Gatsby’s Lemon Cake For Daisy

Lemon Cake:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
• ½ cup buttermilk

Lemon Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon whole milk

Lemon Garnish

• 3 strips lemon rind, ¼” wide x 3” long
• 3 leaves fresh basil

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan and create a “sling” over the center section with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, lemon zest, and salt. Set that bowl to the side.

Using a paddle attachment in your stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together at medium-high speed until it is fluffy, about 5 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.

Change the mixer speed to low, then add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract and lemon juice. Beat the entire mixture on medium-high speed until combined.

With the mixer on low, alternate adding the flour mixture (mix until almost combined) first, then add half the buttermilk and mix again until just combined. Repeat until all of the flour mixture and buttermilk have been added and mix everything until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes in the pan. Carefully remove the cake from the loaf pan using the parchment paper sling, and transfer the cake to a cooling rack. Allow your lemon cake to cool completely.

When the cake is cooled, combine all the icing ingredients, start with 1 tbsp lemon juice and milk and add the remaining lemon juice as needed. The icing should be thick and not runny. Pour the lemon icing over cake and add your lemon rind curls and basil. (Curl your lemon rinds by twisting around a chopstick and sliding it off – you can also use your fingers to twist them). Let the icing dry completely before serving.

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