Crystallized Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake from What’s for Dessert
Almost Looks Like it’s Glowing.
Ok, so Lemon Pound cake is usually pretty good. Is this better?
Time: 2 Hours
Difficulty: 1/5
Ingredient Availability: 4/5
Lemon pound cake is a fairly popular dessert year round. This cake is reminiscent of that but with some unique differences. I had never had anything with Meyer lemons before, so it’ll be interesting to find out if it is noticeably different in a cake. This recipe has been on my radar for a while, so I was looking forward to giving it a try.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
You want an extra lemon or two.
The key ingredients here I think are the Meyer lemons and olive oil. I know not every grocery store will have Meyer lemons, which is why this recipe looses a point in ingredient availability. The recipe does ay that you can use regular lemons instead with a tweak of the amount of sugar used. The olive oil us used in the glaze, so you will want one that you like the flavor of. Other than that, the rest of the ingredients are pretty standard. I forgot to put the baking soda in the picture.
Tools:
Rasp Style Grater
Bundt pan
Cooking Review:
Prep: 18 Minutes
To prep, I zested 2 lemons and juiced three to get the 1 tablespoon and 3/4 cups called for, respectively. The says about 2 lemons would be enough for the zest, but doesn’t give a number for the juice, so get an extra lemon or two to be sure you have enough. I also buttered and floured the inside of the bundt pan.
Mixing batter: 27 Minutes
I mixed the dry ingredients in a bowl to combine before doing the same with the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, I combined the zest, and sugar, massaging them until the mixture looked somewhat like wet sand. To this bowl the eggs were beaten in before some of the olive oil was streamed in slowly. The dry and wet ingredients were then added and mixed into this mixture, alternating them and finishing with the dry ingredients. I mixed until just combined and evenly mixed.
Baking and making glaze: 60 Minutes
I transferred the batter to the prepared pan and baked it for 45 minutes. Once it was done (a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean), I let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes before poking holes in it with a skewer.
Glazing Cake: 11 minutes
While the cake was still in the pan, I used a pastry brush to apply the glaze to the bottom of the cake, letting it soak in before applying another coat. I then transferred the cake to a wire rack, poked more holes in the top, and applied the rest of the glaze. Be patient with the glaze. At first you might think there’s way too much glaze, but let it all soak in before adding another layer.
Analysis:
Turns out the Meyer lemon does give this cake a unique flavor. Well, at least that was I thought at first before second guessing myself. Since I hadn’t had anything with Meyer lemon before, I wasn’t sure if the interesting flavor was from that or something else. The more I ate it, the more I began to think it might be the olive oil giving it the different flavor. And that flavor was just on the outside, which makes sense as the glaze is mostly olive oil and lemon juice. While the interior of the cake had a goof texture, being soft, tender and moist, it didn’t have all that much flavor to it. It wasn’t too sweet and had just a hint of lemony flavor. The outside of the cake really carries almost all of the flavor. I think that this cake could have a little more going on to make it a stand out. As is, this cake gets a 7/10. It’s easy to make and will give you your dessert fix, but I don’t think it’ll be anyones favorite.
