Lemon Pound Cake from Ceyda

Ceyda sent us this recipe she found in The Secrets of Baking by the award-winning chef Sherry Yard. Here is her message:

Here is the recipe. It's pretty long. I am going to shorten it as much as possible. I loved the flavor and the texture. The only thing it browned too much on top. I have to figure out how to minimize that. Also I increased the amount of lemon juice for the amount of sugar given in the recipe. I included that in the the ingredients. The result; after you have a slice you do not have an sweet after taste in your mouth which I dislike...

For the cake:

1&1/2 cups all-purpose flour,
1&1/2 cups cake flour,
1 tsp baking powder,
1/4 tsp salt,
1 cup buttermilk,
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice,
4 sticks unsalted butter,softened,
2 cups sugar,
finely grated peel of two lemons,
4 large eggs.

For the lemon syrup:

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice,
1/2 cup sugar.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans. Layer with parchment on the bottom. Triple sift the flours, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and set aside.Combine the buttermilk and lemon juice in another bowl and set aside. Beat the butter on high speed until it is soft and creamy. Slowly add the sugar and lemon zest beating on high speed for about 10 minutes until it is fluffy and light. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add one third of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Then add one third of the buttermilk mixtur, mix until just incorporated. Repeat the process until you use them up. Pour the batter into the pans. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool in the pans on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile bring the lemon juice and sugar to a boil in a pan.Cook until the sugar has dissolved about 3 min. While the cakes are still warm poke holes all over the tops, with a pastry brush apply the syrup. Serve warm.

Thanks Ceyda!