This week I promised to bake a pie as my contribution to the biweekly Afternoon Tea our local Hadassah group holds for cancer patients and their caregivers at Stamford Hospital.
But I’ve been incredibly busy, especially because of all the cookies and the challah I baked for my grandchild’s bat mitzvah last Saturday.
Thank goodness for my freezer. It’s always stuffed with goodies “just in case,” as my mother always said, “you get unexpected company or you have to bring food to someone.”
Like this week.
I brought this Lemon Buttermilk Cake, which is a favorite anyway according to the nursing staff, because patients undergoing chemotherapy apparently lose some tasting ability and tangy, lemony foods are more appealing to them.
Lemon Buttermilk Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup coconut oil
1-3/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grated fresh lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Glaze:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
Grease a 10-cup bundt pan, then sprinkle the insides with flour or plain dry bread crumbs. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift the flour, salt and baking soda together and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer set at medium, cream the butter, coconut oil and sugar together for 3-4 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat after each addition and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the lemon peel and lemon juice to the batter and blend them in. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about one hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Mix the glaze ingredients and brush over the cake. Let cool before serving. Makes 16 servings