LEMON BUTTERMILK CAKE

Lemon Buttermilk Cake image

This recipe is part of the Epicurious Online Cooking School, in partnership with the Culinary Institute of America. To watch it being made, and to learn how to make other dessert classics, check out the videos.

Provided by Dianne Rossmando

Categories Cake Dairy Egg Dessert Bake Lemon Shower Butter Buttermilk Lemon Juice Kidney Friendly Vegetarian Pescatarian Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free Kosher

Yield Makes 1 (9-inch) Bundt cake or 36 cupcakes

Number Of Ingredients 10

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Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon lemon zest
5 tablespoons lemon juice
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more as needed

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour a (9-inch) Bundt pan or line 36 muffin tins with paper liners.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until the mixture is smooth and light in texture, about 5 minutes. While the butter is beating, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon zest, and 4 tablespoons of the lemon juice and set aside.
3. Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. In 3 additions, alternate adding the sifted dry ingredients and the wet ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, stirring on low until just incorporated.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan or fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter. Bake until the center of cake springs back when touched and a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Bake cupcakes until they rise in a dome shape and spring back when lightly pressed with a fingertip, 16 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Release the sides and bottom of the cake from the pan with a narrow metal spatula or knife. Invert the pan and turn out the cake. Place a wire rack in a baking pan and set the cake, right side up, on the rack.
6. In a small bowl, combine the confectioner's sugar, the remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon cold water and stir until very smooth. Add a little more confectioners' sugar or water as necessary to achieve a glaze consistency (similar to that of honey). Spoon the glaze evenly over the cake. When the glaze has firmed, transfer the cake to a plate. Slice and serve at room temperature.