Cake #25: Lemon Sheet Cake

The recipe I used for this calls it a sheet cake, which I suppose is true but it seemed misleading. When I think of sheet cake, I think of Texas sheet cake. It's made in a jelly roll pan, so it's big and comparatively thin. This one is baked in your standard 9x13 pan. It's not a layer cake or a rolled cake, though, so I guess sheet cake is the only label that fits.

It's easy and pretty--the lemon sugar on top is a nice touch--and it ages really well. I liked it much better the second day. So did my mom, who kindly loaned me her kitchen and ingredients while I was visiting a few weeks ago, which is why this cake exists in the first place. I didn't ask my dad if he preferred it fresh or a day old, but I do know he liked it because the piece he snitched was pretty big and I didn't see any leftovers on his plate.

If you're a lemony sweets kind of person (I know some people aren't and I respect that. I don't understand it, but I respect it. Ahem, David.) then you should add this one to your "treats to make" list. Because doesn't everyone have one of those? No? Just me?

Should I be expecting a baking intervention in the near future?


Lemon Sheet Cake
from Our Best Bites

Cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour*
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup white sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

*The recipe specifically says "no substitutions" but I said "you're not the boss of me!" and subbed all-purpose flour and cornstarch because that's what was available. Joy the Baker has a fantastic tutorial on how to make cake flour if you don't have any on hand.


Glaze:
3 cups (12 ounces) powdered sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons buttermilk


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the white sugar and lemon zest on medium speed until moist and fragrant, about 1 minute. (This step seemed weird but the result was kind of awesome. I now want to scrub my entire body with lemon sugar because it smelled so good.) Remove 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture and place it in a small bowl. Cover and set aside.

Add the softened butter to the remaining sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and yolk, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture in 2 additions. Mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Scrape the batter into the reserved baking pan and smooth out the top. Bake until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (about 25-35 minutes). Be careful not to over bake. Set the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

While the cake is cooling, whisk the glaze ingredients together until smooth. Gently spread the glaze over the cake and sprinkle evenly with the reserved sugar mixture. Allow to cool completely before serving.