Lemon Bundt Cake

It has been the winter of citrus and babies.  Everyone is announcing pregnancies as ripe fruit keeps falling from full branches.  For me, they are intrinsically linked, as I run off to pick up a pound of grapefruit at 10 pm for the sixth time.

I don't think I have ever eaten so much citrus in my life, slicing them over salad, boiling them for cakes, juicing them in the morning, and scooping them straight out with a spoon for a midnight snack.  Something deep within you desires citrus in the winter, little rays of sunshine send up from the south, reminding us that it's warm somewhere, and it will be so again here.  

Lemons make people happy.  It's counter intuitive, a fruit that makes you physically grimace making you emotionally smile.  But it does.  The sour wakes up your tongue, and the scent makes the house sing.  Especially when you add sugar and bake those lemons up in a bundt cake.

Try being grumpy while eating a slice of bundt cake, drizzled in a sugary lemon glaze.  It's about as impossible as being grumpy while watching a baby smile.  And these citrusy, pregnant winters give way to juicy strawberries and spring babies, and that's really something to smile about.

Lemon Bundt Cake

Serves 6-8

 

1 c + 2 T butter

1 c sugar

pinch salt

zest of 1 lemon 

1 t vanilla

4 eggs

1 2/3 c flour

6 T cornstarch

2 t baking powder

For the glaze:

1 1/4 c powdered sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease bundt pan and dust with flour.

Cream butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Gradually add eggs, and mix until combined.

Sift flour, corn starch, and baking powder together.  While mixing, add the dry ingredients to the wet.  Continue to mix until batter is smooth.

Pour batter in prepared pan, and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.  Cool in a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Stir together powdered sugar and lemon juice to make a smooth glaze.  Pour over cake and serve.