Lemon Cornmeal Poundcake
This recipe is from david tanis, one of our favorite chefs who we had the pleasure of cooking for when he dined at prune years ago. it is a traditional pound cake with no added leavening, so be sure to mix in plenty of air in the final step. if the batter looks curdled don’t be discouraged, just carry on and have faith!
Makes 1 loaf
Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter, softened
2 cup of sugar
Grated zest of 2 lemons
4 eggs
1⁄2 tsp salt
1⁄4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (120 g) Bolted Flour - Pastry, All Purpose, Red Fife, or Turkey Red
1⁄2 cup Whole Grain Cornmeal - Red, White, or Yellow
Instructions:
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a loaf pan and dust with flour. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest well until the mixture looks creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, being sure to scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl between each egg. Add the vanilla extract.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt, and slowly add this mixture to the mixing bowl. Beat for another minute, until it’s well incorporated and the batter looks fluffy.
With a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the loaf pan, and put the cake in the oven. Check for doneness with a table knife after about an hour. If it starts to get too dark, tent with a piece of foil. When the knife comes out dry, the cake is done. If it browns before cooked through, place a loosely tented piece of foil over the cake. Cool for a few minutes in the pan, unmold onto a rack, and let cool.