Who doesn’t need a bit of sunshine to cut through the winter gloom right about now? The weather is iffy and the world news is dreadful.
Here’s what you need to do to regroup.
Cue the music: “I Can See Clearly Now.” That’s Johnny Nash’s 1970s number one hit single. Great song—whatever your age. Hopeful.
Now find a spot and have a generous slice (or two) of this tea cake full of bright lemony wonderfulness.
You’ll be feeling better in no time.
About the cake…
The taste of the cake is sublime but it is the cake’s glowing yellow color that will first catch your attention (and lift your spirits).
Interestingly, it is not the lemon that gives this cake its sun shiny color. It’s the turmeric.
You read that right. Turmeric. (Bet you didn’t expect that!)
Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its distinctive intense yellow color and that virtually every alternative medicine site is touting for its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
So, what in the heck is it?
Turmeric is a part of the ginger family. It looks like a fresh ginger rhizome but it is smaller and the flesh is bright orange rather than the pale yellow of fresh ginger. You can buy it fresh at most Asian markets and I’ve recently seen it at Sprouts.
Turmeric has been used culinarily for thousands of years. It also has played an important role in Indian Ayurvedic medicine since ancient times. Some people in South India even wear the rhizome around their necks as a protective amulet to ward off danger.
Turmeric’s modern-day uses are broad, too. While it continues to be widely used in food and medicine, turmeric also is used as a dye for skin and clothing, as a pigment in painting and as a garden plant. Turmeric is commonly used to give mustards their intense orange color, for example. It is even used to give popcorn a warm orange hue.
So, here we are. Healthy and vibrant turmeric in a delicious cake.
Enjoy it with a hot cup of tea with Johnny Nash’s music in the background.
It is going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day. Gotta believe that.
Lemon Turmeric Tea Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 3/4 t. ground turmeric
- 1 C. (plus 2 T. sugar to sprinkle on top of cake and lemon slices just before baking)
- 2 T. finely grated lemon zest
- 2 T. fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 C. sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 C. unsalted butter (melted)
- 1/2 lemon (very thinly sliced with seeds removed)
- Whipped cream or Vanilla Ice Cream (for garnish)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Step 2 Prepare a 9 inch by 4 inch loaf pan by coating it in butter and then laying in a piece of parchment that hangs over the long sides of the pan. The long piece of parchment gives you the ability to pull the cake out of the pan without damaging it by using the overhang of parchment as handles.
- Step 3 Combine flour, baking powder, salt and turmeric in a large bowl. Whisk to combine the ingredients.
- Step 4 Combine 1 cup of the sugar and the lemon zest in a bowl. Using your hands, mix the two ingredients together, rubbing the two ingredients together until the sugar turns yellow. Whisk the lemon juice, sour cream, and eggs together and then add to the sugar/lemon zest mixture. Whisk until all the ingredients are well blended.
- Step 5 Add the wet mixture to the dry flour mixture. Stir just until the ingredients are well combined. Add the melted butter and fold it into the batter until the butter is well mixed into the batter. (It will look like a lot of butter at first, but you will be able to gently incorporate the butter into the batter by folding it in. Use a spatula.)
- Step 6 Spoon the batter into your prepared pan. Smooth the top of the batter and arrange the thinly-sliced lemon slices on the top of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining 2 T. of sugar over the top of the cake and lemon slices.
- Step 7 Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes. (It took 60-65 minutes for me.) Test your cake for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer into the center of the cake. The skewer should come out clean. If it doesn’t come out clean, put the cake back into the oven and bake a bit longer. If you do have to bake longer, check your cake every 5 minutes or so. (If the lemons on the top of the cake begin to burn, cover them with a piece of foil during the last part of the bake.)
- Step 8 Remove cake from the oven and cool on a rack.
- Step 9 Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of quality vanilla ice cream.
This recipe was adapted from one that appears in Alison Roman’s Nothing Fancy. You can buy her book here.
