Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Apricot Glaze

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. When life gives you an hour-long commute, you download the mobile app for blogger. Coming to you live from my evening commute (via public transit, don't text and drive), this is Live Love Lemon blogging about--lemons.

A few years ago, my sister asked me what my favorite type of cake was so she could make me a cake for my birthday. I was completely torn because I love chocolate like looove chocolate. But I also like carrot cake and looove cream cheese frosting. What's a girl to do? After explaining this to my sister she mused how she thought my favorite cake was lemon cake because we always ate it growing up for my birthday. In reality, there was probably an equal number of chocolate and lemon birthday cakes (ps: had a lemon chocolate cupcake once as in both things together. Heaven!) in my life. But now, years later, and I still can't pick a favorite. But for the sake of this blog, let's talk about lemon cake. 

Tracy, from shutterbean.com (sung in the likeness of Joy the Baker), posted a fantastic picture of a bundt cake on her Instagram last week. It was a lemon buttermilk cake with an apricot glaze. It can't get much better. 

Now this recipe required 8 lemons. Count 'me, eight! I suggest you zest the lemons first because it takes longer than you'd think. Unless of course you have a kitchen aid in the form of a small and eager child (I always had to zest the lemons and peel the chestnuts growing up, the jobs the grown ups didn't want to do because it would mess up their nails).

All the lemons!

A lot of the baking recipes I've found have been calling for buttermilk so hopefully I can use up the rest of it. At one time I would just follow the shortcut of adding lemon juice to regular milk (there's your corner cutting for this recipe) but it's probably best to use the real thing. 

I will admit that I was nervous to add the glaze. There would be no turning back and no way to tell if it went poorly. The glaze was extremely simple to make and was sticky enough to actually stay on the cake and congeal. After preserving some for myself (and having a piece for breakfast, as Tracy suggested), I packed up my cake carrier (its maiden voyage) and brought it to work.

Gloriously baked

It was quickly snatched up by the vultures at work. Who says only college students seek out free food? That's a myth and an instinct that never seems to leave us.

All gone

The next lemon creation I aspire to would be this gem from Flour bakery. It was recommended by Hedy Goldsmith (see last blog post about newfound idols) and this consists of alternating layers of cake and custard with raspberry sauce and lemon curd. Yup, I just died and went to heaven. How do you go about alternating two different desserts like that?! Teach me your ways, oh great bakers. 

Not created by me

Well, I have no idea how long this post is but my thumbs are cramping from typing this all on my phone. A general guideline for autocorrect fail: 'if' probably means 'of' and 'in' probably means 'on'. There's your code, go forth and zest some lemons. 

Oh and you do end up with whole lemons left over so make some margaritas and sangria while you're at it. We are so beyond lemonade.