Lemon Cake (East 62nd Street)

A timeless, classic lemon cake with a lovely texture and brushed with a lemon juice and sugar glaze. Originally published in in the New York Times in the 1970's, this lemon cake went viral when viral meant it was showing up in every kitchen and the recipe was being written out to share with everyone they knew! And for good reason. This lemon cake is timeless and simply perfect. It's easy to make and made with standard pantry items. And it's a cake that can be enjoyed plain with tea or dressed up with fruit and whipped cream. The original recipe comes from the queen of desserts, Maida Heatter, who apparently was given the recipe from her daughter, who lived on East 62nd Street in Manhattan.

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached, sifted
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. sea salt
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Granular)
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
2 large lemons, freshly zested

Glaze:
⅓ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
⅔ cup Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Granular)

For the Cake:
Adjust an oven rack one-third up from the bottom of oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C/160°C fan, Gas Mark 4). Butter a plain or fancy tube pan with an 11-12 cup capacity and dust it lightly with fine, dry breadcrumbs.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In large bowl of electric mixer, beat the butter to soften it a bit. Add the sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs individually, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula to keep mixture smooth. On lowest speed, alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the milk in two additions, scraping the bowl with the rubber spatula as necessary and beating only until incorporated after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in lemon zest. Turn the batter into prepared pan. Level top by rotating pan briskly back and forth.

Bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes, until a cake tester comes out dry.

Let cake stand in the pan for about 5 minutes and then cover with a rack and invert. Place over a large piece of aluminum foil or wax paper.

For the Glaze:
The glaze should be used immediately after it is mixed: Stir the lemon juice and sugar together and brush all over the hot cake until absorbed.

Let cake cool completely. Use two wide metal pancake turners or a cookie sheet to transfer it to a cake plate. Do not cut for at least several hours.

Makes 10 portions.

Variations: I have made this with ½ cup Key lime juice in the glaze in place of the 1/3 cup lemon juice and it is divine. But you should continue to use the lemon zest in the cake itself.