The most amazing lemon cake ever!

Making a delicious pound cake is an art, and this Instructable will show you how to make the most moist, tender, decadent lemon pound cake ever. This cake has been a hit no matter where I have served it. I found the recipe on the Internet several years ago, and I have been modifying it over the years. If anyone decides to try this recipe and has some ideas to make it even more yummy, feel free to share!

Step 1 Step One: Assemble Ingredients for Cake

For this recipe you will need the following:

1 cup butter (the real thing, not margarine), softened
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur flour-it bakes the best)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon lemon extract (be careful not to get this on your hands-it burns)
2 or 3 lemons for juicing, depending on how lemony you want the glaze to be
powdered sugar, which I just keep adding to the lemon juice until it is sweet enough

Comments

[longlegslady]

I have two pretty silicone bundt (pans?) that I really want to use, but every time I've tried them, the cake sticks in the pan and I end up with an ugly mess. I always test to make sure the cake is done and then let it cool. I grease and flour the silicone before pouring in the batter. I just can't get the desired results. What am I doing wrong?

[firefly68]

Sounds yummy! I'd use lemon zest rather than extract, but I've never used extract, not sure whether it has a true lemon flavor or not. (You know, like ReaLemon tastes skunky..) Sorry I missed the rose cake. Gorfram, Nordic Ware makes a rose bundt pan and rose mini bundt cupcake pan. Amazon has them and you can buy directly from NW. They have an astonishing selection of shapes! Karosii, if you live in the US and don't use KA flours, you're missing out. What on earth is the point of criticizing someone for mentioning the flour she uses!?

[linny]

Can you substitute lime for lemon? This sounds like such a great cake and I like the fact that I don't have to obtain evaporated milk (live in a country where I never see it, Denmark) The reason I'm asking about the lime is that I just read that the ph in lime is much less than in lemon, which is good for we who want to cut down on acidic foods.

Anybody: Why don't we ever hear about LIME cake-- Ialready know about Key lime pie  -   but I mean using lime, for baking into a cake.
Also the fragrance is a nice change.

Googling, I found  lime in water as a cure for tonsilitis on the internet, so methinks maybe I ought to substitute lime wherever I can right now..

[Gorfram]

I must be missing something here - How do you get that totally nifty-looking rose-shaped cake in the first picture out of the standard-issue sort of Bundt pan shown? There's be nothing wrong with a Bundt-shaped lemon cake like this - it'd be pretty nice, in fact - but I wanna know how to make the super-pretty rose-shaped cake?

[jengehrke]

Sorry about that. I don't actually own a nifty rose-shaped pan, but wish that I did. Truthfully, I needed to make an instructable for a class that I was taking, I waited until the last minute, and this was the most lemony-looking bundt cake that I could pull off the internet in such a short period of time. It really is a very good recipe, though, and you're right-I should have used a bundt-shaped cake for the photo. I just didn't have it in me to bake a cake and take a picture of it at 11pm while finishing this assignment. Thanks for the comment, though. I received some very scathing remarks regarding the flour I used, the lemon extract, and the pampered chef thing. I was just trying to get my homework done. Jen

[Gorfram]

Hey, I love the update!!! Nice photos of the whole process (...and I think you expanded the text some as well?). Serious kudos to you! And I like your new first photo. It's not as fancy as the original first photo with the rose-shaped cake, but it does look a lot more real and like something I could actually make - which makes it seem even more appetizing to me. (I did see one of those nifty rose-shaped pans in a kitchen store the other day - for a rather unappetizing $40.00. I think I'll just stick with old Mr. Bundt. :)

[CopperScaleDragon]

I am curious. I see no baking powder or soda. This seems unusual to me, but I can't wait to try the cake! I love a good lemon cake.

[jengehrke]

I thought this was odd at first as well, but it rises really well. The trick is to really beat the eggs well with the mixer. Jen

[N1CK4ND0]

i had lemon cake today!!?! coincidence? or obesity..? (really not fat :])

[greetingarts]

I love lemons, and I'm going to have to try this recipe soon, soon, soon! Thanks so much for sharing.

[gmjhowe]

I came here looking for the best lemon cake. However, I am somewhat dissapointed, may i ask where your pictures are from? Most of them look to have come off the internet, for a better Instructable, I suggest going through the process, taking some pictures as you go along. Any questions, feel free to ask!

[jengehrke]

I've actually made the cake and downloaded photos of me doing so. I should have done this in the first place. Jen

[gmjhowe]

Im glad you have, its much better for doing so. And i love Lemon cake!

[karossii]

I have several thoughts on the Instructable, but the biggest in my mind right now is the pseudo advertising. I have no idea if King Arthur has good flour or not, but I do know that pampered chef is far from the best. And stoneware in general (regardless of brand name) only bakes better and more evenly if it is preheated for a while, so that the stoneware is an even temperature throughout. Unfortunately, with a lot of baking this can't or shouldn't be done, because the hot pan will affect the batter as it is poured in, and cause a skin of sorts to form. And you must always lower the temperature slightly and increase the baking times slightly to compensate for the cookware. Which is a pain for some, and hard to remember for others. Aside from that, I can't believe any cake using lemon extract instead of real juice and zest could approach being the 'best'... but since I haven't (and probably won't) tried this instructable, I won't dispute anything . . . I've been surprised in the past.

[jengehrke]

Hello! Just a quick response: I'm not trying to advertise anything, I've just used King Arthur flour for years, and baked goods just seem to come out better. It is unbleached, and seems to produce cakes with a lighter texture. As far as stoneware goes, I've never preheated it, and my baked goods always cook evenly. Thanks for your comments! Jen