RHC: Lemon Poppy Seed Sour Cream Cake

Mmmmm....lemon. Crunchy poppy seeds. Butter cake with sour cream. Lovely. And a chance to use my new Heritage Bundt pan, bought after Raymond enticed us all with pictures of his Whipped Cream Cake made in one.

I failed to remember the camera until the cake was in the oven, so no process pictures this week. I think I'll use that as an excuse to go very lightly on the baking write-up, too, and as this is an easy cake I don't have a lot to say about it anyway. Perhaps the most notable step was the grating of a large pile of lemon zest, which gives a good indication of how easy it is. While the cake was baking, I made the lemon syrup in the microwave as directed, and then brushed the cake with it while hot from the oven. The smell of the lemony cake hit one of those sensory memories for me--there's a crisp little cookie I make with lemon and wheat germ, and the cake smelled just like it. The memory was made a little more poignant because I was also working on paperwork for my father's estate that evening, and that little wheat-germ cookie was one of his favorites.

Taste results: only the kids next door had cake this week, as my sister-in-law is on a rigid diet plan for the next few months and my brother worked late that evening and missed the cake cutting. Older niece gave a silent thumbs up. Younger niece liked the texture, specifically the poppy seed crunch, and also the lemon flavor. Nephew liked the taste and that it wasn't too sweet. I really liked flavor and texture, though again (a common refrain from me) I think I'd have preferred the cake itself to be just a little richer. I guess that would affect the great crumb, though.

Co-workers who got a piece all liked it, commenting especially on the great lemon flavor, the syrup-infused zones that added a just the right touch of extra flavor and sweetness, and again, the lovely crunch of the poppy seeds. A winner all round.