As most of you know, I'm a single mom and I work two jobs. I work full time at a hospital, which is 3 12 hour shifts a week, and part time at a long term care facility on an as needed basis. I occasionally take some of my baked goodies into my part time job, and I share with my patients if they are able to eat sweets. These patients are recieving long term respiratory care, so I get the chance to know them and their families well. One of these patients (I'll call her Mrs. L) I've known since I first became a therapist, and I see her both at the hospital as well as the long term care facility. Mrs. L is a sweet and sassy southern lady and we talk food quite often as she is usually watching the Food Network when I go into her room. Mrs. L asked if I'd make her a Lemon Pound Cake, so I did just that for Valentines Day. I found cute ceramic mini loaf pans in Valentines Day colors at Target, so I bought one of each color. I made these cakes the night before Valentines day, and I have to say for being thrown together quickly they turned out very well! My patient loved hers as well...I was able to sneak in and leave it on her bedside table while she was still sleeping. When I checked back after breakfast, she'd already tasted the cake and I think her exact words were something like "Oooooooh girl!"
Printable Recipe
Lemon Pound Cake adapted from FoodNetwork.com
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 vanilla bean
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
Glaze
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup lime juice
1 tbsp lime zest
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare one large or three mini loaf pans with non-stick spray and line with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and whisk gently to combine.
Cream butter in a large bowl with mixer on high speed. Add 1 cup sugar and mix until combined. Decrease mixer speed to low and add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape insides of vanilla bean into mix, and mix briefly. Alternate adding dry ingredients and lemon juice, mixing well after each addition. Continue mixing until batter is smooth. Stir in lemon zest.
Pour into prepared pan(s), and bake: 60-75 minutes for large pan, 40-50 minutes for smaller pans.
Remove from oven when top of cake is domed, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with few crumbs. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, loosen cake by running a knife around the edges of the pan, then remove cake to cooling rack.
While cake is cooling, prepare glaze by mixing 1/3 cup powdered sugar with 1/3 cup lime juice. Pour on cakes while still warm, and sprinkle lime zest on top. Dust cakes with powdered sugar before serving.
Enjoy and let me know what you think!
