Get the Recipe: Lemon Celebration Cake with Vanilla Chamomile Glaze
Ingredients
For the Lemon Cake
- 1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- fresh zest from 2 medium lemons
- 3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) cake flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (8 ounces // 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
For the Lemon Syrup
(makes around 1/2 cup, enough for one cake)
- 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
For the Vanilla Chamomile Glaze
(makes around 1 cup)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 tablespoon dried chamomile flowers or loose chamomile tea leaves
- 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioner's sugar, sifted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Equipment
- a 2-quart pudding mold or similar bundt cake pan
Instructions
For the Lemon Cake and Lemon Syrup
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350 (F). Prepare your cake pan by spraying generously with cooking spray. Seriously, if you're using a bundt mold, use a lot. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) granulated sugar and fresh zest from 2 medium lemons. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant; this will help release oil from the zest that will infuse the sugar with flavor.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 1/2 cups (14 ounces) cake flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a freestanding electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the sugar (from the 2nd step) with 1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, at least 3 to 5 minutes. When the mixture is light and fluffy, lower the mixer speed to its lowest setting. Add 8 large egg whites, one egg white at a time, only adding the next egg white when the first egg white has been incorporated. When all the egg whites have been incorporated, add 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
- Continue mixing the batter on low speed. Add the dry ingredients (from the 3rd step) in three parts, alternating with 1 cup whole milk in 2 parts, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Continue mixing until just combined.
- Transfer to the prepared cake pan and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the bottom of the cake is golden and springs back when gently touched. When the cake is ready, transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan. While the cake is cooling in the pan, make the lemon syrup.
- In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, combine 1/2 cup (3.5 ounces) granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for one minute, then transfer immediately to a liquid measuring cup and allow to cool slightly on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- After the syrup has cooled slightly, use a wooden skewer or a fork to poke a bunch of holes onto the top of the still-inverted cake (so, technically, you would be poking holes on the bottom of the cake if it had been inverted out of its pan). Use a pastry brush to spread the warm lemon syrup across the bottom of the cake, stroking the syrup around to encourage it to leak into the holes. Don't be shy — use up all the syrup here to get an incredibly moist and delicious cake!
- Once you've completed "soaking" the cake with the lemon syrup, invert the cake onto its serving platter and allow to cool completely before glazing.
For the Vanilla Chamomile Glaze
- Combine 2 tablespoon milk and 1 tablespoon dried chamomile flowers in a small, glass jar with a lid, and shake, shake, shake. Refrigerate for a few hours, ideally overnight if possible.
- When you're ready to glaze the cake, strain the chamomile flowers out of the milk, using the back of a spoon to squeeze as much liquid out of the flowers as possible. Discard the flowers.
- Combine 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioner's sugar with 1 tablespoon chamomile-infused and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and whisk until a thick, glaze forms. If your confectioners' sugar is too dry, there's a possibility that a paste will form instead — if this happens, just keep adding 1/4 teaspoons of more infused milk until it becomes workable. Be careful not to add too much all at once; doing so creates a thin, drippy glaze that won't set properly. Once the mixture is a thick, almost syrupy texture, pour onto the cake immediately.
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