Lemon Lemon Loaf

I keep making the mistake of planning what I'm going to make next on a full...overly full stomach. So when I look through the book, nothing really sounds good. Which is kind of a problem when I need to make another dessert. Truth be told, we're not really huge dessert eaters at our house. And even though every dessert thus far has been good, we just don't make much of a dent each day. So a week later, we still have dessert. And then I have to make another one! It was making the project a little tiresome.

UNTIL NOW!

Considering these facts, and others, this Lemon Lemon Loaf turned out to be the perfect recipe. First of all, it makes two loaves but can be easily frozen. Secondly, it has a light lemon flavor that isn't overly sweet, making it less overwhelming. But don't let that fool you; this is not a light, airy cake. In fact, the texture totally surprised me. I was expecting cake, but it was denser than that. Quite eggy. Which may not necessarily sound super appealing, but I actually really liked it. It was like a lemony, loafy version of crepes.
I was fully intending to say it needs some poppy seeds. The recipe specifically says it doesn't want extraneous ingredients like poppy seeds, but I love them. I love them! I love some texture in my food. Like, I love the pulpiest orange juice I can find, and I usually double the poppy seeds in any poppy seeded recipe. Nevertheless, I had to admit that, despite my misgivings, these Baked guys were right; it just wouldn't be quite right with poppy seeds. And that's okay with me.
There is a part of me that wonders if I did something wrong...I followed the directions exactly, except where it said to mix the batter in a food processor, since I don't have a food processor. I mixed it in my Kitchenaid with the whisk attachment...but that wouldn't be the same. Maybe someday I'll have a food processor and can try it again.
If I were to change something, though, I would make the loaf itself more lemony. Despite a lot of lemon zest and some juice, the flavor didn't come through a lot. It's pretty dependent on the painted on, lemony glaze.
It was good, though. And I have another loaf in my freezer. This time, I'm actually glad there are plenty of leftovers.

Lemon Lemon Loaf (printable recipe)

For the Lemon Cake:

1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 1/4 c sugar

8 large eggs, at room temperature

1/4 c grated lemon zest (from about 4 lemons)

2 c (4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted & cooled

1/2 c sour cream, at room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Lemon Syrup:

1/3 c fresh lemon juice

1/3 c sugar

Make the Lemon Cakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the sides and bottom of two 9x5x3-in. loaf pans with cooking spray. Line the bottom with parchment paper and spray the paper.

2. Sift both flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.

3. Put the sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a food processor and pulse until combined. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

4. Sprinkle in the flour mixture, one third at a time, folding gently after each addition until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes, rotate the pans, reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for another 30 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Make the Lemon Syrup

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, heat the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and invert the loaves onto the pan. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the loaves.

3. Brush the tops and sides of the loaves with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cakes cool completely, at least 30 minutes. Yield: 2 loaves

(The soaked but unglazed loaves will keep, wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and frozen, for up to 6 weeks.)

Recipe courtesy of Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. Copied with permission.

The Beginning

At the risk of sounding like I float through life directionless and without any semblance of a plan, I confess that I do a lot of things pretty randomly. I go to the library and choose random books I've never heard of (some are really good; many of them are bad). I've chosen pediatricians, dentists, OB/GYNs by choosing the most interesting names in the online directory. And I would never plan out meals; I'd just make whatever I felt like and happened to have the ingredients for that day.

UNTIL NOW!

I think being able to whip up something delicious from random ingredients is a useful skill, but it also means I'd be worrying all day about what to make. So lately I've been planning out our weekly meals, and it's pretty much awesome. I'm a little self-conscious about announcing this development, since there's a pretty good possibility it's a little like announcing, "Hey, I just found this great thing: it's called 'the internet'! You should try it!"
Anyway, I started realizing that the qualities that make me a decent, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants cook also make me a kind of terrible baker. Adaptability, substitutions, omissions, speed, throwing things in haphazardly without measuring...none of those really help in baking. In fact, they can ruin things.
But I would like to be a better baker. And I will need a map. Thus, the map for my quest:

How did I choose this book? Randomly.
I'd heard about it on various blogs and decided to go for it. That's it.
I will be making a recipe from this book every week until I've made every one (except the cocktails, unless I figure out a way to make them decent mocktails.) I will be analyzing my execution of the recipe and then sharing my personal assessment of it, but take what I say with a grain of salt; we'll all have different preferences. Due to copyright restrictions, I will not be posting the recipe, but if you really, really want it, you can contact me and I can probably share it with you. That's okay, right?

So, to kick things off, I randomly chose a recipe that wasn't too difficult so I can ease my way into things. Enter

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl

A yummy coffee cake. The texture was great and the crumb topping was delicious. It was over baked  which is my fault. I followed the directions carefully and everything, but my oven is lame, so the lower half is almost 25 degrees hotter than the upper half. I'll be more careful next time. The flavor was...good, not amazing. It was better the next day, though it's naturally not as moist after all that time. I'd been looking forward to the chocolate cinnamon swirl, but it pretty much got lost in everything else. And I even busted out the fancy, high-end cocoa powder I bought for it! I'm thinking maybe next time I'll put just one layer of it in the middle so it's not diluted into two layer, or just double the swirl stuff. 

Final assessment: it's worth making again, but it's not something that'll get huge raves. 

And, if you're interested, I just found out you can get a pre-packaged mix for this recipe at your local Williams-Sonoma! One of these I'll buy one and give you a comparison.


--Ami