Citrus-y, yummy goodness! I first made this cake as a newlywed in Chicago. It has remained a favorite!
Cake
1-1/4 cups (250 g) sugar
1 TB baking powder
2-1/4 cups (270 g) cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oil
5 egg yolks (reserve the egg whites for later)
3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind (reserve lemons to juice for glaze later)
1 cup liquid (not beaten) egg whites (add additional egg whites as needed to the 5 egg whites reserved earlier to reach 1 cup total)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Lemon Butter Glaze**
1-1/2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
1 tablespoon butter
1-1/4 cups (142 g) powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
**This is enough glaze to coat the top of the cake only (with a few drizzles coming down the sides). I prefer a heavier pour that coats the sides at it comes down from the top, so I double the recipe.
To make cake:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Sift sugar, baking powder,
flour, and salt together in a mixing bowl. Add oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla,
and lemon rind to the dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Beat egg whites in a
separate bowl with cream of tartar until they form stiff peaks. Pour yolk
mixture over whipped whites, folding together until blended.
Bake in an
ungreased 10-inch tube pan for about 55 minutes; it will be dry if you overbake, so check for doneness carefully. When the cake is baked through (and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with a few moist crumbs), invert the tube pan over a cooking rack and let hang until cool. When cool, gingerly release the cake out of the pan.
If the cake is a little dry (which can happen if it's overbaked or overmixed or the whipped egg whites deflated during incorporation), drizzle a lemon simple syrup on top, bottom, and sides and allow to soak in before glazing.
Glaze cooled cake with lemon butter glaze by pouring evenly over the top and allowing to drizzle down the sides.
To make lemon butter glaze:
Heat milk and butter together in
a small saucepan. Stir in powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice
and lemon rind; beat until shiny. Add a drop or two more liquid if needed to
make desired consistency. Makes about 1/2 cup, or enough to glaze the top of a
cake baked in a 10-inch tube pan, an 8- or 9-inch square pan, or a 9x13-inch
loaf pan.