Do you ever have one of those days (sometimes weeks) where you just seem to be spinning your wheels?  Everywhere you turn, lemons turn up (as opposed to turnip!!).  So what do you do with all those lemons?!  Well this would be one of the best ways to turn those lemons into a smile (you know, turn the frown upside down blah blah blah).  This is a comforting feel good cake/loaf to make and devour. It is full of the bright perky lemon taste that will give you a boost to manage the rest of your day/week. This is a Really Lemon Buttermilk Cake with not too much sugar so it isn’t too sweet, but oh so good.

I substituted citrus sugar for some of the white sugar in the recipe for a boost of extra lemon. It really gives that extra lemon taste to the cake. Remember that citrus sugar is just the zest of any citrus fruit, mixed with sugar – not rocket science, just a way to use up what you pay for – my lemons, limes and oranges come with zest, I paid for it so might as well use it :).

One of the ways to get the light texture in the cake is to really cream the butter and sugar together. It should be a pale pale yellow, 5 – 7 minutes or longer at a medium high speed on a stand mixer. Then add the eggs, one at a time (oh yes on low speed), beating only to incorporate after each addition. You can sift or whisk the flour and powders together, then add the salt and whisk again. If you are using a strainer to sift, the kosher salt is thicker grain than regular salt and will not sift through.

For the buttermilk, use real buttermilk. I know, it’s only ¾ cup but if it is in the title, it is an important part of the recipe. There are plenty of other uses for it, but if you don’t feel like running out and buying it, you probably have all the components at home. Use 1 cup of 2% or higher fat milk with 1 tbsp. vinegar or lemon juice. Let this sit on the counter for about 5 minutes and you will have a similar product. We drink 1% at home, so sometimes if it isn’t in the title I will make my own with ¾ cup 1%, ¼ cup 35% whipping cream and 1 tbsp. vinegar – because I always have these in my fridge and pantry.

As this makes 2 loaves, and I love to experiment, I added fruit – chopped strawberries and whole blueberries to the batter but only in the center of the cake (this is not pictured as I took it to a friend’s house and it was gone before I could picture it – it happens). As Kirk said – Hell yes!

1 cup (2 sticks) Churn 84 European style unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1⁄3 cup lemon zest, 3 – 4 large lemons
3 cups flour
1⁄2 teaspoon baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice, divided- for cake and for simple syrup
3⁄4 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350f
Grease and flour 2 9”x5” loaf pans, line the bottom with parchment paper
Using your stand or hand mixer, cream the butter with 1 ½ cups white sugar and ½ cup citrus sugar (see website) until fluffy and very pale, about 5 – 7 minutes
Reduce speed to low and add the eggs, 1 at a time – beat to incorporate after each egg
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl, add the lemon zest and whisk
In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla
Add flour and buttermilk mixtures to butter/sugar, beginning and ending with the flour
Divide batter evenly between pans, smooth the tops
Bake 45 minutes – 1 hour, until tester comes out clean – mine took 55 minutes
Remove from the oven and cool completely before slicing and devouring – stop the wheels from spinning and enjoy, you have earned it!

Optional – make a lemon glaze for it – 2 cups icing sugar, drops of lemon juice until desired consistency is reached (okay, like 2 tbsp of juice if you must). It doesn’t need it but if you like a glaze, do it!