Sunday, January 17, 2010

Lemon Walnut Sour Cream (Yogurt) Pound Cake


This week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays treat is Lemon Walnut Sour Cream Pound Cake. Since quick breads tend to be both quick to put together and disappear (in this house), I am always happy to try a new one. I’d been craving citrus lately, too, and it’s always more fun to satisfy cravings with baked goods rather than just plain fruit – I have been eating plenty of clementines, though. The recipe said that the baking time could be up to an hour and a half; I was planning to have this for breakfast on Saturday, and I figured that if I wanted that to happen, it would be best to make it on Friday night. The cake was a breeze to put together and I thought the batter looked particularly nice; it was a very silky pale yellow. The recipe called for two ingredients I didn’t have on hand: shortening and sour cream, so I substituted nonfat plain yogurt for both. The cake was probably not quite as rich as it would have been with the shortening and sour cream, but it was still very moist and had a nice sturdy crumb, so I think the substitutions worked fine.



Overall, I liked this cake a lot. I appreciated the addition of walnuts, they made the cake seem a bit more substantial and breakfast-like. Nuts, yogurt, and fruit – definitely breakfast! I would have appreciated a bit more lemon flavor. You could taste it, but it wasn’t quite as intense as I like. A while back the group made Melissa’s Orange Poppyseed Cake, which called for pulverizing an entire orange in the food processor, and that probably would have added the extra tang I desired. I think Josh liked it a little better than me, since he gave it an 8.5 to my 7.5 for Deliciousness. It’s my blog, so I’m going to go with 7.5 and a 2 for Effort, giving the cake an EDR of 3.75. Many thanks to Raeann of Basically, Baby Boots for a perfect mid-January recipe. You can find the recipe here on Raeann’s site and visit the SMS blogroll to see what the rest of the group thought of this treat.


15 comments:

Unknown said...

Lovely pics Margot! The beautiful yellow lemons make me smile. Your substitutions definitely made this a healthier treat - I'll have to try them next time. I agree about the lemon flavor. I skipped the glaze but think I might go for it next time just to give this a bit more lemon flavor.

Nina said...

Love the pictures!

It does remind me of breakfast food. Perhaps, I should make them again for breakfast on the go!

Jessica said...

I didn't taste this but I thought that the whole orange poppy seed cake was fantastic. It seems like the whole lemon route might also be really tasty. I love subbing yogurt for the shortening and sour cream -- what a great idea.

Susan said...

Yours is one of the prettiest ones I have seen Margot! Beautiful photos! I wasn't with the group for the orange poppy seed cake...may have to try that one.

Rosy said...

Ooo, looks gorgeous! I agree about the lemon flavour. Bet it was delish for breakfast though!

Anonymous said...

It looks like a nice breakfast! I like using yogurt in baked goods; even if it changes the texture, it seems to work pretty well and it takes away some of the guilt!

Candy said...

Your cake is gorgeous! I agree that the batter was beautiful but the flavor was not as intense I would have liked.

Basically, Baby Boots said...

Margot,

Thank for baking with me this week, I'm glad that you and Josh enjoyed it and that it satisfied your citrus craving. Your cake looks heavenly and it is certainly less fatening.

Raeann

Heather said...

I've been feeling like baking something lemony lately so this will be perfect. It's a beautiful loaf cake.

Megan said...

I like the way you put your foot down and rated it the way you wanted to - not the way Josh wanted!

Paula said...

Like your yogurt substitute since I'm all about yogurt. The cake looks like a perfect evening snack.

spike. said...

Glad to hear yogurt works for this too! the cake looks prefect- sure it disappeared in no time

Shandy said...

Loved your substitutions and the photos are beautiful! Melissa's lemon glaze put the lemon flavor in front for us. I just love the Large chunks of nuts in your loaf. I wish I had done that with my own.

Cakelaw said...

This cake looks amazing - I will definitely have to make it. (I have the SM baking book and - shamefully - I have never used it.)

Amanda said...

I just posted a pound cake too! This looks really great, I'm bookmarking it :)