Lemon Limencello Pound Cake

When i was in Italy i discovered Limencello - the lemon flavored liqueur made of vodka, and it is delish! I was thinking that it would be a good addition to a lemony dessert, and Rosa at my office told me about her favorite Lemon Almond Poundcake recipe from Bon Appetit that has Limencello brushed on top of the cake. Yummm! Since i'm going to a dinner party this evening, i thought it would make a terrific dessert to bring. But i fear not everyone will like the almond flavor which can be overpowering. I did, however, find another lemon pound cake recipe by Bon Appetit that got rave reviews. I've been looking forward to making this one because it's made with 1 cup of sour cream, but i thought i could use Fage plain yogurt instead. I figure it will be super moist.

I also decided to make "schlag", or homemade whipped cream to dollop on top of the cake.

Silly me... after i popped the pound cake in the oven and sat down to write this post, i realized i forgot to add the yogurt. Meantime, i lost that cake. Don't ask. All i can say is maybe these silicone cake pans aren't the easiest to use. Apparently that cake just wasn't meant to be so i decided to do it again but make sure i add the yogurt this time.

Sour Cream Lemon Limencello Pound Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit

3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (i used 4 tablespoons)
1 cup sour cream (i substituted with greek yogurt)
1/3 cup Limencello (you might want to make sure you have a little extra to sip while you're waiting.)

Preheat oven to 325° F.
Spray and lightly flour a tube pan, and set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl and set aside.
Using a mixer, beat butter at medium speed until fluffy.
Gradually add sugar and beat 5 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition.
Beat in lemon juice and peel.
Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients.
Now mix in sour cream or yogurt.
Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn out cake.

Carefully turn cake rightside up on rack and cool completely. Take wooden toothpick and punch holes throughout the top of cake. Brush with limencello and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Voila!

Schlag, or Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar

Put cold heavy cream, vanilla and sugar in mixing bowl.
With standing mixer, use the whisk attachment and, start out slowly otherwise you have cream all over your kitchen.
As the cream thickens, turn the speed up. As it gets foamier, start checking for a soft peak, which is what you want. The peak should bend over at the top when you remove the whisk. As it gets close, slow down, because if it goes too far, it will clump and separate (essentially become butter).

This dessert turned out to be a success! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. My parents, who are both real fans of lemon desserts, thought it was fantastic, and nobody had thoughts of "next time try adding less of this or more of that". In fact, Laurence said it was his favorite dessert that i've recently made. I particularly liked the crusty outside and very moist inside.  This is definitely a keeper.

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