Lemon-Spice Visiting Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- Butter and flour for the pan
- 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1-¼ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. ground cardamom
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- ½ tsp. fine sea salt
- 1-¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 large lemon
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup heavy cream, at room temperature
- 1-½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 5-½ tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the Glaze:
- ⅓ cup orange marmalade, for glaze, optional
- ½ tsp. water, for glaze, optional
Instructions
To prepare the cake:
- Center a rack in the oven and pre-heat to 350°F.
- Butter an 8-1/2-inch loaf pan; dust with sugar and tap out the excess – for this cake, bakers’ spray isn’t as good as butter and sugar; place on a baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, cardamom, ginger and salt together.
- In a large bowl, place the sugar and grate the zest of the lemon over the sugar.
- Squeeze the lemon to produce 3 tablespoons juice; set aside.
- Using your fingers, rub the sugar and zest together until the mixture is moist and aromatic.
- One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well after each.
- Whisk in the juice, followed by the heavy cream.
- Still using the whisk, gently stir the dry ingredients into the batter in two additions.
- Stir the vanilla into the melted butter, and then gradually blend the butter into the batter; the batter will be thick and have a beautiful sheen.
- Scrape it into the loaf pan.
- Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 70 to 75 minutes (if the cake looks as if it’s getting too dark too quickly, tent it loosely with foil) or until a tester inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and transfer to a rack; let rest for 5 minutes; carefully run a blunt knife between the sides of the cake and the pan; invert onto the rack, and turn over.
- Glaze now, or cool to room temperature.
To prepare the glaze:
- In a small saucepan, bring the marmalade and water to a boil.
- Brush the glaze over the top of the warm cake, and allow to it to set for 2 hours.
- The glaze will remain slightly tacky.
To store the cake:
- When the cake is completely cool, wrap in plastic to store.
- If it’s glazed, wrap loosely on top.
Notes
With this, as with any cake or sweet bread, prep the pan with butter and sugar. Yes, sugar, which adds a crunchy note, and has never, ever produced a stuck loaf or cake.