In Alvin's Kitchen: Lemon Bliss Cake!

     

Sunshine on a cloudy day.
A smile on a plate.
A happy husband. 
Gone to soon. 
That is what Lemon Bliss Cake is!

   When I made this cake and everyone took a bite of their first slice, I felt as though I was on the stage at Carnegie Hall, taking a bow before a standing audience, roaring with applause. With so many accolades, I felt like the Prima Donna of the kitchen! This Lemon Bliss Cake from King Arthur Flour is by far the best lemon cake I've ever tasted, peaking my interest to explore more recipes from the King Arthur Flour website, which has decreed 2017 "The Year of the Bundt" as well as other recipes for all kinds of baked goods. If you love baking, bookmark this website. There is also a video which outlines the steps for making this delicious confection in detail. 

   As for me, one of my best friends shared this recipe with me, which has its roots in a recipe from the 1920's and is also called "East 62nd Street Lemon Cake"  from Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts, published in the 70's. The only difference is the amount of salt put into the recipe. 

 I have to admit, when I made the cake, I was also very excited about watching Super Bowl LI; consequently, I did not follow the recipe to a "T" and missed a step. But the cake STILL came out great! Which goes to show you the folks at KAF have done all they can to make this recipe foolproof. However, I strongly suggest you use the ingredients called for in the recipe and do not change up anything when baking this cake for the first time. I had to do something a little different for the glaze, but the cake I followed exactly, with the exception of the step I accidentally missed. 

     I gathered my ingredients: King Arthur Flour, butter...I used salted butter, because I like my batter a little on the savory side...sugar, salt, baking powder, whole milk, and lemons...

     I also find that the kind of butter you use makes a huge difference in your recipe. I used Alfresco Salted Butter from Vital Farms. I also used their eggs! Some people use Myer Lemons, which are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, but this isn't Myer Lemon Bliss Cake, it's Lemon Bliss Cake! Believe me, Myer Lemons taste different. Use regular lemons. Don't be a rebel.

I grated quite a bit of lemon zest, and used the rest of the lemons for juice for the glaze...












    Next, I combined the butter and my sugar until I got a golden, crumbly mixture...

    Then I added the rest of my dry ingredients...

Once everything was smoothly mixed, I spooned the batter into my bundt pan, which I prepared by spraying it with a non-stick cooking spray right before pouring in the batter. I highly recommend this because this way, the oil does not pool to the bottom of the pan. The non-stick spray is also better for the bundt pan as opposed to butter or the grease-and-flour technique because it will keep your cake from sticking to the pan. For more tips on how to keep your cake from sticking,  KAF has the answers!

     I used the spatula to smooth the batter, and then I put the cake in the oven! I made my glaze while it baked...

     Here is my cake! Now, it did not come out "baker-blogger perfect", but it came out regular-person perfect, and that's fine with me! My glaze was a cross between the glaze and the frosting, because I mistakenly read both, using only the confectioner's sugar with my lemon juice. When it noticed that I had made an error, I chose to go with it, but added some cream cheese to my glaze. I didn't really want the icing anyway, and the glaze tasted exquisite! 

   Okay, confession time: I forgot to put the baking powder in with the dry ingredients. But look how well it  turned out anyway! I am sure the next time I make this phenomenal cake, I will add the baking powder and observe the difference between the two. Honestly, we all liked the soft texture that the baking powder-free recipe created; it was like pound cake. 

This Lemon Bliss Cake goes great with a hot cup of Earl Gray tea, and made my cloudy, rainy day bright and cheerful.

For more tips from fellow bakers at King Arthur flour, visit the recipe page here.

Lemon Bliss Cake from King Arthur Flour, "Year of the Bundt" -- 2017 Recipe of the Year

Cake
16 tablespoons (1 cup) of unsalteld butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 cup milk, whole milk preferred
finely grated rind of 2 lemons or 3/4 teaspoon lemon oil
*If you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe to 3/4 teaspoon.

Glaze
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; the juice of about 1/1/2 juicy lemons
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Icing
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
2 to 3 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice 


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F

2. Beat together the butter, sugar and salt, first until combined, then until fluffy and lightened in color. 

3. Add the eggs, on at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl once all of the eggs have been added, and beat briefly to re-combine any residue. 

4. Measure the flour by gently spooning it into the cup, then sweeping off any excess. Whisk the baking powder into the flour. Add the flour mixture to the batter in three parts alternately with the milk, starting and ending with the flour. The batter may look slightly curdled when you add the milk, but that's OK...it will smooth our as you add the flour. Mix until everything is well combined; the batter will look a bit rough, but shouldn't have any large lumps. Stir in the grated lemon rind or lemon oil. 

5. Thoroughly grease a 10-12-cup bundt pan. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, leveling it and smoothing the top with a spatula.

6. Bake the cake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick instered into the center comes out clean. A pan with a dark interior will bake cake more quickly; start checking at 40 minutes. 

7. While the cake is still baking, make the glaze by stirring together the lemon juice and sugar. Microwave or heat over a burner briefly, stirring to dissolve the sugar. You don't want to cook the lemon juice, so microwave just until very warm, but not uncomfortably hot. Set the glaze aside.

8. Remove the cake from the oven, and carefully run the knife between cake and pan all around the edge. Place the pan upside down on a cooling rack. If the cake drops out of the pan onto rack, remove the pan. If the cake doesn't drop onto the rack, let it rest for 5 minutes, then carefully lift the pan off the cal. If the cake still feels like it is sticking, give it another 5 minutes upside down, then very gently shake the pan back and forth to loosen and remove it. 

9. Brush the glaze all over the the hot cake, both top and sides. Let it sink in, then brush on more glaze, continue until all the glaze is used up. 

10. Allow the cake to cool completely before icing and serving. 

11. To ice the cake: Mix the sugar and the salt, then mix in 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice, adding just enough additional juice to create a thick glaze, one that's barely pourable. Drizzle it artfully over the completely cool cake. 

12. Store the cake, well wrapped, at room temperature for several days...yeah right. Like it will last that long!

Try this recipe and leave comments below!