Lemon drizzle cake – reminding me of my childhood..

I’ll be honest – over the past week I’ve had way too many lemons sitting on my kitchen bench.  And I think that now with two children and the fact that Mother’s Day is approaching – it made me reflect back to my childhood.  Growing up, my mother rarely made cupcakes; she made pound cakes – from packet mixes no less!  She’d buy a basic vanilla pound cake mix and we’d add in blueberries, bananas, sultanas, lemon zest, stewed apples…  In those days, we never created anything as fancy as this zesty number but at that phase in my life, the smell of my mother’s packet mix pound cakes baking in the oven and permeating through every room of the house had love written all over it…

I don’t know about you but I love my mum.  She is a nurturer, a healer, a homemaker, an artist, a teacher, and the strongest & most loving woman I have ever known.  This post is dedicated to my mum who has taught me to believe in myself and helped morph me into the person I am today.  Thank you Ma – you are a phenomenal woman.

In celebration of Mother’s Day approaching this Sunday, here’s an amazing Martha Stewart recipe that really had me reminiscing back to my glorious and carefree childhood.  It starts with a basic pound cake mixture but is drenched in a glorious lemon syrup, drizzled with an old-fashioned icing sugar glaze, and topped with exquisite candied lemon slices.

Makes 2 – 9 x 5 inch loaves

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE CAKES
1 cup (2 sticks / 220 g) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
2.5 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

FOR THE CANDIED LEMON SLICES & SYRUP
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
2 lemons, sliced 1/8 inch thick or thinner, seeds removed
1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 to 4 lemons)

FOR THE GLAZE
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
4 to 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)

DIRECTIONS
THE CAKES
Preheat oven to 350F/175C.  Butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, & lemon zest.

With an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Mix in vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of sour cream.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth tops with an offset spatula.

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes (tent loosely with foil if tops begin to brown too quickly).

CANDIED LEMON SLICES & SYRUP
In a medium saucepan, combine granulated sugar & water; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Add lemon slices; simmer very gently over medium-low heat, swirling pan occasionally, until slices are opaque throughout, about 35 minutes.

Remove from heat; with a slotted spoon, transfer slices to a sheet of waxed paper.  Stir lemon juice into syrup to taste.

Remove cakes from oven.  While still in pans, use a wooden skewer or toothpick to poke several holes in tops.  Set aside 1/4 cup lemon syrup; pour remainder over cakes.

Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool completely, about 2 hours.  Turn out cakes onto rack; set rack over a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet.  Brush tops and sides of cakes all over with reserved syrup.

GLAZE
In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and 4 tablespoons lemon juice; add up to 2 more tablespoons juice until glaze is pourable but thick.  Pour over cakes (still on rack), letting it drip down sides.

Let set, about 30 minutes.  Garnish with candied lemon slices.

And there you have it.. amazingly tender cakes which taste as good as they look!

What is something that reminds you of your mother?