East 62nd St. Lemon Cake

This 40 year old recipe gets its name from Maida Heatter's daughter and was published in the 1960's by Craig Claiborne in the New York Times.....Saveur republished it and I am glad they did.

It seems like everyone loves a lemon dessert. How come I didn't know this? I thought everyone loved chocolate. Recently, when I asked some of my friends what their favorite cake was, they all replied lemon! You think you know somebody!

I liked this cake even better than Ina's famous lemon buttermilk cake. It was simple and lovely with the lemon glaze on top. I was so tempted to put chopped fresh rosemary inside, but since no one mentioned loving a rosemary dessert, I held back.



East 62nd St. Lemon Cake (adapted from Saveur):

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
Finely grated zest of 2 large lemons

FOR THE GLAZE:
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2/3 cup sugar

Butter a 12 cup bundt or ring pan and then dust it all lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft. Add the sugar and beat until incorporated. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula. (The mixture might look curdled—it's okay.) On lowest speed, add the dry ingredients alternately in three additions, with the milk in two additions, beating only until incorporated after each addition.

Stir in the lemon zest. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350F until a cake tester (my cake was ready in 50 minutes) comes out clean. Let the cake stand in the pan for 5 minutes and then cover with a rack and invert.



Lift pan from cake, leaving the cake upside down. Place rack over a large piece of foil or wax paper and prepare the glaze.

To make the glaze, mix the lemon juice with the sugar and brush all over the hot cake. The cake will absorb it. Let cool completely and then transfer to a cake plate. It is best to wait a few hours before cutting the cake.



This is sweet & tart. Pucker up and enjoy!