We interrupt this nap...

...to bring you cake.  This cake

is this cake.

There are some small differences.  As I told Michelle, in comments:

My brain (which itself, incidentally, from some angles now looks like a dessert into which someone has dipped a spoon) read “¼ t lemon zest” as “¼ C lemon zest” (possibly because of brain damage, or possibly because of a logic fault, because who on earth only uses ¼ t of lemon zest for anything bigger than a demitasse of espresso?) which then automatically translated into “grated zest and rind + a little pulp and juice of one whole lemon, regardless of precise measurement.” Also, a “nip” of limoncello turned out to be 4 T, not 3 T, but what am I going to do with an extra T of limoncello sitting around in my pantry? So you know where that went — all the sooner to recycle the bottle, of course.

My way came out great, too.

Comments

[Jana]

omigosh! Guess what tomorrow is (my birthday) and guess what I needed (a cake recipe). Sending the bambinos out to buy lemons right now! (yum)

Sara saves the day!

P.S.: for some random reason we already have limoncello in the cupboard :)

[Sara]

Oh, please thank Michelle! When I saw her pictures of her beautiful and properly bundt-y version, I felt instant lust, but we were not able to acquire the limoncello until late last night.

I am very curious why you have limoncello. I mean, it's not a freakish ingredient or anything; this is just the first time I've ever used it, and I suspect that whatever reason you already have some was at least as delicious. Meanwhile, I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be going back for a bigger bottle at some point in the future. :)

Happy birthday!

[Jana]

We have a friend who _loves_ to drink limoncello. He likes it as "dessert" after a meal. Because of his raves we bought some not too long ago. Honestly it's a bit sweet for our taste, but we were thinking that we'd probably find some sort of mixed drink to use it in (given that we usually have an abundance of lemon/limes hanging on the tree just outside our back door (when it's not spring and the tree has just finished flowering), citrusy things are always a staple 'round here. ;)

[Jana]

Oh, and I will definitely post a comment for Michelle after I finish baking!! :)

[Jana]

I think I left mine in the oven a wee bit too long. My oven is a bit unpredictable and I was absorbed in a movie...And I so need to get a sifter or something to sprinkle the sugar in something other than huge clumps...

I also smothered my slice with some berries from the Farmer's Market from this morning (yum)! I can't wait to have some tomorrow morning with my latte! :)

[The Goldfish]

I have never heard of limoncello, but I absolutely love lemon cake so I'll have to try acquire some from somewhere (after completing my quest to find Violet Cordial for making violet cremes, anything is possible).

A while back, I was making ratatouille from a recipe on-line which suggested put half a cup of black pepper. In that case, I presumed a typo on their part and scaled right back...

I am making a carrot cake for AJ's birthday just now, but slowly; I grated the carrot yesterday, today I shall chop some nuts and hopefully by Wednesday I shall have a completed cake. I'm afraid I give "slowbaking" a whole new meaning,

[Michelle]

Looks fabulous Sara! So glad you enjoyed, and happy birthday to Jana :)

[Jen of a2eatwrite]

I love anything with lemon - the more lemon the better! I'm making lemon snap cookies today.

[Sara]

Jana: It looks delicious, even so. I would totally eat that! :)

For powdered sugaring, I use a tea strainer like this one. I think I saw someone do this on a cooking show. Works great. As you can see by the sugary ring on the plate around the base of the cake, it is an imprecise method, but I think the sugared plate looks pretty.

Goldfish: Mmm...carrot cake...violet cremes... Uh, sorry, what were we talking about?

hee hee -- So is the cake a surprise? Do you have to hide the ingredients after you've prepared them? I can envision a house full of little caches of chopped things, like a squirrel's house only extremely civilized.

Just so you know, this lemon cake is not so much lemony in the mouth as through the nose. The aroma is exquisite. The flavor is basic yummy cakey goodness of no particular flavor; I can't help but think it could benefit from a pinch of nutmeg. I also think mine benefited from the fact that I keep whole vanilla pods in my sugar. But then I am kind of a slobbering slave to the vanilla pod.

I also think this cake could make a great vehicle for lemon curd and clotted cream, because goodness knows the world needs another one. And this is somewhat ironic, because after tasting it -- and appreciating it fully, of course -- my true love said that it reminded him of a scone and that he thought each slice would reach its ultimate greatness heated and then buttered.

"That sounds disgusting," I replied with characteristic open-mindedness.

"What do you mean? It's like a scone."

"No, it's like buttered cake. Buttered pound cake. There really is quite a bit of olive oil in there, you know."

Okay, maybe clotted cream and lemon curd would be overkill, too. Fine.

It is a very subtle, sophisticated cake. I will definitely make it again.

Michelle: So good. I had some with coffee for first breakfast. (Second breakfast comes later when my true love wakes up. It will probably also involve cake and coffee, but maybe some sort of protein and vegetable matter as well.) Thank you again, and of course I have already thanked Salena, too.

This is like that game "telephone," only with a recipe. You blogged it with your alterations, I blogged it with mine, Jana has already Flick'r-ed hers (with berries on top!), and goodness knows how it will end up! I think the last person to blog about this will probably be someone in Northern Italy who makes his or her own liqueurs.

hahaha

Jen: Mmmm, lemon and ginger...another classic!

[Bipolarlawyercook]

Wow. That looks incredible. I need to go buy limoncello, apparently.

[Sara]

Oh yes, you do, you do! hee hee

And do try the Blue Moon Lemon Zest sorbet which also contains limoncello. A scoop of that might even be nice atop a slice of this, though I have to say that sorbet is far lemony-er than this cake and might overpower it. (Better to try it alone or on top of a slice of my lemon poppyseed yogurt pound cake, another recipe for another day.)

[The Goldfish]

Alas, I can't do secret baking - I once managed it when I enlisted my Mum's help in her kitchen by asking AJ to go cut down some trees in their garden. That kept him busy for long enough to make Black Forest Gateau - but I really couldn't have managed a Black Forest Gateau on my own (making it, I mean, as for eating it, I'm not so sure).

[TrueLove]

Ok, sorry for the delay, but it's taken me a very long time to eat enough of this lovely cake to finally get a good handle on it.

The truth is, it's not a cake. It is a scone baked in a bundt pan. It's not soft, it's firm, it's textured. It's just barely sweet, with a hint of lemon. Eating it by itself is like having a fresh scone with lemon curd already built in. Yumm. The crevices cry out to for a slice to be served hot with a slab of butter and dollop of jam on it.

Some one try it, since I can't get past the scowls and outrage in my own home to do so.

[Sara]

Okay, okay! I'll buy some marmalade. You can try it out yourself at 2:00 a.m. while you're playing WoW, after all the scowls and outrage have gone to bed. ;)

(Incidentally, this is not the first buttery conversation between you and me to appear on this blog. Hmm. Just hmm.)

xoxo

[Sara]

(Actually, the cake is quite good slathered with marmalade. Incidentally.)