Last week my friend Emily gave me some meyer lemons from her tree. I knew right away what I wanted to make with them. Last year my mom made this almond lemon pound cake and I've been wanting to make it since. I'm not actually a big fan of lemon but this cake is so light and not too lemony and the combination of the almond (which I love) is delicious. I do love meyer lemons though, if you've never had one you should give it a try. They are more mild than regular lemons and they have a wonderful smell. We had a meyer lemon tree when I was a kid and I used to love making lemonade with them, I remember it being so yummy!Enough blabbing, here's the recipe...
Almond Lemon Pound Cake
1 tsp. plus 3/4 cup butter softened and divided
Enough powdered sugar to dust the pans and the top of the cake
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1 Tbs. grated lemon peel
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
almond extract (optional)
1. Grease bottom and sides of a 9" round pan with the 1 teaspoon of butter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and set the pans aside.
2. Put almonds and sugar in a food processor and process until fine.
3. In a mixing bowl cream the remaining butter and slowly add in the almond and sugar mixture until combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each one.
5. Beat in sour cream and lemon peel.
6. In a separate bowl combine together the flour and the baking powder.
7. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternating with the lemon juice.
8. I added a bit of almond extract to the batter just to up the almond-y flavor, you can do this if you like.
9. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake at 350 for roughly 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Adjust the time for your oven if needed.
Let it cool for at least ten minutes before removing it from the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar using a sieve. Do it while the cake is still warm so the sugar sticks.
Happy lemony eating!
