Tuesday, November 2, 2010

lemon pound cake served with a quick butterscotch sauce...



I baked a lemon cake for Arvind's birthday after spotting a few plump lemons in my garden . The lemon tree is laden with green lemons but they are not yet ready to be juiced or zested . I spotted a few of them just fragrant enough for a nice lemon cake .


But the flavors were not a bit close to the lemon cake i used to bake some years ago when i had a gondhoraj lebu ( a variety of large lemons with a think and very fragrant rind ) tree in my garden . That gondhoraj lebu was so good for making cakes and lemon tarts , i am looking for a seedling of that variety just for the lemon cakes and tarts we so used to enjoy.


Baking a lemon cake is anyways a great thing as the home is filled with a nice lemony fresh aroma and anybody entering the house is tempted to snoop into the kitchen . Lemon pound cake has been a long time favorite with both of us and whoever has been visiting when the cake was baked.

And the quick butterscotch sauce is as aromatic while being cooked , it sizzles on the flame and makes me drool with a chocolaty caramel aroma .........so well complemented with lemon cake . I made the butterscotch sauce thin so that the cake is soaked well , thick butterscotch sauce is suited for ice creams and trifles .


The cake is a normal pound cake where the cup measurements are so convenient even a child can whisk and bake them..

ingredients for the cake ...
maida ( APF ) 2 cups
butter 1 cup
sugar 3/4 cup ( 1 cup can be used when the cake is not topped with butterscotch sauce )
eggs 4 nos
lemon juice 1 tbsp
lemon zest 1 tsp
salt a pinch
soda bicarb 1/2 tsp
baking powder 1.5 tsp

procedure....

Sift the maida , soda bi carb and baking powder together to mix them well and keep aside.

Whisk the eggs in a small bowl . Whisk the butter and sugar in another larger bowl till light and creamy . Add the whisked eggs slowly and keep whisking till a creamy frothy consistency is achieved . Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk to mix .

Add the flour and fold the batter to make a homogeneous batter. Pour in a greased tin and bake for about 25 minutes at 200 degree C . Insert a skewer to check if the cake is cooked .


It is a lightly sweetened cake and great with a cup of tea any time of the day...


As a dessert it is complemented very well with this runny butterscotch sauce ...

ingredients for the butterscotch sauce...
sugar 1 cup
salt 1/2 tsp ( or 1/4 tsp if you don't like the hint of salt )
heavy cream 1 cup
milk 1/2 cup or more if you want it more runny
cocoa powder 3 tbsp
vanilla essence 1 tsp ( i used butterscotch essence which my sister had gifted me )

Pour sugar in a pan and heat to caramelize , as soon as it starts melting and getting golden colored add the cream and let the mixture boil . Mix cocoa powder with the milk and pour into the boiling mixture . Let it boil vigorously once again . Add  salt and take off heat. Use hot or cold as required.


A runny sauce is very well soaked into the cake and it was great this way . For ice cream topping it is better to keep the sauce thick so do not add any milk in that case.


You may like a thicker butterscotch sauce sandwiched between the slices of cake .... chocolate and lemon are the hottest of flavors and eat the way you like it.....


21 comments:

  1. Sangeeta, lovely lemons! Brought a rush of memories... and a favourite combination!

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  2. hi sangeeta,
    hope u r doing good :) glad to visit ur blog after a long time :) first off..lovely snaps, next the a huge compliment for the moist looking cake which is so simple to bake, never tried a lemon cake as yet, shall include it in my baking list.
    TC

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  3. Hey sangeeta...missed a lot of action on your blog because i was away from blogging for a while..but yes the lemon cake looks delicious.

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  4. great to hear that u have a garden. We are living in an appartment, its almost difficult to see a tree.

    I miss my childhood days, we used to have trees in our backyard..

    Cake looks easy and delicious

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  5. wow the lemon tree looks healthy and full of them .. and i love cakes ... thank for the recipee tooo I have tried having the lemon tree here but it just dies off in the winters too cold for it ...

    Bikram's

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  6. I love citrusy flavor in cakes and this one looks amazing with butterscotch sauce..

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  7. Wow, what a cake. And the Gondharaj reference is almost scary in its coincidence. I have been trying to find this variety of lemon and might have done so, except shall not know until we get a lemon first! My neighbour knew it from her childhood up north and actually brought me one from Jamshedpur. I think it is called Gaja nimbe in Kannada - at any rate, this is the plant I wait for a lemon from.

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  8. Thanks all of you guys ....

    @ Sangi ... I would feel happy at such coincidences ...gondhoraj or gaja the lemon is very pleasantly fragrant .

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  9. I needed just this kind of recepie :)easy to put together and tasty to eat.

    Belated Birthday wishes for Arvind :)

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  10. hi sangita, nice to see your lemon tree, here is a spice powder for you with tender lemon leaves. take half a cup of tender lemon leaves ,take out thick veins from them if any and tear it into pieces, dry in shade for one day . heat oil just few drops and dry roast red chillies 1 or 2 as per ur taste and also some hing, now dry grind the red chillies, some rock salt and the tender lemon leaves.
    We take it along with curd rice and since u make varieties of idlies, you can have this as a side dishwith little til or or ghee smeared to it. give a try

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  11. Thanks Nirupama ..i would love this powder as i use the leaves for flavoring soups sometimes .I have a chakotra ( grapefruit ) tree too n hope those leaves can be used for the powder as well.

    Will let you know when i make this.

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  12. Beautiful texture for this lemony cake.

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  13. Hey sangi (I am taking the liberty to call you that :) ) where do you live in Delhi.. you have such greenery in your garden. Those lemons look so fresh and amazing.. I wish I had such a garden.. like Devasena says here.. its hard to find a tree leave alone having a garden..

    The cake looks great.. would try soon.

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  14. Thank you Rekha ... i live in central delhi and it is a government apartment , in a campus ...and i am on the ground floor luckily . A small patch , not very well maintained but yes, it is a lucky green patch for me. I will post the pics very soon .

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  15. Yummy !Yummy !!!

    These days i have been bitten by the baking bug. Will surely try out the lemon cake .

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  16. drooling here,..its high time i start baking again,..;-)

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  17. Hi. can the normal Amul fresh cream work for this?

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  18. Hi can we use Amul fresh cream for the sauce? Will it be ok to heat it?

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    Replies
    1. Yes Appleofmyi...Amul fresh cream will be good to use, and it's okay to boil it for the sauce.

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