Iced Lemon Pound Cake

Since this lemon cake is made with fresh lemon juice, and lemons are fruit, and fruit is healthy, then lemon cake is a health food, right?   At least that’s what I will tell myself as I enjoy a delicious piece of lemon cake with coffee every morning this week.  If you want to make your own (and trust me you do!), it’s easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

Lemon Pound Cake

• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (8 oz) sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice, preferably Meyer lemon
• Rind of two lemons, preferably organic Meyer lemon

Lemon Icing:

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• about 2 tbs. lemon juice and a 1/2 tsp. water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (175ºC)
2.  Butter and lightly flour the pan  (If you’re using any Nordic Ware pan or other pan with an intricate design, trust me, you’ll love the non-stick baking spray by Baker’s Joy).
3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
4. Mix butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
5. Add one egg and a few tablespoons of the flour mixture until blended. Continue this way until all the eggs are incorporated, but about a cup of the flour remains (you’ll add the remainder in shortly).
6. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, lemon rind, and mix well.
7. Remove bowl from mixer and gently fold in the remaining flour with a spatula.
8. Place cake batter into prepared loaf pan and put into preheated oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 325ºF (150ºC) and continue to bake for another 40 to 45 minutes, or until tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
9. Let cool for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and place on rack to cool completely.
10. For the icing, simply mix the confectioner’s sugar, lemon and water until smooth. Spread or drizzle over cooled cake.
11. Allow the icing to set at least 5 minutes before cutting the cake.
12. Enjoy!