Lemony Turmeric Tea Cake
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Nonstick cooking spray or butter, for greasing the pan
- 1½cups/215 grams all-purpose flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- 1teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2lemons
- 1cup/200 grams granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling
- ¾cup/180 milliliters sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt, plus more for serving (optional)
- 2large eggs
- ½cup/115 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
- Whipped cream (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 4-by-9-inch loaf pan (see Tip) with nonstick cooking spray or butter, and line it with parchment, leaving some overhang on both of the longer sides so you’re able to easily lift the cake out after baking.
- Step 2
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric in a large bowl.
- Step 3
Grate 2 tablespoons zest from 1 lemon into a medium bowl. Halve the zested lemon and squeeze 2 tablespoons juice into a small bowl. Cut half the remaining whole lemon into thin rounds, discarding seeds (save the other half for another use).
- Step 4
Add 1 cup sugar to the lemon zest in the medium bowl; rub together with your fingertips until the sugar is fragrant and tinted yellow. Whisk in the sour cream, eggs and the 2 tablespoons lemon juice until well blended.
- Step 5
Using a spatula, add the wet mixture to the flour mixture, stirring just to blend. Fold in the melted butter. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Scatter the top with the lemon slices and 2 tablespoons sugar.
- Step 6
Bake until the top of the cake is golden brown, the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (If the lemons are getting too dark, lay a piece of foil on top to prevent burning.) Let cool before slicing. (Cake can be baked up to 5 days ahead, wrapped tightly, and stored at room temperature.) Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
- For some reason, finding a standard-size loaf pan is nearly impossible, so get as close to these dimensions as you can. While you could use either a metal or a glass pan, metal conducts heat more evenly.
Private Notes
Comments
How do you get 2 tablespoons of zest out of one lemon?
I haven't made this yet but I've learned about baking with whole lemon slices from making shaker lemon pies. 1) Use thin-skinned lemons. Meyer lemons work well. 2) Partially freeze the lemons before slicing in order to get them as thin as possible.
I don't think the lemon slices are nice at all. I found them quite bitter and rubbery, but they were really pretty. Maybe blanching and/or candying them first would help to make them more palatable.
Made exactly as written and it turned out great. I did slice the lemons very thinly, as other commenters suggested and had no problem slicing the cake. It is a beautiful color and has a lovely lemon flavor. Will definitely make again.
To make this more palatable for picky eaters, I added powdered sugar on the top.
I haven’t seen this trick yet in the comments to I’ll leave it here. Instead of the lemons on the top, treat this cake like an upside down cake. Put a piece of parchment on the bottom of the greased pan, sprinkle sugar, arrange your lemons, sugar again, then prepare the cake as usual with this garnish now on the bottom. The lemons bake into the cake slightly, get softer and the sugar caramelizes into a moist sauce, like a light tart tatin. For dramatic effect, once I flip the cake and peel off the parchment to cool- I use a blow torch to add some darker color onto the lemon slices. It’s gorgeous.