On vacation, my daughter, who is learning to bake, and I grabbed a quick snack at Starbuck's and it was the most incredible lemon pound cake we have ever had. She/we have tried two recipes to no avail. As lemon pound cake is the first cake she is trying to learn, I am trying to help her find a recipe.

Does anyone by chance know of a scratch lemon pound cake that tastes really lemony? She made two - poked one with a toothpick and then brushed it heavily with lemon simple syrup and with the other one, she dipped both the top and the bottom in the simple syrup and then did the toothpick trick, but it still isn't cutting it. More flavor needs to be in the pound cake itself. She even used 1/3 cup lemon zest and 1/4 lemon juice for tthe two loaf pan sizes. We thought she would be all set.

Does anyone have or know of a recipe to share? She really wants to make it from scratch. After the one we had at Starbuck's, we are on a quest. (We are big lemon fans!)

Any help would be very sincerely appreciated!

Thanks,
Tracy

(edited to add more details)

Hi Tracy
I don't have the recipe with me, but I make a very simple and very lemony lemon cake by adding zest of 1 lemon (finely grated and more if it's small lemons) to the batter of a simple pound cake, with no other flavouring. While the cake is in the oven I make a syrup from the juice of 1-1½ lemon and approximately 100 grams of sugar.
When cake is baked I poke a lot of smal holes (using a large pin or small knife) and soak the cake with the syrup. You might not be able to get all the syrup absorbed in the cake - you don't want to cross the fine line between moist and soggy. Both cake and syrup has to be hot/warm for this to work and it's a good idea to line the baking pan with greaseproof paper as the cake will be a bit sticky. Then the hard part comes; Leave the cake to cool completely in the pan, preferably over night
Hope that helps. If you need the exact recipe then please remind me...

/Mia

Thanks, Mia! We would love to try yours! Lemony is what we are looking for! I will PM you for your recipe, if you don't mind.

I had made the one by Bearfoot Contessa. Everyone loved it.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-cake-recipe/index.html

I know this isn't a scratch recipe, but I made a lemon WASC using lemon juice for the whole cup of liquid. Extremely lemon-y. I would think you could use any standard pound cake recipe and substitute a pile of lemon juice in.

Thanks, MJK! That is actually the one we did. It is great as a lemon cake, but we are trying for more of a pound cake texture (a bit denser) and the Starbuck's version is more lemony as well. However, it will be our go-to for a lemon cake! You are right...Yum!

Mcaulir - Oh, that sounds good! I will try that. Oh, where does a cake newbie find a good WASC recipe? Thanks in advance!

I don't have a specific recipe but Pierre Herme recommends rubbing the zest together with sugar because it activates all the lemon oils in the zest--really makes a difference. Just use some of the sugar called for in the recipe. So that's just an idea for whatever recipe you land on. It's worth it just for the aroma!

Zestier zest thought for you.

K8mephis - Oh, thanks! We zested our lemon and infused it with the sugar overnight, but I never knew to rub the two together! Whoo hoo! You are awesome! Thanks for passing that tip on!

i found one before but haven't tried it out yet. this one

http://dozenflours.com/2009/04/better-than-starbucks-lemon-pound-cake.html

and i just googled these

http://recipecircus.com/recipes/Stella/COPYCAT/Starbucks_Lemon_Pound_C_ake_wIcing.html

http://www.copykatchat.com/showthread.php?t=21072

HTH I love lemon too but I can't bake right now.

Put in lemon juice, and lemon zest.

Mike

[quote="AKA_cupcakeshoppe"]i found one before but haven't tried it out yet. this one

http://dozenflours.com/2009/04/better-than-starbucks-lemon-pound-cake.html

This one sounds absoutely delicious - I think the girls at work need a new taste test!!!

Yep, I take a pile of lemon zest, and a pile of sugar, and rub it around on my cutting board into a paste. Or, grind it in the mortar or is it pestle? Which one is the mortar and which is the pestle...and am I even spelling it right??

interestinga about the lemon paste... great ideas!

Thanks, AKA_cupcakeshoppe! I had the first one printed, but not the oher two when I went on a big internet search today. We will give them a whirl! Hope you are baking again soon!

you're welcome tracy. let us know how it went. you're having your own scratch off hehe

AKA_cupcakeshoppe - No problem - I have it narrowed down to about 10 recipes. Pound cake, anyone?