The first month of being a chef is complete! We’ve successfully gathered a hoard of new loyal customers, introduced many creative and delicious menu items, and overcome small challenges. Yesterday we had a party of 15, which felt like an induction into the hospitality industry. To keep people happy, I offered pieces of my lemon loaf cake for a free snack. It was a hit – lemony, not too sugary, and soft, moist, and buttery.

Lemon Loaf Cake

Of course my recipe uses brown butter. I also utilize oil to keep the crumb nice and moist along with the usual suspects. Sour cream, eggs, and sugar. I love lemon and I have high expectations for tang when I eat lemon desserts. So I knew this lemon loaf cake needed to be full of zesty flavor. I started by infusing my sugar with the zest of nearly 3 lemons. More than most recipes call for. My goal was to make it so lemony that I didn’t need a lemon glaze or anything – just a simple, perfect loaf cake.

Long story short – my lemon cake was a hit. I loved how it came out. As I said it was nice and buttery, soft, and has a melt-in-your mouth texture. It was very lemony too, with help from the juice and zest of 3 lemons and another squeeze of lemon juice on top. I started the day Saturday by opening up the cafe. The shudder went up, the menu went out, and I sliced my lemon loaf cake. I was still perfectly tender and fresh. I could smell the scent of lemon the second I lifted the plastic wrap off of it. 

Selling Pastries

We laid out pastries to start the day. One of my favorite things so far about having a cafe. I made a spread of chocolate chunk cookies, made with brown butter, my chocolate orange cookies, chocolate torte, and fresh, warm cinnamon rolls. I started adding a little oil to the dough. It makes the kneading time longer, but it keeps the buns nice and soft. The frosting is made with, you guessed it, brown butter, which adds a richness and touch of salt to the sweet rolls. I infuse the frosting with maple, too, for a Maine touch.

Saturday was a special day for me because my family came to eat for the first time. My dad drove my mom and grandmother up from our home town, about an hour drive, to the cafe in Owl’s Head. The weather was gorgeous, so it was a fairly slow day. Many people were out and enjoying the warmth. So, when my parents showed up, they nearly had the place to themselves. It was so surreal and gratifying. Wearing my apron and standing at my kitchen window welcoming them. I wrote their order down on my usual pad of paper. 

Breakfast Sandwiches + Hash Browns

My mom had a breakfast sandwich on bao – my newest creation. Fluffy steamed white buns split and grilled. Filled with an egg, cheese, and bacon. My dad had a chicken pot pie hand pie, fried, and my grandmother had the ham and cheese version. They also got some blueberry sausage and hash browns to share which have quickly become my signatures. We went through almost 4 bags of my homemade hash browns this weekend. I got to sit with them and hear their feedback, which was also surreal. I always wish I could watch people as they eat my food.

My dad loved the pot pie. It came out nice and tender and flaky. My mom freaked out over her sandwich and hash browns. My grandmother was very impressed and bought me a couple nonstick egg pans as a gift. They took home plenty of pastries to try. I felt so loved. It was like a birthday. After they left we finally finished decorating the dining room – painting over the chalk board wall with new black paint, perfect for a mural. I also installed my hand-cut “Nomad” letters above the kitchen window. It’s all coming together.

Busy Sundays at the Cafe

Sunday was a very busy day. In a good way! We started with a few happy customers who implied that they’ll spread the word about our good food. Then, we got a phone call. A party of 15 was on the way. We braced ourselves as if going into battle. I made extra hollandaise and organized plates. Rearranged dining room chairs. When they arrived we went into game mode and the next few hours flew right by. Some of them had cinnamon rolls or pastries with orange juice and some had full meals. Pancakes, breakfast plates with sausage or bacon. 

Normally when I’ve worked at places in my teenage years I resent big rushes. A lot of hard work for the same old pay. But knowing that I’m a part owner of the restaurant was so exciting. Look how many sales we had! I worked hard and marveled at our full dining room. Every chair was taken. I even had to steal a stool from the lounge next door for our returning customers that came in later. It was order after order and finally they cleared out. Almost all of our hash browns were gone. Pancake batter depleted. Hollandaise down to a few drops. We celebrated and cleaned tables and snacked on lemon loaf cake. 

Leftover Lemon Cake

My business partner also made us fried chicken, which was delicious! I had to stand over a trash can as I ate because it was so flaky and crunchy. The meat was marinated in buttermilk and pickle juice and was so tender. We brainstormed ideas for the future – breakfast sandwiches, fried chicken, Italian nights with tiramisu and lasagna. I’m feeling so excited to keep going. I’m having little anxiety, which is a huge blessing. My body is tired, so I’m trying to get in restaurant shape before we open full time. But so far, it’s been an amazing journey. 

When the day was done we had a couple of pastries left. So I took them home to eat and enjoyed my lemon loaf cake on the couch before dinner. My body was so exhausted after doing dishes. The most customers we’ve ever had! And in winter. When other businesses told us to not even bother opening because it would be too slow. I love my Sunday afternoons now at home – feeling proud and accomplished. I’m looking forward to sleeping in for a couple days and catching up on rest. Then, I’ll be tackling new baking projects and refreshing our inventory. 

Brown Butter + Lemon Zest

This week I started my batch of prep with the lemon loaf cake. It was super easy to make. I use my favorite banana bread recipe as a guide for moist, tender loaf cakes and always modify it for new recipes. This time I infused a ton of lemon zest into the sugar and let the stand mixer massage it all together. Next I added two eggs, which whipped on high speed with the sugar for a few minutes, adding air and lightness to the batter. The next step in my banana bread is to drizzle in vegetable oil to emulsify, almost like a mayonnaise. So I did the same here. 

I also prepared my wet ingredients by mixing melted brown butter with lemon juice, milk, and sour cream. It all whipped up into a sloppy, split, gross-looking thing. But it came together perfectly when worked into the batter. I also sifted and measured my dry ingredients. When the eggs and oil were whipped, I alternated pouring in the liquid ingredients and my flour mixture. Finally I had a light, lemony cake batter that smelled strongly of citrus. I couldn’t wait to bake it. 

Lemon Drizzle

I greased and lined a pan and preheated my oven. Then I watched and waited as the lemon loaf cake baked. It browned into a golden hue and rose slightly. When it was cooled, I sliced it and tasted the crumb. Nice and lemony and tender. Next time I want to grate lemon zest on top before I bake it – or sprinkle some more lemon sugar on top for crunch. I also poured lemon juice over the loaf cake when it was warm to add even more lemon flavor. It came out incredible. A simple snacking cake that I could eat every day. 

If you’re feeling ambitious, you could serve this with lemon whipped cream or a candied lemon slice. Maybe even basil for garnish in the summer. You can also use really good olive oil in place of the vegetable oil for a rich Italian-style cake. Just make sure you don’t skimp on the lemon. I’ll be enjoying more kitchen time this week and looking forward to daylight savings time!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check out my Etsy for 100’s of recipe cards and art prints of my watercolor food paintings. Use code THEFORKEDRING for 25% off. 

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Lemon Loaf Cake

A tender, moist and citrusy snack cake with brown butter

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword lemon, lemon cake

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author theforkedring

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 2/3 cup AP flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 lemons zest + juice
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a grease a nonstick loaf pan.
• Add white sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Add zest of 3 lemons and mix until combined.
• Add two eggs and turn mixer to medium-high speed. Whisk for 5-10 minutes until pale, light, and fluffy.
• In the meantime, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Also melt your butter in a small sauté pan until browned and let cool. Pour into a large bowl and mix with sour cream, heavy cream, and the juice of 3 lemons.
• When your egg mixture is whipped, turn mixer speed down to low and slowly drizzle in vegetable oil to emulsify.
• After your oil is emulsified, turn mixer speed to medium and alternate adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients in batches of 3. Star and end with dry.
• Remove bowl from mixer and scrape sides and bottom with a spatula to make sure it’s combined. Pour cake batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let cool. While cooling, to add more lemon flavor, drizzle with lemon juice or a lemon simple syrup.
• Once cooled, slice and garnish with lemon zest.

Notes

• For more lemon flavor grate lemon zest on top before baking. 
• You can also make extra lemon sugar and sprinkle over the cake batter.
• I drizzled the juice of 1 lemon on top of my warm cake but for an even more lemony flavor, flip the cake over after removing from pan and drizzle juice of another lemon over the bottom.