Heidi's May Dessert Pick

So my new favorite magazine is Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. I've made three recipes from the May issue of the magazine. Below is the one that came out the best. It's a little time consuming, but that's because I wasn't really prepared that well when I made it. It was a good thing that Mike was not home that night or he would have seen the mess I made in the kitchen. Enjoy!!

Lemon Pound Cake with Candied Lemon Slices

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
2 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Candied Lemon Slices and lemon syrup (recipe to follow)
Lemon Glaze (recipe to follow)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 (6 cup) loaf pans; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, and lemon zest; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; mix in vanilla. With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture in three parts, and sour cream in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

3. Divide batter between prepared pans; smooth tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes (tent loosely with foil if browning too quickly). Mean while, make candied lemon slices and lemon syrup.

4. Remove cakes from oven; while they're still in pans, use a wooden skewer or toothpick to poke several holes in tops. setting aside 1/4 cup lemon syrup, pour remainder over cakes. Let cakes cool completely in pans, about 2 hours. Remove from pans and place right side up on rake set over a rimmed baking sheet. Brush cakes all over with reserved syrup.

5. Prepare Lemon Glaze; pour over cakes (still on cooling rack), letting it drip down the sides. Let set, about 30 minutes. Garnish with Candied Lemon Slices.

Lemon Glaze - In a small bowl, whisk 2 cups confectioners' sugar, with 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice; add up to 2 more tablespoons juice until pourable but thick. You can also use some of the lemon syrup from the Candied Lemon slices.

Candies Lemon Slices and Lemon Syrup

1 cup sugar
2 lemons, sliced 1/8 inch thick or thinner with seeds removed
1/3 to 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from about two lemons)

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add lemon slices, and simmer very gently over medium-low heat. swirling pan occasionally, until slices are opaque throughout, 20 to 30 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer slices to a sheet of wax paper; set aside. Use Lemon Syrup in step 4 of Lemon Pound Cakes and Candied Lemon Slices in step 5.

This recipe came out really good and is worth the extra step of making the candied slices. I didn't use as much syrup as the recipe calls for, but it still came out good. I also, didn't garnish with the candied slices. Another thing I like about this recipe is that it makes two loaves. Next time I might make one loaf and than some cupcakes.