White Pepper And Ginger Lemon Cake Recipes

WHITE PEPPER AND GINGER LEMON CAKE

Steps:

• Set an oven rack a third of the way up from the bottom and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
• Thoroughly butter a 10- to 12-cup Bundt (fluted) pan, even if it has a nonstick finish, and include all the crannies of the fluting and the center post; dust all, including the center tube, with fine, dry bread crumbs; invert and tap to shake out excess crumbs; set aside.
• Finely grate the zest of the two lemons; juice the lemons, putting 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a cup with the lemon zest; set the rest of the juice aside;add the fresh ginger to the zest-juice mixture and set aside.
• Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and pepper; set aside.
• In the large bowl of the electric mixer, beat the butter until it is soft; add 13/4 cups of the sugar and beat about 1 minute; add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk (starting and ending with the flour).
• Stir in the lemon-ginger mixture; taste and add more pepper and/or ginger if desired, stirring well; the full amounts of ginger and pepper might be too hot for some folks- if you suspect you're among them, start small and taste a bit of the batter; you can always add.
• Pour and scrape into the prepared pan; Smooth the top by twisting the pan sharply back and forth once.
• Bake 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out dry.
• While the cake is in the oven, add to the set-aside lemon juice enough to total 1/3 cup; combine with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
• When the cake comes out of the oven, let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.
• Cover with a rack, invert and remove the pan; put the rack and cake over a plate or sheet of waxed paper or foil to catch drips of glaze.
• Stir the glaze mixture and brush it all over the cake, including the inside of the center hole; let stand until cool.
• Use two spatulas to transfer the cake to a serving plate.

LEMON GINGER POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°F.
• Generously butter a 4 to 5 cup nonstick bundt, kugelhopf or loaf pan, and then flour it, knocking out excess.
• Chill 10 minutes.
• Finely grind together fresh ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor (mixture will be wet).
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt.
• Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl.
• Beat together butter, remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 TBS sugar, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy.
• Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Alternately add flour and milk mixtures to butter and eggs in 4 batches, beginning with flour and mixing at low speed until each batch is just incorporated.
• Mix in ginger sugar until just combined, then lemon juice.
• Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, and bake in middle of the oven until golden brown on top and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes (about 1 hour for loaf pan).
• Carefully loosen edges with a knife and immediately invert cake onto a rack to cool completely.
• Gradually add confectioners' sugar to 1 TBS lemon juice, whisking until smooth and adding more juice, 1 drop at a time, if glaze is too thick.
• Drizzle decoratively over top of cake.
• Serve to six very lucky friends or family members!

MAIDA HEATTER'S EAST 62ND STREET LEMON CAKE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack 1/3 from bottom of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9x3-1/2-inch tube pan and dust it lightly with fine, dry bread crumbs.
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In large bowl of electric mixer cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat for 2 to 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 smooth after each addition. Stir in lemon rind. Turn the batter into prepared pan. Level top by rotating pan briskly back and forth.
• Bake for 1 hour and 10 to 15 minutes until a cake tester comes out dry.
• Let cake stand in pan for about 3 minutes and then cover with a rack and invert. Remove pan, leaving the cake upside down. Place over a large piece of aluminum foil or waxed paper and prepare glaze.
• The glaze must 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.