LEMON POUND CAKE SANS SOUR CREAM…my twist to the cake!

“We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.”
Alfred E. Newman
Here’s one of our favourite ‘anytime’ cakes…with a tangy, fresh lemon taste and a light crumb. Doesn’t need icing, and is lovely for an evening tea. I’ve worked on the recipe for a while to find a good substitute for sour cream. This cake always gets me rave reviews.

Ingredients:

Butter – ½ cup/100gms
Eggs – 3
Sugar – 1 ¼ cups
Flour – 1 ½ cups
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Baking Soda – ¼ tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Yogurt – 4 tbsp / thick
Cream – 2 tbsp / 25 % fat
Juice of 1 lemon
Rind of 2 lemons
Lemon Extract – 1 tsp
Orange Essence – 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Water – ¼ cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Lemon Juice of 2 lemons
Orange Extract – ½ tsp (optional)

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Grease well and line bottom of 8” ring tin.(Tends to stick otherwise)
  • Sift the dry ingredients together. Keep aside.
  • Mix the yogurt + cream in a small bowl. Keep aside.
  • Beat the butter + sugar well until light and fluffy.
  • Beat in the eggs 1 by 1, scraping the sides down after each addition.
  • Beat in the lemon rind + lemon extract + orange essence + vanilla essence + lemon juice.
  • On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients alternatively with yogurt and cream mix…in 3 goes.
  • If you like, you can mix a deeper yellow colour in 1/3 of the batter to get a marble effect.
  • Put the batter into the tin, alternating with the deeper coloured batter, if using, and level out.
  • Bake for approximately 60 mins, or till the tester comes out clean.
  • Cool in tin on rack for 10 mins, and then turn it out on rack.
  • While the cake is baking, heat the water + sugar + extract and make syrup.
  • Take off heat, and add the lemon juice. Taste, and increase the lemon if desired.
  • Should taste nice and tangy…like a concentrate.
  • Poke the cake gently with a skewer.
  • Pour the warm syrup over the hot cake. Handle cake gently while warm, as it’s quite delicate.

Babushkas peeping out…this one’s for you, Chhoti!!

POUND AWAY, POUND AWAY… It’s the Mocha Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

My vote for an everyday/on-the-go cake goes to the ‘Pound Cake’!! Its the one cake that can eaten without frosting, or then spruced up with a ganache or drizzled with chocolate…whatever!! Sturdy enough to go for a picnic, and can be fiddled around with to suit your tastebuds. Believe me, I have made this one umpteen times and in all avatars. Mocha, chocolate, marbled, plain vanilla, vanilla with nuts & chocolate chips, chocolate orange, brown sugar and chocolate chips….the end result is always rewarding. Great recipe from Better Homes & Gardens…just tweaked a bit. Am posting my version of the Mocha Chocolate Chip Pound Cake…ENJOY!!
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MOCHA CHOC CHIP POUND CAKE

Ingredients

  • Butter- 1 cup or 200gms
  • Eggs – 4 large
  • Sugar – 1 cup granular
  • Flour – 1 1/2 cups
  • Whole-wheat flour – 1/2 cup
  • Baking powder – 1 tsp
  • Salt – 1 pinch
  • Chocolate chips – 1/2 cup
  • Instant coffee- 2 tbs
  • Coffee Essence – 1 tsp
  • Vanilla Essence – 1 tsp

Instructions

  • Grease and flour a 10″ bundt pan.
  • Preheat oven to 325deg/175deg
  • Sift tog flours + baking powder+ salt
  • Cream butter and sugar well
  • Beat in eggs 1 by 1, beating well after each addition
  • Beat in essence + coffee and beat in till coffee dissolves
  • On low speed, beat in the flour bit by bit till well incorp (4-5 goes)
  • Now fold in the chocolate chips (Grate in some chocolate if desired . Can also add chopped walnuts )Turn into pan and bake for approx 1 hr till done . (If top seems to be getting too brown, loosely cover top with foil until done.)L
  • Leave in pan for 10 mins to cool, and then turn it out on rack to cool completely.

Notes

Note: Can also make a marble cake, by melting choc and folding it into 1/3 of batter. In this case, put a third of white batter into base , level out. Then put in a third into which melted chocolate has been stirred in (abt 50gms dark chocolate) and level it, and then turn in the remaining third of the white batter and level out. Marble it gently with a wooden skewer.HAPPY BAKING!!
Note…Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips in this case taste divine.

Almond-Orange Chocolate Cake

I made this cake with an almond sponge cake as the base. Sandwiched it with whipped cream, topped it off with rich ganache. I attempted some marbling on top, and then spruced it up with chocolate leaves and flakes…all of which I made from melted chocolate. Will post the recipe soon. This cake was for a friends’ birthday.
 
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