Lemon Pound Cake

A very special young lady who is studying in France at the moment,  asked me to post a recipe for a cake that I usually make for my kids on their birthday. With a snowstorm hitting Chicago right now I had some extra time on my hands so I am happy to post it for her today. 

It is a very easy yet delicious pound cake, but it needs a special ingredient. The special ingredient for this cake is love. With the right amount of love you can turn the simplest recipe into something wonderful and you can taste the love throughout this cake. For this  reason you don't need baking powder or baking soda.  Just equal amounts of eggs, butter, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt. I also add some vanilla and the juice of 1 lemon for a more subtle flavor, but you don't have to.  A scale comes in handy here. If you don't have one, go and get one it makes your life much easier especially when you are baking.

Lemon Pound cake

230g butter
230g sugar
230g flour
4 eggs (230 g)
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
optional:
zest of one lemon
juice of two lemons
powdered sugar

Every ingredient has to be at room temperature (very important: 1. step of love) I don't use a mixer or blender, just a wire whip and a wooden spoon. First, I weigh the eggs (without shell) and according to that weight I weigh out the other ingredients. Everything needs to be of the same weight.Cream the butter and the sugar with a whisk until they are very foamy, at least 4 minutes (2. step of love). Then you add the eggs, one after the other waiting until each one is fully incorporated. Add the zest and juice of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Now carefully fold in the sifted flower. Don't overwork the dough. Line a cake pan neatly with two strips of baking paper so that everybody else can see the love and the cake will look professional. Scrape in the dough, tap the form 2 - 3 times on the counter and let it rest for 30 min. In the meantime heat the oven to 350F/180C.

Bake for 50 - 60 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on a rack and then lift the cake out of the pan. Poke some wholes with a wooden skewer into the cake and pour the juice of the 2nd lemon over the cake.

Let cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or lemon frosting (mix powdererd sugar with juice of 1/2 lemon) or any other frosting of your choice.  Bon appetit mon amie!