Limoncello Pound Cake

Limoncello pound cake

I am on a mission to make a (successful) lemon meringue pie...Wait, what? This post is supposed to be about limoncello pound cake! Yes, yes it is. Bear with me here.

So, lemon meringue is my all-time favorite kind of pie - and I really, really love just about any kind of pie. I made a gorgeous lemon meringue pie last summer, and followed the directions precisely, but the darn pie never set. It was a beautiful lemon meringue soup, which I ended up spilling all over the driveway, my shoes, and my dog as I struggled to carry way too many things to the car. I was horrified and traumatized and haven't been able to summon the nerve to try again - until now. Armed and dangerous with a brand new recipe, I set upon my task. The pie did, indeed set, but I decided the recipe was awful. Again, it looked gorgeous, but it wasn't nearly lemony enough for my taste. So the search continues for the perfect lemon meringue pie recipe. I'm determined to find it! I did find, on this particular afternoon, a good way to use up the extra egg yolks I had left over from my lemon meringue pie mission. And that brings us to this lovely, bright, lemony limoncello pound cake.


 
Makes one loaf cake using an 8 and 1/2 X 4 and 1/4 X 2 and 1/2" loaf pan.



Ingredients (for the cake):
**4 egg yolks (or 3 whole eggs)
**1 cup yogurt
**zest and juice of 1 lemon
**1/4 cup limoncello
**1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
**1 cup sugar
**1 and 1/2 cups flour
**2 teaspoons baking powder
**1/2 teaspoon salt

Ingredients (for the limoncello glaze):
**3 tablespoons limoncello
**1 cup confectioner's sugar

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of the loaf pan. I highly recommend lining the bottom with parchment paper, too.

In a large bowl, mix together the egg yolks (or whole eggs), yogurt, lemon zest and juice, limoncello, butter, and sugar until blended.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a smaller bowl, then add to the mixture. Do not over-mix - this will cause the cake to be heavy and chewy rather than light and spongey.

Pour the mixture into the greased loaf pan, scraping the bowl with a spatula to get every last lemony drop.


Bake for about 45-48 minutes, then test with a toothpick or bamboo skewer (should come out clean when the cake is done). The top will be a light golden brown. Let the cake cool for awhile (at least 20 minutes or so) to "set" before removing it from the pan.

To make the glaze, whisk the limoncello and confectioner's sugar together in a small bowl. Add a little more confectioner's sugar if you would like a thicker glaze. Once the cake has cooled a bit, drizzle the glaze over the top and down the sides.

Slice and serve!

***Posted by Jacqueline***