2000s Recipes + Menus
Lemon-Glazed Butter Cake
Serves6
- Active time:10 min
- Start to finish:3 hr (includes cooling)
April 2009
The clean, bright flavor of this simple cake makes dinner guests perk up and exclaim, “I haven’t had this for years!” And then they devour what’s on their plates and ask for seconds. View more of our favorite recipes from this issue.
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature 30 minutes
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
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Garnish:
confectioners sugar for dusting
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Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour an 8- by 2-inch round cake pan.
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Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir together milk, zest, and vanilla.
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Beat together butter and granulated sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
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At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
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Pour batter into cake pan and smooth top, then rap gently on counter to release any air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes.
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Whisk together confectioners sugar and lemon juice until smooth.
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Turn out cake onto a rack set over a baking sheet, then reinvert. Brush top and side of cake with all of glaze. Cool completely.
Cooks’ note: Cake can be glazed 1 day ahead and kept at room temperature.
- Keywords
- cook smart,
- dessert,
- eggs,
- cake,
- fruit
Magazine
Cook Smart: Transformers
Three eggs. Two lemons. Five extraordinarily different desserts. It does not take a mathematical genius to figure out that a couple of very modest ingredients add up to a brilliant, shining moment at the end of a meal.
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