Best 5 Americas Test Kitchen Lemon Cake Recipes

CHEESECAKE-NEW YORK-AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN RECIPE - (4/5)

Steps:

• For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325°. Process the graham cracker pieces in a food processor to fine, even crumbs, about 30 seconds. Sprinkle the melted butter and sugar over the crumbs and pulse to incorporate. Sprinkle the mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the crumbs firmly into an even layer using the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake the crust until fragrant and beginning to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Let the crust cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. For the filling: Meanwhile, increase the oven temperature to 500°. Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until smooth, 1-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beaters as necessary. Beat in half the sugar and salt until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the remaining sugar until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla until incorporated, 1-3 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks and eggs, two at a time until combined, 1-3 minutes. Being careful not to disturb the baked crust, brush the inside of the prepared springform pan with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Carefully pour the filling into the pan. Bake the cheesecake for 10 minutes. Without opening the door, reduce the oven temperature to 200° and continue to bake the cheesecake until the center of the cake registers 150° (about 1 1/2 hours). Transfer the cake to a wire rack and run a knife around the edge of the cake. Let the cheesecake stand until just barely warm, 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Chill until ready to eat. Serve as is or with Strawberry Topping.

BEST LEMON BUNDT CAKE

Steps:

• For the cake: Adjust the oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray with flour or brush pan with mixture of 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Mince lemon zest to fine paste (you should have about 2 tablespoons). Combine zest and juice in small bowl; set aside to soften, 10-15 minutes.
• Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine lemon juice mixture, vanilla, and buttermilk in medium bowl. In a small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes;scrape down sides of bowl with rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add half of eggs, mixing until incorporated, about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining eggs;scrape down bowl again. Reduce to low speed;add about 1/3 of flour mixture,followed by 1/2 of buttermilk mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition (about 5 seconds). Repeat using half of remaining flour mixture and all the remaining buttermilk. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture;mix at medium-low speed until batter is thoroughly combined, about 15 seconds. Remove bowl from mixer and fold batter once or twice with rubber spatula to incoprorate any remaining flour. Scrape into prepared pan.
• Bake until top is golden brown and wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45-50 minutes.
• For the glaze: While cake is baking, whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners sugar until smooth, adding more lemon juice gradually as needed until glaze is thick but still pourable (mixture should leave faint trail across bottom of mixing bowl when drizzled from whisk). Cool cake in pan on wire rack set over baking sheet for 10 minutes, then invert cake directly onto rack. Pour 1/2 glaze over warm cake and let cool for 1 hour; pour remaining glaze over top of cake and continue to cool room temperature at least 2 hours. Cut into slices and serve.

AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN COCONUT LAYER CAKE

Steps:

• 1. For the Cake: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with shortening and dust with flour.
• 2. Beat egg whites and whole egg in large measuring cup with fork to combine. Add cream of coconut, water, vanilla, and coconut extract and beat with fork until thoroughly combined.
• 3. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on lowest speed to combine, about 30 seconds. With mixer still running on lowest speed, add butter 1 piece at a time, then beat until mixture resembles coarse meal, with butter bits no larger than small peas, 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.
• 4. With mixer still running, add 1 cup liquid. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 45 seconds. With mixer still running, add remaining 1 cup liquid in steady stream (this should take about 15 seconds). Stop mixer and scrape down bowl with rubber spatula, then beat at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds. (Batter will be thick.).
• 5. Divide batter between cake pans and level with offset or rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown, cakes pull away from sides of pans, and toothpick inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes (rotate cakes after about 20 minutes). Do not turn off oven.
• 6. Cool in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes, then loosen cakes from sides of pans with paring knife, invert cakes onto racks and then re-invert; cool to room temperature.
• 7. While cakes are cooling, spread shredded coconut on rimmed baking sheet; toast in oven until shreds are a mix of golden brown and white, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times. Cool to room temperature.
• 8. For the Buttercream: Combine whites, sugar, and salt in bowl of standing mixer; set bowl over saucepan containing 1 1/2-inches of barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until mixture is opaque and warm to the touch and registers about 120 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 2 minutes.
• 9. Transfer bowl to mixer and beat whites on high speed with whisk attachment until barely warm (about 80 degrees) and whites are glossy and sticky, about 7 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-high and beat in butter 1 piece at a time. Beat in cream of coconut and coconut and vanilla extracts. Stop mixer and scrape bottom and sides of bowl. Continue to beat at medium-high speed until well-combined, about 1 minute.
• 10. To Assemble the Cake: Follow illustrations in chart below. Cut into slices and serve. (Wrap leftover cake in plastic and refrigerate; bring to room temperature before serving.).
• ASSEMBLING THE CAKE.
• 1. With a long serrated knife, cut both cakes in half horizontally so that each cake forms two layers.
• 2. Put a dab of icing on a cardboard round cut just larger than the cake. Center one cake layer on the round.
• 3. Place a large blob of icing in the center of the layer and spread it to the edges with an icing spatula.
• 4. Hold the spatula at a 45-degree angle to the cake and drag it across the surface to level the icing. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with remaining cake layers.
• 5. To ice the sides of the cake, scoop up a large dab of icing with the tip of the spatula and spread it on the sides with short side-to-side strokes.
• 6. Sprinkle the top of the cake with coconut. Then press the coconut into the sides, letting the excess fall back onto a baking sheet.

LEMON POUND CAKE(ATK)

Steps:

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pan with 1 tablespoon of the softened butter; dust with 1 tablespoon of the flour, tapping our the excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder and the salt; set aside.
• Melt the remaining 16 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk the melted butter thoroughly to reincorporate any separated milk solids.
• In a food processor, pulse the sugar and zest until combined, about 5 pulses. Add the lemon juice, eggs and vanilla; process until combined, about 5 seconds. With the machine running, add the melted butter through the feed tube in a steady stream [this should take about 20 seconds]. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl. Sift the flour mixture over the egg mixture in three additions, whisking gently after each addition until just combined.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees and continue to bake until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack. Pike the top and sides of the cake throughout with a toothpick. Cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour. [The cooled cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for 5 days.].
• For the glaze: While the cake is cooling, bring the sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Brush the top and sides of the cake with the glaze and cool to room temperature.

LEMON PUDDING CAKES FROM AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN SEASON 15: SPRINGTIME SWEETS RECIPE - (3.7/5)

Steps:

• INSTRUCTIONS 1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Bring milk and cream to simmer in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove pan from heat, whisk in lemon zest, cover pan, and let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, fold dish towel in half and place in bottom of large roasting pan. Place six 6-ounce ramekins on top of towel and set aside pan. 2. Strain milk mixture through fine-mesh strainer into bowl, pressing on lemon zest to extract liquid; discard lemon zest. Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt in second bowl until combined. Add egg yolks, vanilla, lemon juice, and milk mixture and whisk until combined. (Batter will have consistency of milk.) 3. Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip egg whites on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and whip whites to soft, billowy mounds, about 1 minute. Gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and whip until glossy, soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. 4. Whisk one-quarter of whites into batter to lighten. With rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining whites until no clumps or streaks remain. Ladle batter into ramekins (ramekins should be nearly full). Pour enough cold water into pan to come one-third of way up sides of ramekins. Bake until cake is set and pale golden brown and pudding layer registers 172 to 175 degrees at center, 50 to 55 minutes. 5. Remove pan from oven and let ramekins stand in water bath for 10 minutes. Transfer ramekins to wire rack and let cool completely. Serve. TECHNIQUE TECHNIQUE: A COLD BATH Water baths insulate food from the heat of the oven, helping custards and other delicate desserts cook more slowly. Typically, the bath gets filled with boiling water. Because the bottom pudding layer in this dessert cooks more quickly than the cake layer, we found that cold water works better, allowing the pudding to set slowly and without curdling, giving the cake time to bake through. 1. A large roasting pan accommodates more water, which takes longer to heat, providing more protection. 2. Water reaches just one-third of the way up, insulating only the pudding layer. Unaffected by insulation, the slow-to-cook cake layer bakes at a higher temperature. 3. A towel lining the bottom of the pan secures the ramekins. TECHNIQUE SCIENCE: MAXIMIZING CITRUS FLAVOR To produce bold citrus flavor in our pudding without marring its silky-smooth texture with pieces of lemon zest, we steep the zest in liquid (and then strain it out). Some of the flavor compounds in the zest are fat-soluble, such as d-limonene. others, like citric acid, are water soluble. To extract the most flavor, we infuse the zest into a mixture of two liquids that we use in our batter-milk and heavy cream-that together contain goodly amounts of both water and fat.