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Dessert

Lemon Cakes

Lemon cakes baked with lemon slices, zest, juice, butter, buttermilk, sugar, eggs, and flour.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Lemon Cakes

Oven350°F
Timeabout 15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Boil lemon slices for about 15 minutes in 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar.

  3. Grease a muffin tin with butter, vegetable oil, or non-stick spray.

  4. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Make the batter

  1. In another bowl, beat butter and 1 cup of sugar until light and fluffy.

  2. Beat in eggs, then beat in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and lemon zest.

  3. Beat in flour mixture and then buttermilk.

  4. Place 1 lemon slice in the bottom of each muffin cup.

  5. Divide batter between cups, pouring over the lemon slices.

Bake and soak

  1. Bake until cakes are firm and golden, about 15 to 20 minutes.

  2. Remove cakes from oven and let cool.

  3. Mix together remaining lemon juice and sugar.

  4. Poke holes into the cakes.

  5. Slowly pour lemon and sugar mixture over the cakes so the juice gets absorbed.

  6. Let set for about 5-10 minutes.

  7. Remove cakes from muffin cups and serve lemon slice side up.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
28 gProtein
26 gFat
124 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Buttermilk + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air, giving the cakes a light, tender crumb.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as the cakes set in the oven.
Buttermilk
Adds moisture and tang, keeping the crumb tender.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic buttermilk and lemon to produce gas that helps the cakes rise.
Flour
Forms the main structure of the cakes as its proteins set during baking.
Lemon juice
Adds bright acidity and flavor, and soaks into the cakes as a syrup.

The step that matters

Pouring the lemon and sugar mixture over the cakes. Pour slowly so the syrup soaks into the holes rather than pooling on top. Poking holes first lets the cakes absorb the liquid evenly and stay moist.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, buttermilk, sugar, egg):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Lemonthe original
  4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, buttermilk, sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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