Luscious Lemon Loaves

I know I've been so good about avoiding alliterations (oh there I go again) but sometimes I just can't help myself. But now that you've read luscious lemon loaves, aren't you intrigued to know more?

At any rate I hope so because that's what I am focusing on today. This past Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day, my boyfriend's 21st birthday, and his brother's confirmation all in one shot. I baked these loaves and they turned out to be a  huge hit: one standard-sized loaf for my boyfriend's mother, and a baby loaf for the rest of the guests.

Making smaller loaves also aided me in feeling less guilty about the sheer decadence of this recipe. I know pound cake received its name from the ingredient list of a pound of each sugar, eggs, flour, and butter, but wow did I feel guilty when I dropped the contents of a 1 lb box of butter and 8 whole eggs into my mixing bowl.

Oh and did I mention that it gets a coating of lemon syrup and lemon glaze? 

Hence the term luscious. The syrup seals in the moisture and the glaze sets it right over the top. With a dozen fresh lemons, tons of butter and sugar, how could these have possibly turned out badly?

I'd love to try this out with the substitution of fresh strawberries or blueberries, or any fresh fruit for that matter. Fruit and cake, as long as it's not fruitcake always receive an A+ in my recipe book.

At this point you may be asking yourself "how do you top luscious lemon loaves?"

Answer: White. Chocolate. Filled. Snickerdoodles.

Keep an eye out for them and more coming up On Sugar Mountain!

Happy Baking!

 Luscious Lemon Loaves Via Glorious Treats
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups sugar
8 eggs
1/4 cup grated lemon zest (4 lemons)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cups melted butter, cooled
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla

lemon syrup:

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

lemon glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup +1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and thoroughly grease 2 9x5 loaf pans (or mini pans) with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, beat together sugar, eggs, lemon zest and juice. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until just incorporated.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.
4. Use a large spoon or spatula to fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, rotate pans, then at 325 for an additional 30 minutes. Cakes are done when toothpick comes out clean.
6. Let cakes cool while preparing syrup and glaze.

7. Lemon Syrup: Add lemon juice and sugar to small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil for three minutes. Remove from heat until ready to use.

**While cakes are still slightly warm, poke tops and sides with a toothpick. Brush liberally with lemon syrup.**

8. Lemon Glaze: Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until thick syrup forms, using a little more juice if needed to adjust consistency.

**After cakes have soaked in syrup, drizzle glaze over top**