This unusual lemon pecan poundcake came from a distant aunt of my
husband’s. It was a top secret recipe that she only reluctantly divulged
after securing sworn promises never to reveal it to anyone outside the
family. Enough time has gone by since she passed away years ago that I
feel relatively sure that her revenge won’t strike me down. It is
excellent – dense, almost a non-fruit fruitcake. It’s best kept in the
freezer because it must be cold to slice it into the requisite thin
slices.
- 1 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 1/2 c. flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder, preferably Rumford
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher or sea salt
- Grated rind from 2 lemons
- 2 oz. bottle lemon extract
- 4 c. broken pecan pieces, lightly toasted
Preheat the oven to 275. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt
well and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy,
then add the eggs one at a time. Add the lemon extract and peel, and
combine thoroughly. Mix in the dry ingredients, then fold in the pecans.
Bake in greased and floured standard bread loaf pans (approx. 4 1/2
inches x 8 inches x 2 inches) or mini-loaf pans. Standard loaf pans
should take about 2 hrs. Begin checking mini loaves after 1 hour. Cake
is done when a skewer comes out clean.
Turn the cake onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
Refrigerate for at least several hours before slicing it in very thin
slices like a fruitcake. Makes 2 standard loaves or 4 mini loaves.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.
