Lemon Supreme Pound Cake With Lemon Glaze

• Lemon cake mix
• Buttermilk (fresh or powder)
• Lemon pudding mix
• 2 Lemons
• Zester
• 9 x 13 pan

While we lived in Arizona, we were exposed to many plants we had only seen in photos before: cactus of more variety than we knew existed, towering palm trees, grapefruit trees, orange trees, lime trees, and...lemon trees. We had never seen lemon trees before. It was incredible to be able to pick a lemon directly from a tree and eat it right away (with a sprinkle of sugar, of course). We were used to paying at least 50 cents per lemon in the Midwest, but not there. In Arizona, a fresh-picked lemon was our favorite price: free. Sigh.

A bite of Lemon Supreme Pound Cake brings us right back to Arizona, like a bite of sunshine. It melts in your mouth leaving the tang of a freshly picked lemon. We are not exaggerating. If you like lemons, you will love this cake!

This cake is my Grandma's recipe. If you have read our previous hubs you might notice we have mentioned "Grandma" before. Please take our word, she really did give us these recipes! She is the same one who shared with me her amazing carrot cake with orange cream cheese frosting! I have seen a similar recipe as hers on the side of the Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme Cake box, but hers is a little more rich. It uses buttermilk instead of water, butter instead of oil, lemon juice instead of milk, and real lemon zest in the batter. It may not be the most beautiful of cakes, but it truly does melt in your mouth and is a crowd-pleaser! You could fancy it up by baking it in a bundt pan or two loaf pans, but Grandma always made it in a 9 x 13 pan, so that's how I do it too!

Note: A shortened version of the recipe is at the end after all the step-by-step pictures.

This recipe begins like many cakes. Can you guess? Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Yup. You got it! After you've preheated your oven, take your handy dandy zester and zest 2 lemons. This will smell lovely. Be careful to zest the yellow part of the peal rather than the white part which is quite bitter. I know from personal experience. When I was younger I helped make shortbread cookies and was in charge of zesting the lemons. Well, I wanted to use as much of the lemon as I could. Needless to say, the cookies were bitter. Lesson learned.

Box mixes are great because you don't have much measuring to do. Simply dump the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix! It is important that I pause to explain something.

I use dry buttermilk powder. My mom used this growing up, so I keep it on hand as well. You can find it in one of two spots: either the cooking aisle or the cereal aisle. Keep it in the refrigerator. When a recipe calls for buttermilk, add the powder with the dry ingredients and the water where the recipe calls for buttermilk. It works very well!

If you are NOT using dry buttermilk, you will not be adding dry powder with the dry ingredients, nor water with the wet. You'll just add the buttermilk when you mix the wet ingredients.

Generally in baking, you can substitute oil in recipes with fruit puree. My favorite is applesauce! If you wanted to make this cake a little healthier, you could substitute the butter with 1/2 cup applesauce.

As with a typical cake, after mixing the dry ingredients, you add in the wet ingredients. You'll add 4 eggs, 1/2 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil), and 1 cup water. As noted before, if you are using real buttermilk, do not add 1 cup water. Instead, add 1 cup buttermilk.

If you don't have buttermilk but do have regular milk, you can still make this recipe! This video shows how to make 1 cup, which is what you'll need!

Using a hand or stand mixer, blend the dry and wet ingredients together. Unlike a muffin where you mix until it becomes moist, for this cake you mix for 2 minutes. I have to watch the clock to make sure I don't give up early. Anyone else an impatient mixer like me? The batter will become fluffy before your eyes! Don't be afraid to lick some of the batter from the beaters. It is tasty!

Make sure to grease your 9 x 13 pan and then pour in the batter. When your oven is preheated to 350 degrees, slide the cake in to bake for 30 minutes.

• 1 1/2 - 3 T lemon juice, freshly squeezed (1-2 lemons)
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Optional: Milk or water

A typical lemon yields about 2-3 Tablespoons of juice. A lemon will yield more juice if it is at room temperature!

We like our lemon glaze to be potent, so we use the juice of two lemons (about 4 Tablespoons)! Please note, however, that the original recipe only calls for 1 1/2 Tablespoons of lemon juice. You have complete control over this glaze. You can use less juice and add more milk if needed to thin it. Or, you can start with one lemon and decide to add the second one later.

I find it helpful to place a strainer directly over the bowl of powdered sugar to catch the seeds! I have seen many ways to juice a lemon, but this is the one that works best for me. I simply sliced the lemons I previously zested for the batter, and squeezed them face down so the juice dripped directly into the strainer.

I like to save one of the halves after I have juiced it and cut it into quarters. Then I drop the used lemon into my garbage disposal to freshen it up! My mom taught me this trick and it smells lovely.

Mix the lemon juice and the powdered sugar with a spoon. It will begin to combine and the sugar will begin to dissolve. It is okay if there are lumps. Let the glaze sit until the cake is done.

When the cake is done, prick it all over with a fork. This is the fun part. Then, leave the cake to cool in the pan for about 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, pour the glaze on top of the mostly-cooled cake. Let it completely cool before serving. If you are not serving soon, place it in the refrigerator. This keeps the cake moist. Also, the cake actually tastes better after sitting a day or two in the fridge and is delicious served cold!

You did it! You made Lemon Supreme Pound Cake. It wasn't hard after all! Now the question remains...who could you find an excuse to make this for so you can enjoy some too!

Note: I used myfitnesspal.com to determine the above nutrition facts, based off using the recipe as stated. We cut the cake into twelfths, but you could cut it into 16 pieces. It looked to me that most of the calories, fat, and sodium came from the boxed cake mix itself. Please don't let these nutrition facts deter you from trying this recipe! As with anything, moderation is key.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Lemon Cake Mix, (I recommend Duncan Hines)
• 1 package Lemon Pudding
• 2 Lemons, (or 2 tsp zest and 2 T juice)
• 1/2 cup Butter (or oil)
• 1 cup Buttermilk, (or 4 T dry buttermilk powder and 1 cup water)
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Zest two lemons (about 2 teaspoons of zest). Add zest to a large bowl with the cake mix, dry buttermilk powder and dry lemon pudding. Mix. (Note: If you are using real buttermilk, you do not need to add the powder, just skip this ingredient as you'll add the real buttermilk with the wet ingredients next.)
3. Add melted butter (or just use vegetable oil) and 1 cup of water (Note: You can use vegetable oil instead of melted butter. Also, if you are using real buttermilk do not add water. Simply add 1 cup of buttermilk now.).
4. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Pour batter into the pan. Bake in 350 degree preheated oven for about 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze. Mix fresh-squeezed lemon juice (1 1/2-2 T juice, about 1/2-1 lemon) with 1 cup powdered sugar. If you love lemon, use 1-2 whole lemons. If you don't want the lemon to overpower the cake, use 1 lemon. If you want a more subtle flavor, use just half a lemon. If you prefer none at all, simply mix the powdered sugar with 1 1/2 T water or milk.
6. After the cake is done, prick it with a fork. Let cool for about 25 minutes in the pan.
7. After the cake has cooled, pour the glaze on top. Some of the glaze will drip in the holes and some will slide down the sides. That's okay! It makes the lemon flavor come alive!
8. Cut into 12 pieces and enjoy right away or store in the fridge for up to one week!

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Lemon Supreme Pound Cake could be the perfect addition to your next:

• Outdoor barbecue or picnic,
• Birthday party, or
• Spring or summer holiday gathering (Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day).

We make it each May for Cinco De Mayo and call it Pastel de Limon Suprema (thank you, Google Translator). Doesn't it sound even more amazing in Spanish? Regardless of the occasion, this is a cake worth trying. And if you do, please rate the cake and leave a comment to let us know how it turned out!

Thefedorows is an active contributor on Hubpages, an avid pinner, and frequent blogger. We warmly thank you for reading our Hub today!

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