Lemon Spice Sour Cream Cake
This Lemon Spice Sour Cream cake is inspired by this Lemon Spice Visiting Cake. When the said recipe flashed across some mail that I had it had me at visiting. I will confess that I have been cooking like crazy, and making cakes on repeat. Granted, part of my baking is because the young peeps are in the house. ‘
More About my Lemon Spice Sour Cream Cake
As for this cake, there are many things going for it. It is a manageable size. Just rubbing the lemon zest into the sugar, is something that I want to do all day long. The refreshing scent of the zest helps me wake up and feel at home. I even bought marmalade to top the cake.
Okay, I used the cake as an excuse to buy marmalade, which I love eating buy the spoonful. Thanks to COVID19, I am even absolved from doing so. At home, we are all being kind to each other. In between bouts of ups and downs, I am truly happy to have the children around.
Given all the spice making exercises, I did not want to grind more spices. I am also running lower on cardamom. So, I used gingerbread spice in addition to the ginger. Also, used lemon juice and lastly used homemade sour cream instead of the heavy cream. Another deep and rich sourdough bake worth paying attention to is this Sour Cream Cider Raisin Cake.
All of this translates to a delicate and pleasant spice balance and a very soft crumb. Almost like a pound cake, but just a little softer. Two back-to-back attempts helped me nail down the flavors. It also is a good sign, when I need to cook something twice to photograph it. As, in the first effort is demolished before I can take a picture.
If you love all things lemon like me, keep the lemon juice in. The spices are up to you. I love cardamom, so I have no doubt it would produce a perfect cake as well. Hope we all end up with better news or something hopeful in the coming week.
A beautiful lemon cake with hints of ginger and gingerbread spice. This cake has a delicate crumb.
Ingredients
- Butter and flour for the pan
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon gingerbread spice
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup sugar (this is also lower than the original recipe)
- 1 large lemon
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup sour cream
- 5 ½ tablespoons salted butter
- ? cup marmalade, for glaze (optional)
- ½ teaspoon water, for glaze (optional)
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2-inch loaf pan and dust with flour. Place on a baking sheet.
- Mix together the flour, gingerbread spice and the ginger.
- Put the sugar in a large bowl, and grate the zest of the lemon over the sugar. Squeeze the lemon to produce 3 tablespoons juice, and set this aside. Using your fingers, rub the sugar and zest together until the mixture is moist and aromatic.
- One at a time, add the eggs, whisking well after each. Whisk in the juice, followed by the sour cream. Still using the whisk, gently stir the dry ingredients into the batter in two additions. Stir the the melted butter, into the remaining cake mixture.
- The batter is fairly thick. Carefully, pour this into the cake pan.
- Bake the cake until set and the top develops a gentle golden color. This took about 50 minutes for me, the original recipe suggests 70 to 75 minutes. So watch your cake as every oven is different.
- Bring the marmalade and water to a boil. Brush the glaze over the top of the warm cake, and allow to it to set for at least an hour.
- Slice and serve as needed.