Recent Posts

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Sweet Melissa Sundays: Whole Lemon Cake with Lemon Glaze



Yummm, I love lemon flavored things. Especially this time of year. When it's super hot out, sometimes the idea of a lemony dessert is much more appealing than a deep, dark, chocolatey one. Ok, even when it's hot I can eat chocolate, but every now and then lemon is a nice change. And this week for Sweet Melissa Sundays, Melissa of Lulu the Baker chose the Whole Orange Poppy Seed Cake, which Melissa Murphy nicely provided a lemon substitution for in her book. Perfect!

I had read on the P&Q section of SMS that perhaps the cake was a little too tart when you use the full amount of lemons. Well I like it tart and lemony! But since I'm bringing this to a family dinner, I thought I'd tone it down a litttttttle bit (but not too much). So, rather than use one and a half lemons she recommended, I use one whole lemon, and half of another lemon - minus the juice part. So I threw one whole lemon in the food processor (cut up of course :) and then cut another one in half, juiced it, and then threw the peel in the food processor. I also left out the poppy seeds simply because I didn't feel like going out to find any. :)

The result? A perfectly lemony cake. Not too tart at all. I made one loaf and one little cupcake, so that we'd be able to taste it before bringing it over for others to try. I always feel a little weird about bringing a new recipe over to share with people when: A.) I've never made it before and B.) I haven't tried it. So after we prepared the glaze, we brushed it on the tester cupcake, let it sit for a minute and then gave it a try. OOOH, the glaze was super tart! Since I haven't tried it again yet when the glaze has had time to set, I'm not sure if it was only super-duper tart because it was just made or not. But either way, Daniel loved loved loved it. He sat there for about a minute just licking the glaze off his cupcake. And this morning, the first thing he said when he woke up was, "I kinda wanna lick the loaf". So I think this recipe is a winner, no? Can't wait to try it again later and see how the flavor has changed.



Ok, and now the GRAND REVEAL. Me and Daniel have spent months in research and development coming up with this item (and by research and development, I mean in the kitchen eating desserts). I don't know about any of you other bakers out there, but I scale my recipes a lot. I halve recipes, I quarter big recipes when I only want a little, I double recipes when I want more, and sometimes I'm even super complicated and a 1.5 a recipe when I want more than the original recipe but not quite double. Whew! This calls for some complicated math. I sometimes have to double measurements like 1 1/3 C. So how many ounces are in 2/3 of a cup? ORRRR when I'm reducing a recipe, sometimes I'll need to halve 1/8 of a cup. 1/16 of a cup? That's nearly impossible to measure in a measuring cup! So, how many tablespoons are in 1/16 of a cup? I have a chart in my kitchen with ALLL this information that I refer to constantly.

With this in mind, we've developed That's Smart! Measurements Apron! Yes that's right! We've put it on Etsy, go check it out. I'd really love your feedback, too - what you think about our new product.

The conversion chart helps you quickly convert cups to ounces to tablespoons to teaspoons as well as common baking pan substitutions. All you have to do is look down! The charts are upside down, so it can be easily read by the baker who is wearing it. It comes monogrammed with the first initial of you or your favorite baker and its fancy straps are adjustable to go as high up on your chest as you like, and can fit any size baker.







Let me know what you think about our apron!!! We're selling it for an introductory price to my blog readers and their friends. :)
And make sure you check out the other Sweet Melissa Sundays bakers' posts on Whole Orange/Lemon Cake!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

I need to try the lemon version of the cake. It sounds delicious. Looks great.

Neat apron!

Flourchild said...

Cute apron! I love that it has a cheat sheet on it!
Your lemon cake looks delightfully good! Im going to try the lemon version next.

Megan said...

Love the apron - I'll be checking it out for certain.

I like the idea of the lemon cake, too - and would have left out the poppy seeds as well.

unconfidentialcook said...

I've been threatening to make a lemon cake with glaze ever since I saw Ina make one....This looks perfect...as does the apron. Cute!!!

Eliana said...

Your lemon cake looks delish. I will be making the lemon version soon. And the apron is super neat.

Katiecakes said...

What a fab idea, I'm always trying to convert cups to grams!

I laughed so hard at 'I kinda want to lick the loaf'

Katie xox

Lulu the Baker said...

Your apron is awesome. I'm going to buy one right away! I have a cheap magnet hidden somewhere on my fridge with these same conversions, and I use it constantly. But, like I said, it is hidden under fliers, artwork, etc. Your cake looks beautiful too! Thanks for baking with me this week!

Nina said...

Love the apron!

Kerstin said...

Your lemon cake looks perfect - yum! And that apron is super cute!

margot said...

Stephanie, you're brilliant! That apron is the best thing ever! I had to laugh about the "research" involved, thanks for doing it for us. Oh, and this was a great cake, sounds like Dave really enjoyed it.

k.a.r.e.n said...

I have to try the cake with lemon next. I loved the orange.

And i SO want an apron like that!!!

Karin said...

The apron is such a great idea. One time I was trying to 1 1/2 a carrot cake recipe and messed up on one of the ingredients so I had to make a triple batch! It would definitely be handy.

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Beautiful cake... and I LOVE the apron! Such a fab idea!! :)

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Very cool apron!

I totally cracked up when you said Daniel said he wanted to lick the glaze off the loaf! :)
~ingrid

Joy said...

Hi Stephanie!

Your post was just chock full of great ideas! I totally agree about never wanting to introduce a new dessert to others without taste-testing first to make sure it's a winner... I LOVE the idea of taking a little bit of batter and making a cupcake so you could try it before bringing it to the family dinner. I'll definitely be using that tip.

Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the apron, and I totally want one. It is so adorable, and I would absolutely use that conversion chart. How creative to print it upside down too... I never would have thought of that! And I'm a sucker for a monogram to boot :) Does it come in different colors? I'm a yellow fan, myself! You'll have to let me know, when you get a chance.

Hope all is well with you, and I hear from you/talk to you soon!

-Joy

Karen said...

I just ordered your apron! Can't wait to use it! And I LOVE your blog!

Stacy Hoover said...

Love them both!!! The apron and the Lemon cake look to die for - did I read it correctly? The apron is sold out? Good for you!!!

Unknown said...

This sounds refreshingly delicious!!

Unknown said...

Ooooh your lemon version looks delicious! Love the photos. I made the orange version this week but will eventually make the lemon cake. I left the poppy seeds out too :)

Fun apron!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails