Cookbook Chronicles: Lemon Bundt Cake

Cookbook Chronicles is an on-going series at The Bookery. Over the course of the next year, we'll delve into Joanna Gaines' first cookbook, Magnolia Table, trying one recipe per month.

The recipe: Lemon Bundt Cake

The cookbook: Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines, page 301

The details: People who know me well may laugh out loud when they see this recipe because it's fairly well known that lemon/citrus desserts aren't, well, my favorite. As in sometimes when a slice of lemon cake or key lime pie is offered to me, I turn it down. But some people in my life whom I dearly love dearly love lemon/citrus dessert—and it was summer and a lemon cake seemed like a nice light dessert option.

The adjustments: While usually every recipe I make involves some sort of adjustment, I didn't make any with this one! The recipe calls for sea salt, but I used plain ol' salt because I was out of sea salt. I also never have buttermilk in the fridge, so I used my favorite standby trick of adding just a smidge of white vinegar to the milk and letting it sit for a minute. Voila, buttermilk!

The verdict: My scale for lemony-ness (if that's even a word) ranges from "faint whiff of citrus" to "this tastes like Pledge dusting spray smells." I thought the cake had a nice light citrus flavor that wasn't too overpowering. It was a nice consistency, though my version may have been a tad dry, but that has more to do with me over-baking it a tiny bit than the recipe itself. The lemon glaze is a nice addition and you determine the level of lemon flavor by how much lemon juice you add. I added just a bit too much, making the glaze a bit to strong for my liking. But my lemon dessert aficionado friend assured me the glaze was delicious. I guess it all depends on your level of citrus tolerance! As for me, I'd like to try the lemon bundt cake with the fresh blueberry compote Joanna pairs with her lemon angel food cake on page 303. Lemon + blueberries is a flavor combo I can get behind 100 percent!

Up next month: Orange Scones, page 61

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