Lemonpalooza

I have a lot of lemons.  Beautiful Meyer lemons.  My tree is extraordinarily fecund (that always sounds a bit off color...) this year.  Truly an embarrassment of riches.  I have heard you can keep ripe citrus on the tree for 10 weeks, and the quality will not be affected (my tree is in a sheltered spot, so frost is not an issue).  That said, I do feel quite a lot of pressure to put all my fruit to use.  In the December issue of Food & Wine magazine, there is a recipe for a lemon Bundt cake.  I made it today. It was quite a project--zesting all those lemons takes a fair amount of time!  But it was well worth it, as the cake is delicious. Actually, I didn't have to zest all 10 lemons--I mean, look at the size of these!  The lemon on the right is the usual size of a Meyer lemon, and I have just a few that size.  Most of the ones on my tree, however, are the size of the one on the left!  Why this is is anybody's guess.  Radiation from Japan?  Are they Three Mile Island lemons?  No, I don't think so.  Just a happy confluence of growing conditions that led to this crop.  I was worried that the size would mean a thick skin, more like a Eureka lemon, but no.  Thin skinned and juicy as always. There would have been an even bigger crop, but we had some crazy wind in early fall that knocked a lot of the baby lemons off (which, upon further reflection, may have led to the bigger lemons).  Perhaps just as well! Above are some of the ingredients for the Bundt cake--see how much zest there is?  The batter is thick and creamy--can you see the little flecks of peel in there?

See the finished product?  It's pretty!  I pasted the recipe in here from the Food & Wine  website, just so you know.  Read to the end of the recipe--I made a few small changes.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Food & Wine Magazine, December 2012

cake

1. Nonstick cooking spray


2. 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting


3. 1 1/2 cups cake flour


4. 1 tablespoon baking powder


5. 1 teaspoon salt


6. 2 3/4 cups sugar


7. 1/3 cup lightly packed finely grated lemon zest (from 10 lemons)


8. 1/2 cup canola oil


9. 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled


10. 3 large eggs


11. 3 large egg yolks


12. 3 tablespoons dark rum


13. 2 tablespoons pure lemon extract


14. 3/4 cup heavy cream

lemon syrup

1. 1/4 cup sugar


2. 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice


3. 1 tablespoon dark rum

glaze and topping

1. 1 cup confectioners’ sugar


2. 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice


3. 1 teaspoon almond extract


4. 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

1. MAKE THE CAKE Preheat the oven to 350°. Generously coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust the pan with all-purpose flour. Sift the 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and cake flour into a medium bowl, along with the baking powder and salt.


2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, use your fingers to rub the sugar with the lemon zest until the sugar resembles pale yellow wet sand. Add the canola oil and cooled butter and beat at medium speed until blended, about 1 minute. Beat in the whole eggs, egg yolks, rum and lemon extract until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low and beat in the heavy cream and the dry ingredients in 3 alternating batches, starting and ending with the dry ingredients; be sure not to overbeat. Scrape down the side of the bowl and fold the batter until it is blended.


3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the surface. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a rack for 30 minutes.


4. MEANWHILE, MAKE THE LEMON SYRUP In a small saucepan, combine the sugar with the lemon juice and rum and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Let the lemon syrup cool slightly.


5. Invert the cake onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes evenly all over the cake and brush with the lemon syrup. Let the cake cool completely.


6. MAKE THE GLAZE AND TOPPING In a medium bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar with the lemon juice and almond extract until smooth. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. Sprinkle the almonds on top and let the glaze set, about 20 minutes. Cut the cake into wedges and serve.

I put 3 Tbl. of lemon extract in the cake, instead of 2 Tbl.  The Meyer lemons are so sweet, you can lose a bit of the lemony sharpness.  In the syrup I added a 1/2 tsp. of lemon extract, again for the same reason.  As far as the glaze goes, you can see it was a bit too thin.  Next time I'd add a bit more powdered sugar, so so much didn't end up puddling underneath. And finally, it said to bake for 1 hour, which I did.  Next time, however, I'd check it at 50 minutes, and I bet that 55 minutes would be perfect. Now, go make some tea.  This cake begs to be eaten with a cup of tea!