lemon cornmeal cake

in the season of gingerbread and peppermint, a lemon cake may sound a bit out of place. the flavors of the holidays are all about comfort and warmth, and lemon, as the geek proclaims, delivers a "real punch in the face." after a month of hearty holiday eating though, the bright and tart flavor is a welcomed palate cleanse. the cake itself is lightly lemony; the real sweet, puckery goodness is in the glaze.


recipe from woman's day

equipment

electric mixer -handheld or standing

10-cup tube pan or 12-cup bundt pan

wire rack to cool cake

pastry brush (if you don't have one, you could make do with a spoon)

foil covered cookie sheet (your counter tops will thank you)

ingredients
2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 c yellow cornmeal
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
1 T lemon zest
1/4 c lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 c buttermilk or plain yogurt (stirred to loosen) i accidentally bought non-fat, so i added 1 T of vegetable oil

for lemon sugar glaze:

1/3 c lemon juice

1 c sugar

preparation

1. preheat oven to 325 degrees F. coat bundt or tube pan with baking spray (or grease with butter and dust with flour). cover a cookie sheet with foil and place under a wire rack that has been coated with baking spray. the foil will catch the glaze the trickles off the cake while it cools).
2. in a medium bowl, whisk together first 5 ingredients (all-purpose flour, yellow cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt). set aside.
3. in a large bowl, beat together softened butter, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice on medium speed until light and fluffy. beat in eggs, one at a time until blended.
4. with mixer on low, alternately beat in flour mixture and yogurt (or buttermilk) until smooth. mixture will be dense.
5. scrape mixture into prepared pan and level with a spatula.
6. bake 55-65 minutes; cake is done when a wooden pick comes out clean. invert cake onto prepared wire rake (placed over the foil covered baking sheet) and cool for 5 minutes.
7. while cake is cooling, prepare glaze by stirring together the lemon juice and sugar (sugar will not dissolve). brush glaze on hot cake with a pastry brush (or if you don't have a pastry brush, drizzle over the cake with a spoon). the sugar will be clearly visible and will form a crunchy glaze once the cake is cooled.
8. cool cake completely. transfer to a serving plate and cover. ignore the cake for several hours or overnight to let the flavor develop. store covered at room temperature for up to four days.