Double Lemon Pound Cake
Have you seen Amélie? (If not, please do.) There’s a part at the beginning where they introduce her and her parents by describing first what they hate and then what they love. As good a litmus test as any, I think. Amélie loves dipping her hands deep into bags of beans and grains. She hates it when drivers in old movies don’t watch the road while they’re driving.
Amélie’s Dad hates clingy swimsuits and likes to take everything out of his toolbox, clean it, and then put everything back in. Likewise her Mom likes to take everything out of her purse, clean it, and put everything back in. (She hates it when her fingers and toes get all wrinkly in the tub.)
I imagine if I were to be described in this manner it would go something like:
She hates it when people eat black licorice within fifty yards of her.
She likes to take everything out of her freezer, clean it, and then put everything back in.
One day awhile ago I was doing just that, the emptying-out part, anyway, and exclaimed when I got to the back, “oh! we have chocolate gelato!”
Mike, without missing even one second, replied, “if I had a gelato shop I would call it Gepetto’s Gelato. And underneath the sign it would say in brackets (formerly Pinocchio’s Panini). And when people came in to ask what happened to Pinocchio’s Panini, I’d answer ‘let’s just say that little wooden boys shouldn’t work around hot ovens.'”
So that’s Mike.
Mike loves lemon. Lemon pies, lemon bars, lemon-cranberry muffins and loaves. So I chopped up some of those sweet preserved lemons and stirred them into lemon pound cake batter, made with half the butter and a little canola oil for good measure, and they melted right in. Oh the plans I have for these.
Double Lemon Pound Cake
AuthorJulie
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil, sugar and lemon zest for 2-3 minutes, until pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
Stir the lemon juice into the milk and set aside for a few minutes to thicken. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add about a third of the flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined. Add half the milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour, the rest of the milk and the rest of the flour. Stir in the chopped lemon.
Divide the batter between two 8”x4” loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden and tops are springy to the touch. Let cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, beat the butter, oil, sugar and lemon zest for 2-3 minutes, until pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
Stir the lemon juice into the milk and set aside for a few minutes to thicken. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add about a third of the flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined. Add half the milk in the same manner, then another third of the flour, the rest of the milk and the rest of the flour. Stir in the chopped lemon.
Divide the batter between two 8”x4” loaf pans that have been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden and tops are springy to the touch. Let cool for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
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OMG I’m stil giggling about Pinocchio’s Panini! 😀
About the lemon thing – Tony is like Mike, loooves anything lemon even over *gasp* chocolate alot of the time; so much so that I buy lemons by the bag. I’ve made Ina Gartens lemon loaf(or loaves since it makes two at a time)twice. In. the. last. month. Never roasted or preserved lemons though… definitely a project for next weekend.
I *knew* those roasted lemons would be wonderful!!
Mike would have seen eye to eye with my foster father. He named our puppy Leafless. When some unwary soul asked him why the dog was named Leafless, my Dad said, “Ever see leaves on a dog?”
Yes, I have….this is the movie where I fell in love with Audrey Tatou…well, not literally.
Wonderful film!
I read the story about Mike out loud to my husband, a man with similar dry humor. I love it!
That picture of the preserved lemon is beautiful.
I love this post! And I love the preserved lemons in the cake…..I can’t wait to try this!
Did you slice the lemon peel as well into the cake? I’d love to see what it looks like cut? I’m picturing little 1/4 lemon slices throughout. It sounds wonderful! But won’t help me lose weight 🙁
Yes, you chop the preserved lemon wedges, peel and all – you’d think it would look dramatic on the inside but no, you can barely see them! You come across little bursts of lemon while you’re eating it though. Wonderful.
I loved that movie and I love Mike!
I’m with Mike…I just can’t get enough of lemons. And I love Amelie too! Thank you for sharing this…I’m making a cake for a family birthday this weekend and want something different from the obvious…this will do perfectly I think.
Thats so cute! I love the sound of this pound cake as well! Yum =D.
Mike’s line is the absolute best!!! Could you please open that store?
I can see how you would fall in love with Mike.
Mike absolutely should open that gelato store. I would be there in a heartbeat.
Preserved lemon intrigues me. I always wondered what I would use it for…now I know. 🙂
I like Mike. I like lemons. I like Gelato. I see some lemon gelato in your future.
My love of lemons knows no bounds (and apparently everyone seems to know that). Adding this to my ever-growing list of lemon things to make. Yum!
I am happy to see some choices for the sweet preserved lemons you made. Lemon is my chocolate.
thank you for posting nearly everyday, its such a pleasure to click on my favorite blog and see new and lovely looking recipe’s
I’m a lemon-lover, too! A good friend of mine made a couple of us single gals a cookbook many (many!) years ago and she dedicated a whole lemon section to me. I’m filing this one away for the next time I need a little something for tea.
OOOOooooo!! I love lemon too!! My wedding cake was lemon curd and people thought I was nuts! Hot lemon pudding cake is one of my favs! I’m just drooling for this pound cake, Julie! Julie makes me drooly. hee hee hee……
What a perfect antidote to the winter blads – a taste of sunshine!
blahs that is. 🙂
Yummo! Bring on the lemons!!
I love Amelie! It’s so quirky and I think I also love just hearing people speak French, even though my French is not that great. I’m intrigued by the preserved lemons, I have a bag at home so I should try this…how long will they keep, I wonder?
I’d think they’d keep for weeks or months in the fridge in the syrup – but would also freeze well, the syrup acting as a sort of insulation against freezer burn, and the fruit having already been softened by the roasting.
I love the film Amelie – its so cute! This cake looks utterly divine, I cannot resist anything lemon, ever. I love the idea of adding the preserved lemons – gorgeous.
dear sweet julie! i’ve been checking out your recipes and blog for a while now… i love your ideas, your appreciation for good food, and how i always leave your blog feeling encouraged to try something new. today, when i saw that you had quoted amelie, i was beyond excited! oh goodness… you are now offically being moved to the very top of my favourites list. cause that’s where you belong! 🙂
I’m liking the looks of this! Did some roast lemon tonight ahead of time for making this. I’m making some stuff to share with someone and my words were, “who doesn’t like lemon pound cake?” thanks for the inspiration!
I LOVE this movie! My daughter and I have watched it many times. She used it as part of an assignment she had in college. And, we LOVE lemon pound cake. Thank you so much.