Lemon-Ginger Pound Cake

Hannah is a young lady who works part-time in IPC kitchen. One thing about working with young, creative person (she will be in graduate program at SCAD in animation this fall) is that she keeps me on my toes, especially in baking. With her new found love of baking and her artistic nature, she has become quite a baker.

This dessert by far is the best she has made. She substituted part of lemon juice in the recipe with lemon emulsion. The result was delicate buttery pound cake with intense lemony flavor and hint of refreshing ginger. Great work, Hannah!


Lemon Emulsion is water based instead of alcohol based like lemon extract. Many professional bakers use emulsion in their cakes and cookies for their intense flavor.

LorAnn Lemon Bakery Emulsion, 4-Ounce Bottle (Pack of 4), sold at Amazon.com $15.88


For cake
3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger (see previous post on how to)
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour (5 oz)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick (1/2 cup, or 4 oz)) unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon emulsion

For glaze
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon emulsion

Lemon Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp lemon emulsion
1 Tablespoon confectioner sugar


Special equipment: a 4- to 5-cup nonstick bundt, kugelhopf, or loaf pan
preparation

Make cake:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Generously butter pan, then flour it, knocking out excess. Chill 10 minutes.

Finely grind together fresh ginger and 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor (mixture will be wet).

Whisk together flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt.

Stir together milk and vanilla in a small bowl.

Beat together butter, remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and zest in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Alternately add flour and milk mixtures to butter and eggs in 4 batches, beginning with flour and mixing at low speed until each batch is just incorporated. Mix in ginger sugar until just combined, then lemon juice and lemon emulsion.

Spoon batter into pan, smoothing top, and bake in middle of oven until golden brown on top and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes (about 1 hour for loaf pan). Carefully loosen edges with a knife and immediately invert cake onto a rack to cool completely.

Make glaze:

Gradually add confectioners sugar to 1 tablespoon lemon emulsion, whisking until smooth and adding more emulsion, 1 drop at a time, if glaze is too thick. Drizzle decoratively over top of cake.

For Lemon Whipped Cream
In a large bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks are just about to form. Beat in vanilla and sugar until peaks form. Make sure not to over-beat, cream will then become lumpy and butter-like.