40 thoughts on “Tuesday Chatter”

  1. I made it as is. I loved the middle of the loaf but the outstide of mine was really dark, not sure what happened. So I wasn’t thrilled the crust — I expected more of a cakey softer crust. But the middle was divine!

  2. I liked this recipe the best so far of all that we’ve made. I wasn’t exactly sure how much “zest of 3 large lemons” would be, but mine was very good. I would actually add more zest the next time.

    I think the kind of loaf pan used makes a difference on how these bake. I use an old 1960s metal loaf pan and it bakes perfectly. I have had mixed luck with glass and a newer metal pan and so I always return to the one I “borrowed” from my mother.

  3. I changed it up – added more zest, juice fo one lemon, plus a lemon glaze! It was super lemony, which is how we like it! It is a good question though, how much zest IS “zest of 3 large lemons”. Mine weren’t LARGE, probably more on the small side, so maybe I didn’t really add much extra after all!

    I also used an old metal loaf pan I “borrowed” from my mother one time! Teehee!

    Liked it, but wouldn’t it be good toasted with some blueberry compote?? Mmmm…

    • I made the same additions you did. My lemons seemed kind of small so added the zest of a fourth lemon. I also added in some juice (Hey, I had four skinless lemons) and made glaze. I’m glad I did.

  4. This did nothing for me unfortunately. I like my lemon desserts to really have “punch” which this did not. I made three mini loaves; one plain, one iced with a lemon icing and the other injected with lemon curd. They were pretty but the flavor was not there. You can see my results tomorrow!

    • Totally agree. I had dried lemon peel so used 1/3 the amount of fresh (cuz that’s what you do when subbing dried for fresh, right?) I was expecting there to be lemon juice in the recipe, and re-read it 3x before making, and then again when it was done to make sure I hadn’t skipped it – totally lacking any lemony punch. It seemed no more than a basic pound cake recipe to me.

  5. Hey friends! In case you still have some cooking energy left after all our TWD recipes, some friends and I have started a new cooking group! Inspired by TWD we’ve decided to cook our way through Grace Young’s “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge”. We’re calling it Wok Wednesdays, and we’d love to see some familiar TWD faces! Plus we all could probably use a healthy stir-fry after our baking adventures…I know I’ve been putting on a few extra pounds!

    http://wokwednesdays.wordpress.com

  6. Hi,

    Two questions for all of you food scientists out there…
    1) What does cake flour do for this recipe? What would be the difference if all purpose flour was used?
    2) Why doesn’t this loaf need a measured amount of salt?

    Thanks!

    Karen

    • The cake flour makes a lighter cake than if you used all-purpose flour. I’m sure AP flour would work, but the consistency would tend more towards the thickness of a pound cake whereas this Lemon Loaf Cake has a crumb more similar to that of a traditional layer cake.

      You can actually measure a pinch of salt! A pinch is usually defined as 1/8 tsp, so you can use half of your 1/4 tsp measuring spoon. When it comes in such a small amount though exact measurements aren’t necessary, especially in a recipe like this where the salt is just more of a balance to the sugar rather than being an important flavor component.

    • All purpose flour has twice the protein compared to while cake flour. Lower protein content means that the flour would have less gluten. Low gluten flours lead to more tender and light cakes vs. all-purpose flour that is much stronger. Cake flour is also chlorinated.

      • All-Purpose flour has more protein, but not quite twice the amount as cake flour (cake flour is about 8%; AP is 9-12%). Bleached AP should be used when substituting for cake flour, otherwise the finished cake could turn out greasy because unbleached flour isn’t able to keep the butter in suspension the way cake flour does.

  7. I thought this was too tart and had too much lemon peel, but that was just my personal preference. A friend at work loved it, just right for him.

    I struggle with the amount of fat in these recipes, so find I take most of what I make in to work and share with my coworkers. Looking forward to next month’s recipes.

    • I too struggle with the amount of fat sometimes. I plan to make the Hungarian Shortbread even though it has a pound of butter–thus my co-workers will get this bounty.

      • yes, i have already decided to bring it in to work…I am sure it will be delicious which is why it just has to go out of the house!

      • I agree. I can’t stand wasting food, so if it’s lying around I feel like I have to eat it before it goes bad. I’ve been taking the last few to other people’s houses when I visit and leaving them there.. Let them deal with the leftovers! (Hopefully they won’t starting hating me soon)

      • I take some of pretty much everything I make to work. My co workers have had some from every TWD recipe so far!

  8. I rubbed the zest into the sugar–such a heavenly aroma! I also added the juice of one lemon. I wish I would have added more salt.
    I made 3 mini loaves and drizzled them with a lemon glaze. We deemed them delicious. Next time I think I will serve them with a fresh blueberry sauce and whipped cream.

  9. I’m glad I’m reading this while my cake is in the oven. I’m definitely going to do the glaze and wish I had some blueberries for a compote, sounds delicious that way. Also I can’t wait to read the results of the one injected with lemon curd. I’m usually a by the book person so maybe you will all inspire me to think outside the box.

  12. Super easy, not much mess or clean-up. I thought this might go into the permanent rotation, but probably not.

    I might have over-cooked it a wee bit, but I found it too firm and tough. My 8-year old son described it as “bouncy”. I was VERY careful not to over mix.

    Not enough lemon flavor for my taste, though if I had made a glaze it would have been perfect.

    We did the taste-test of how was it right away after cooling, and after curing for a day. I say this one needs to sit and rest a day! It was tastier the next day, but still a little eggy in flavor.

  14. We really liked this cake. I made a glaze from the lemon juice and added all of it to the cake. It really added the lemon kick that I wanted in this cake. I think that without it, the cake would’ve been too bland for us!

  15. I thought this cake was great. Very easy to put together! I changed it up by making a lactose-free version. I used coconut cream instead of heavy cream, and flavored it with lime and basil.

  16. I thought this was great but could use a touch more lemon flavor. Others who tried it thought is was plenty lemony, though.

  18. This one was disappointing for us and it looks like for lots of other people, too. I read the reviews before making it and knew it may not turn out great. Don’t regret making it but won’t do it again! I’m so curious about how this turned out for whoever decided to put it in book (not sure if that would be Dorie or the people that made the show).

  19. I’ve been reading a lot of comments that people do not know what to do with their sad looking zested lemons after making this. Squeeze the juice and freeze it. I have chocolate molds that hold about 2tsp. per cavity that work great; then pop them out into a Ziploc bag. Ice trays work well too.

  20. Looks like this was a hard one for us to get “right”, I think that can happen with “simple” recipes. Most of our cake batters had developed too much gluten, which is why they were so domed and you could see “tunnels” in the slices (during baking, steam should escape but gets trapped inside the cake). It was pretty hard NOT to, even with the cake flour, since the butter went in at the end so there’s no shortening effect. Most of us noticed the weird mixing technique! I am puzzled that some loaves had very light and others dark tops; couldn’t really explain that one. Cheers!

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