Sugar High

I didn’t get any chocolates yesterday. This is probably a good thing as I’m feeling really sick today. So I want something sweet to help me feel better and give me energy. I want to taste springtime so I made this cheerful lemon pound cake. It goes great with a cup of soothing tea.

Iced Lemon Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
juice and zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use the wrappers from the butter to butter a loaf pan.

Beat the butter at high speed in a stand mixer till fluffy. Add the sugar and continue creaming the mixture. With the mixer running at low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla, the salt and the baking powder.

Fold in the flour and the zest, making sure the scrape down the bown. Beat the mixture on high speed until light and fluffy and fully incorporated. Mix in the juice of one of the lemons.

Bake the loaf for 65 to 75 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. In the mean time mix the 1/3 cup of sugar with the juice of 1 ½ of the lemons. Set aside.

Cool the cake in the pan for about 15 minutes. Remove it and cool on a rack over a pan. Baste the cake with the lemon sugar mixture, until all of the syrup is soaked up, including the syrup that falls off of the cake.

Mix the remaining juice of ½ a lemon with the 2 cups of powdered sugar to form an icing. Drizzle this icing over the top of the cake. Once the cake is fully cooled, slice and serve or store in the refrigerator.