Make a Glazed Lemon Bundt Cake to Celebrate Spring?

Answer 1

There's no lighter, sweeter spring weekend dessert than a lemon Bundt cake drizzled with a fun and easy glaze. It has the seasonal flare of strawberry shortcake, but the guys won't feel silly asking for seconds.

Tips for making Lemon Bundt Cake

• When you make this dessert, there are some things to keep in mind:
• To insure a light cake, sift the flour.
• Make sure the butter is room temperature, and cream it with the sugar very well. The result should look a pale yellow and be completely free of lumps, light and fluffy.
• Use a very fresh, clean lemon for grated zest, and be careful to avoid the white under layer of pith. A dedicated zester works best.
• As with many baked goods, cake takes much of its flavor from the extracts used. To make your cake flavorful, be sure to use real and not imitation vanilla extract.
• Because Bundt pans have crevices where the baking cake can stick to the pan, grease the pan generously. When you flour it, make sure to tap as much excess flour off the pan as possible.
• Use baking powder well within its freshness date.
• Have a cooling rack ready, and place a layer of wax paper under it to catch the drippings when you're ready to add frosting to the cooling cake.

Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup softened butter

2-1/4 cups sugar

5 eggs

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons lemon extract

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

3 cups all-purpose flour

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for Lemon Glaze (optional)

1 cup confectioners' sugar (sifted)

2-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions for Lemon Bundt Cake

Sift the dry ingredients (less the sugar) in a small bowl.

In a larger mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating and blending each egg thoroughly into the mixture. You'll see the batter begin to take on a rich golden color.

Combine the milk, extracts and zest into a pitcher or large measuring cup.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the butter base in four mini-batches, alternating with a quarter of the milk mixture.

Pour the batter into a prepared Bundt or tube pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

Cool for 20 minutes in the pan, and then invert the cake onto a cooling rack. Cool an additional half hour and drizzle on the glaze (below).

Directions for Lemon Glaze

Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, keep adding lemon juice until it's a consistency that will dribble easily from a spoon onto the cake.

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