The Best Damn Meyer Lemon Cake
I love anything made with lemon. One of my all-time favourite desserts is a tarte au citron, with its mouth-puckering filling. An iced lemon loaf is pretty good too, but only if it isn’t subtle. This lemon cake wasn’t the “best” exemplar I’ve ever had or made, but it was pretty damn good.
The recipe comes from Saveur, and includes lemon three ways: as zest, juice, and extract. I didn’t have the latter, but found a substitute in a LorAnn Gourmet natural emulsion that was water-based. I didn’t know the relative strengths of extracts vs emulsions, so I used a bit less, about one-and-a-half tablespoons.
This cake turned out pretty good, remaining tasty even several days after. The lemon syrup you brush on the hot cake gets absorbed, providing moistness and intense flavour. There was something “off” with the emulsion’s flavour: it wasn’t necessarily artificial, but there was definitely an aftertaste.
I’d like to continue to experiment with incorporating citrus in desserts. On my radar is Shaker Lemon Pie, which uses two whole lemons, thinly sliced. And, Orange Supreme Muffins, which include the segments of two navel oranges in its batter.
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