Cake Day: Lemon Cake

I’m starting to understand the distinction between what are traditionally considered “guys’ jobs” and “girls’ jobs.”

Of course, there are exceptions to all of these, but there are certain chores, certain jobs around the house that are generally considered to be one or the other.

First, an obvious one: the grill. Fire is manly, that’s easy. But maybe there’s something else? Grilling is straightforward. I know that–at least in my family–the grilling was definitely done by the man, but the pre-grilling, the menu planning, the seasoning, all of that was done by the women. All the guys had to do was throw a slab of raw animal on the grill and let us know when it was done (a feat in and of itself: I still have a hard time grilling.)

But I digress.

Some jobs are men’s jobs: grilling, driving, taking out the trash. Most of the other work around the house is traditionally considered to be “women’s work.”

(Yes, I realize this is changing, but it’s either all French men (and a few Canadians) or just those that I’ve met who seem to be stuck circa Donna Reed.)

I was thinking about this as I cleaned the kitchen and Alex took out the trash. All of the jobs that have typically been men’s work, from grilling to mowing the lawn, have immediate results and are clear from the get go: the trash is full, it must go out, now the trash can is empty: job over.

Even if cooking is now sometimes in the realm of men, one thing that seems to be staying a girl’s job is baking.

Baking is difficult, at least at first. There is a specific order in which you need to add things to a recipe, a specific way in which you need to combine each set of ingredients before moving on to another step. Unless you’re interested in chemistry (Alton Brown), at first, these steps can seem pointless, and I know several guys who would look at the list of ingredients and dump them all in a bowl: the first time I ever baked, I was baking cinnamon bread with my father. I was scared of yeast doughs for years after because the dough we ended up with was so expanded and so wet and messy that we dubbed it “the snot.”

Sorry, that was gross.

I have, however, managed to get over my fear of baking… enough to instate Cake Day at least, and so here’s this week’s contribution. (Remember: if you’d like your weekly baking featured here, just send me an e-mail with a permalink to your post, and I’ll include you).

This week’s Cake Day featured a Lemon Cake that I found at Nosh with Me, in honor of Lemon Day, a blog event devoted to everything lemon.

The recipe made enough for two loaf pans, but since I didn’t have two, I baked one loaf and a dozen muffins.

Then I licked the bowl. I’m not sorry.

I may be no Donna Reed, but I can definitely bake a cake.

Lemon Cake (adapted from Nosh With Me)

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I used five medium eggs)
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (I used slightly less: the zest from four lemons)
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup plain yogurt

Lemon Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one loaf pan and one muffin tin.

Cream the butter and 2 cups sugar. Add the eggs, combining each one into the mixture one at a time, and the lemon zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup lemon juice with the yogurt. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan. Poke holes in the cakes with a fork, and spoon the hot lemon syrup over the hot cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.