Meyer lemons take center stage
Yes, it’s true. We Californians are obsessed with our Meyer lemons. And this cake, from “Farmer Al” Courchesne of Brentwood’s Frog Hollow Farm, supports that obsession gloriously.
Sure, you can make lemon cakes, lemon squares and lemon quick breads from tart Eureka lemons. But Frog Hollow’s owners, Farmer Al and chef Becky Courchesne, elevate the whole citrusy-cake concept by using Meyers, the sweetly floral cross between a Eureka lemon and a mandarin orange — and the Courchesnes don’t stop at the juice. Their cake recipe, which is included in the new “America the Great Cookbook” (Weldon Owen, 480 pages, $40), edited by Joe Yonan, calls for the entire fruit.
Actually, it calls for three of them. Two lemons — sans seeds and tough blossom ends — are pureed in a blender, then folded into a tender buttermilk-cake batter before baking. The final lemon goes into a Meyer lemon glaze. Gilding the lily? Yes, please.
Fresh Meyer Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze
Serves 8 to 10
INGREDIENTS
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature (plus more for greasing the pan) 2 Meyer lemons 1 cup granulated sugar, divided 2 large eggs 1 ¾ cups cake flour ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 cup buttermilk Lemon glaze: 1 ½ cups powdered sugar, or as needed
2 tablespoons fresh Meyer lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated Meyer lemon zest
INSTRUCTIONS
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the interior of a 9-inch cake pan with butter.
Cut the stem and blossom ends off the lemons, then cut the lemons in half and remove the seeds. In a food processor or blender, process the lemons and ½ cup of the sugar until the lemons are roughly pureed.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping down the bowl sides as necessary.
Lightly beat 1 egg, then add it to the butter mixture, and beat until combined. Repeat with the second egg. The mixture may look curdled.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, followed by half the buttermilk. Repeat, then add the final third of the flour mixture. Be careful not to overmix. Add the lemon puree, beat for just a moment, then use a rubber spatula to fold the batter until just combined.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Gently and evenly tap the pan on the countertop to release any air bubbles in the batter. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50minutes. Cool cake in pan until cool enough to handle, then transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely before glazing.
Glaze: Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl. Whisk the lemon juice into the sugar, adding more sugar or more juice as necessary to reach glazing consistency. Stir in the lemon zest. Pour the glaze over the cake, carefully tilting the cake from side to side so the glaze cov- ers it evenly.