Lemon Curd Pound Cake #TheCakeSliceBakers

It's funny, but I've *actually* had people ask me if everything I make turns out great and looks the way I want it to. Of course not!

Like every other baker, I have kitchen disasters and (sometimes!) learn from mistakes 

If you don't believe me, let me point you to exhibit A: this Lemon Curd Pound Cake

It's not much to look at...but has a GREAT personality.

I love lemon.

So, it's not surprising that I chose this option for my May Cake Slice bake.  In truth, all the options were tempting. Check out the end of this post to see what the other lovely bakers made!

It's been established that I'm a lemon fan. But the real clencher for my cake decision was that pound cakes are easy. 

And I like easy -- at least, if not more -- than lemon.

Buuuut...I should have read the recipe first if "easy" was my ultimate criterion. In truth, this cake is "easy," but involves several steps before you actually get to the baking stage.

The recipe calls for making a batch of lemon curd (which I was expecting, given the name of the cake), but it also includes lemon slices oven-poached in a simple syrup for 45 minutes. So this pound cake takes a bit more planning than your run of the mill "toss-it-in-a-pan-and-bake it" pound cake.

The lemon curd was bright and tangy--and cooked with the butter in it from the start (which was new to me). 

The recipe said to bake it in a 9 x 4 pan, which I did. I actually switched it over to a slightly bigger pan when I saw that it wasn't going to hold all the batter. AND I left about a cup of batter in the mixing bowl because I didn't want it to bake over. 

But it did anyway :( Thankfully, (and per the instructions) I put it on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow.

The recipe calls for putting a layer of the syrup-poached lemon slices on the batter before you bake it (so that they sink into the cake), and then another after it had baked for 45 minutes. 

All but one of my top-layer slices sank.

Here's my lone lemon slice, like the only little duck that came to back to Mother Duck's quacking after they went out to play…

🎵"Mother Duck said, 'quack, quack, quack, quack'...but only one little duck came back"🎵

It's much to look at, but packed with flavor. My kids' reactions were,

•  "Wow, this is good cake!" 💗
• "Yum, I love peach!" 😂
• and "This cake is sour. I don't like it"🙄 (guess which kid said this)

I'm going to try making it again to see if I can get the pretty candied lemon slices on top of the cake. I don’t think I’ll intentionally put the sinking slices in next time—they were a little too bitter for my tastes.

And I need to double check to fix any mistakes I made in this inaugural bake.

But it tastes good enough to give it another try--and that's saying something :)

Lemon Curd Pound Cake

from Zoe Bakes Cakes by Zoe Francois

2 lemons, sliced 1/8" thick, plus zest of 2 lemons

1 cup simple syrup

3/4 cup room temp butter

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon extract

2 room temp eggs

4 egg yolks

2 cups +2 tablespoons cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup room temp sour cream

1/2 cup lemon curd

Simple Syrup:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon corn syrup

Lemon Curd:

6 room temp egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

1/2 cup butter

pinch salt

Prep:

1. Make the simple syrup by boiling the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a small saucepan until dissolved.

2. Make the lemon curd--put all ingredients in the upper bowl of a double boiler. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens to the consistency of a smooth pudding. Strain out the zest, cover with plastic wrap (touching the surface of the curd so that it doesn't form a nasty skin), and cool.

3. Oven-poach the lemon slices:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Arrange the lemon slices in a 9" pan, and cover with 1 cup of simple syrup. Cover tightly with foil and bake until lemons are very soft--about 45 minutes. Set aside

Cake:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter on medium-high until smooth and creamy. Turn the speed to low, and add the sugar, vanilla, lemon extract, and zest to the butter. Mix until incorporated.

2. On medium-low speed, add the eggs and yolks one at a time--beating until just combined (scraping the bowl after each addition)

3. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mix to the butter mix in three additions, alternating with the of the sour cream. 

4. Fold in the lemon curd.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top, and top with 5 lemon slices. Put the pan on a baking tray and bake for 45 minutes. Add five more slices on top and bake until set--about 25-30 minutes. 

6. Remove from the oven and immediate pour 2 tablespoons of the lemon/sugar liquid from earlier.

Enjoy;)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

It is a new year and a new book - Zoë Bakes Cakes - and our choices for May 2022 were ~

Lemon Curd Pound Cake

• All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• My Recipe Reviews
• Karen's Kitchen Stories

Dacquoise with Cream and Berries

• A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Red Velvet Cake

• Camille Cooks