Meyer Lemon Pound Cake

I made this pound cake in January while visiting my parents.  The flavor and texture were excellent.  Lemon and rosemary made a great combination here, although other herbs would also be tasty.  The crumb was light and delicate...the cake definitely didn't feel like it had two sticks of butter in it and wasn't heavy at all!  The only fault of this recipe was that it was way too much batter for a standard loaf pan.  I filled it almost full and still had lots of batter left over, which we made into cupcakes.  Even so, the cake still rose over the edges of the pan and exploded a bit!  So definitely leave lots of room for it to rise (or just cook these all as cupcakes!)

Here's a slice of the pound cake from a day we took some down to share with my grandmother.  We topped it with a super-simple sauce made of frozen berries and a bit of sugar, cooked on the stove until warm. 

Meyer Lemon Pound Cake (adapted from The Paley's Place Cookbook)
Makes 1 loaf plus 8 cupcakes

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
2 sticks butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 cup milk

Lemon-Rosemary Syrup
1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 large sprigs rosemary

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pans and 8 muffin cups, or spray with non-stick spray.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar.  Grate the lemon zest into the sugar, and rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until moistened.  Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  In three batches, add the flour alternating with the milk, and beginning and ending with the flour.
5. Pour the batter into the loaf pan, leaving room for the cake to rise.  Pour remaining batter in muffin tins.  Bake until deep brown and a skewer comes out clean, about 70 minutes.  Keep a close watch and cover with foil if the cake begins to brown too soon.  The muffins will be done sooner than the cake, so check them often.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup.  Combine the lemon juice, water, sugar, and rosemary in a small saucepan.  Simmer over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.
7. Transfer the finished cake to a wire cooling rack.  Poke holes with a skewer all over the cake.  Brush the cake all over with the lemon syrup.  Let stand ten minutes, then remove cake from the pan and brush the bottom and sides with the syrup.