when life gives you lemons, make lemon loaf

Yesterday I decided to do a deep clean of my kitchen. You know, instead of just wiping around everything you actually take everything off the counters and scrub, scrub, scrub. Everything was all sparkly when I realized I still had a bag of organic lemons in my refrigerator that I needed to use. So I decided to make iced lemon loaf from Everyday Food. I must warn you ahead of time, that this stuff is crack! Seriously.

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1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups AP flour
3/4 low-fat buttermilk (see notes)
zest of 2 lemons
1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs

for glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar plus 3-4 Tablespoon lemon juice

This recipe makes 2 loaves or one 12-cup Bundt cake.

Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour two six cup loaf pans (or 12-cup Bundt pan). Oven rack should be in lowest position.

Zest lemons. Squeeze juice (squeeze three lemons so you have juice for the glaze). Add zest and 1/3 cup of lemon juice to buttermilk. Note that if you don't have buttermilk, add about an extra tablespoon of lemon juice to 3/4 cup of low-fat milk. Let it sit for a few minutes: the milk will curdle. This is a fine substitute for buttermilk.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside.

Place sugar and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, and mix until soft and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, with mixer running on low.

Turn off the mixer. And then starting with the flour, add one third of the mixture to the butter/sugar/eggs. Mix until combined. Add half of the buttermilk/lemon mixture, and repeat until everything is added. Stop and scrap the bowl if needed. Do not overmix.

Pour half of the batter into each of the prepared pans and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. You may need to tent with foil if the loaves start to brown too quickly.

Let cool in pans 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before glazing.

To glaze, combine 2 cups of powdered sugar with 3-4 Tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. It won't look like it is going to work at first, so add a little at a time to ensure proper consistancy (thick, yet pourable). Pour over cakes and let sit for 30 minutes. Make sure to put paper or towels under the cooling rack to catch the excess glaze.

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My kitchen was a bit of a mess again. I managed to get a good sprinkling of flour on the floor. But heck, at least I had lemon loaf. Actually, TWO lemon loaves. It is really tasty, despite its lack of chocolate. The cake is dense yet light. There is just the right amount of sweet and tart. Goes perfect with iced tea. I really need to give the other one away.

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