar. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until the sugar is sandy and moist and fragrant with lemon. Set aside.
- Cut the lemons in half. Using a citrus reamer, squeeze the juice from the lemons into another small bowl.
- In a third small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup of the fresh lemon juice, (you should have about 2 tablespoons remaining; set aside for the icing.) the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon oil. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and oil together on medium speed just until creamy. Add the lemon sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the bowl as you go. Decrease the mixer speed to low and beat in the sour cream mixture. Add the dry ingredients in two additions, beating on low for a few seconds after each.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes (do not check the cake until it has been in the oven for at least 40 minutes, as it might sink in the middle.) The cake is done when a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the loaf, still in the pan, to a wire rack to cool 10 minutes. Grasping the overhanging parchment, lift the loaf out of the pan and set it on the rack. Cool completely.
- To make the icing, whisk the butter, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and lemon oil with the confectioners’ sugar until smooth and creamy. Spread or drizzle the icing over the cooled cake.
Notes
This holiday season bake up this crowd-pleasing cake and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
