My dad was visiting town and he loves lemon flavored desserts as much as I do, so I made this cake so we could relish in lemony sweetness together! This cake is very lemony. I like an equal balance of sweet and acidic when it comes to lemon desserts.
Oh, and I finally got some buttermilk. No more lemon-in-milk-because-I-don’t-have-the-buttermilk-Ree-calls-for-in-the-recipe, ironically. It probably would have been fine in this case since it’s a lemon cake. But I took the recipe the Pioneer Woman has for chocolate sheet cake and I transformed it into my own citrusy cake.
*FYI, using self-rising flour is a nice little time saver for cakes. It already has the leavening agent in it. If you don’t have it, though, I’d use a ratio of 1/2 tsp per cup of all-purpose flour.
I like when the lemon glaze hardens and adds a slightly crisp texture to a soft and dense cake. I wish I had some lemon twists to garnish with!
I wondered out loud whether I should garnish this with a raspberry sauce, but then Jim said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” He’s so smart. I love him. Though I am wondering about that raspberry sauce now…
Lemon Sheet Cake by Baker’s Theory
Ingredients
For the cake
2 cups sugar
2 cups self-rising flour*
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup buttermilk
For the lemon glaze
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
Serves 24
Instructions
For the cake
Grease a jelly roll pan and preheat the oven to 350F.
Combine sugar, flour, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
In a small pot, melt butter with 1 1/2 cups water and lemon juice. Pour into mixing bowl with sugar and flour, combining with a whisk. Then add the buttermilk, vanilla, eggs plus yolk, and lemon zest.
Pour batter into pan and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely.
For the lemon glaze
Whisk powdered sugar, lemon juice, and zest together until thick and syrupy. When cake is completely cooled, spread glaze over it evenly. Chill in refrigerator to harden the glaze, about one hour.
I’m kinda salivating looking at this picture. I love lemon bars, maybe a great recipe for sharing at the office!