Lemon coffee cake

You might not believe me, but there are times when I don’t have one single lemon around - when they do not look good or are too expensive, I end up buying limes instead. But this time I have a big bag full of beautiful lemons in my fridge – luckily, a coworker of mine had sent me this great link.

I changed a few details in this recipe – drastically reduced the amount of salt, after reading the comments on Martha’s page – and the result was an extremely tender cake that smelled really good. I forgot to add the glaze, but am posting it anyway.

One recipe down, 34 to go. :D

Lemon coffee cake

Streusel:
1 ¾ cups (245g) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (132g) packed light-brown sugar
pinch of salt
¾ cup (170g/6oz) cold unsalted butter

Cake:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (from 4 to 5 lemons)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (260g) plain yogurt

Glaze:
1 cup (140g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
3 to 4 tablespoons lemon juice

Make the streusel: Mix together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into the flour mixture until small to medium clumps form. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 days).

Make the cake: preheat oven to 180ºC/350ºF. Butter a 22.5cm (9in) angel food cake pan*. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest with a mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add eggs, 1 at a time, then the vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with yogurt.
Spoon the batter evenly into cake pan. Sprinkle the chilled streusel evenly over the batter.
Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and remove outer ring. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the center tube. Slide 2 wide spatulas between the bottom of the cake and the pan, and lift cake to remove from the center tube. Let cool completely on rack.

Make the glaze: Just before serving, stir together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake, letting excess drip down the sides. Let glaze set before slicing, about 5 minutes. (Cake can be stored for up to 3 days. The lemon flavor will intensify with time.)

* I halved the recipe, used a regular 5-cup-capacity ring pan and let the cake cool completely before unmolding it

Serves 10-12