LEMONY LEMON LOAF

Lemony Lemon Loaf image

This sunny, lightly colored, yellow-blond cake includes both lemon zest and lemon juice for bright flavor, plus cream cheese, buttermilk, and sour cream for richness. Due to the sugaring of the pan, the two end slices--often disfavored--will be the sweetest!

Provided by Doug in Manhattan

Categories Desserts Fruit Dessert Recipes Lemon Dessert Recipes

Time 2h5m

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 15

Ingredients

2 ½ tablespoons white sugar
2 cups bleached all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ tablespoons baking soda, or more as needed
2 teaspoons water, or as needed
1 lemon
2 lemons, juiced, or as needed
⅔ cup white sugar
¼ cup mild olive oil
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 jumbo eggs
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup sour cream
¼ cup buttermilk, shaken

Steps:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan and "flour" the pan with 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar, tilting so each surface of the pan is dusted with sugar. Discard any excess sugar.
Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in a mixing bowl; set aside.
Place baking soda in the palm of your hand and wet with water to form a paste. Rub paste vigorously all over 1 lemon. Rinse lemon thoroughly, zest it, and place zest in a large bowl. Juice the lemon into a liquid measuring cup and add enough juice from remaining 2 lemons to measure 1/3 cup; add to lemon zest.
Add sugar, olive oil, and cream cheese to the lemon mixture. Mix thoroughly with an electric mixer until most of the sugar has dissolved. Whisk in eggs, applesauce, sour cream, and buttermilk until well combined. Whisk in 1/2 of the reserved flour mixture until incorporated. Whisk in remaining flour mixture until just combined. Immediately pour and scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place loaf pan, uncovered, on a baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 42 to 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges of the pan to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving, or cool completely to room temperature before wrapping and refrigerating.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 286.7 calories, Carbohydrate 43.7 g, Cholesterol 81.6 mg, Fat 10.9 g, Fiber 2.3 g, Protein 6.3 g, SaturatedFat 3.4 g, Sodium 681.7 mg, Sugar 17.6 g