Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze

   
              Kids can be really fussy when they are hungry. And they decline to eat whatever we offer during such tantrums. They prefer something sweet and junk. Most of the time we cannot give in to their persistence and the situation need to be tackled with diplomacy. But there are times when you have to do some misgivings, if you really like to have a calm atmosphere in the home.

             Nowadays whenever my elder one gets such hunger pangs in the evenings, all he prefer is cakes,cup cakes and nothing else. He is so much fond of cakes; big or small, iced or not, that I find myself baking cakes every now n then. As it is much easier to bake and serve cup cakes that most of the time cup cakes is that which blooms in my oven. But they get finished off too quickly that you hardly get anything left to store for future use.

            In fact, the Zucchini cup cakes I baked last week got polished off pretty fast that I thought it would be wise to bake a large cake so that  the boys would have enough for three to four days. This time I tried a cake of very different flavour.. Lemon Cake! Tangy, sweet and impressive.. it was devoured by the whole family. I iced it with lemon glaze, which complimented well with the cakes flavour; though the son didn't much like it due to its tanginess. But he loved the cake nevertheless and ate it scraping off the glaze. The cake was a little tart on the first day, but the next day it tasted  perfect. The tanginess had thankfully subsided and the cake was soft and flavourful.

You would like to see the Recipe? Go ahead.

Lemon Cake Recipe:
(Recipe Adapted from Joy of Baking)
For the Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup powdered white sugar
4 large eggs, at room temp
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking pdr
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one large lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
(Note: If you like the cake less tangy, replace lemon  juice with equal amount of milk)

For Frosting:

1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
2-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degree F (180 degree C) and place rack in the centre of the oven. Butter a 9*2 inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
• Beat butter and sugar in a bowl until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed until pale coloured. Beat in vanilla extract.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest in a separate bowl.
• Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture (in three additions) alternating with lemon juice (2 additions) and fold in until well combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon or with an offset spatula.
• Bake at 180 degree C for about 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with little crumbs.
• Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of the cake and transfer to a  wire wrack to cool completely.

Lemon Glaze:
     Add two tablespoon of lemon juice into confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Add more lemon juice or sugar as needed. Stir well with a spoon until you have a smooth glaze.

          Pour the glaze over the cooled cake allowing to drip down the sides. Let it dry before covering or storing the cake.