something about spring brings me overwhelming cravings for lemon-based desserts and orange-zested cookies. i was torn between a dope-ass lemon square and a lemon poppy seed cake, but those savory lil poppy seeds threw me over the edge. i made this cake last week with the intention of just having one slice to calm my craving... i ended up having almost half the cake, but thankfully bringing it into work easily gets rid of the leftovers.
i used the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction -- i liked that she took no shortcuts, used no lemon pudding, nor any yellow cake mix boxed-base... she was all about lemons and the ultimate ingredients. thankfully, all of the little extra steps she included made the end result well worth while -- this was so damn good!
ingredients list - cake:
- 2 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temp
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- zest of 4 large lemons (about 1/3 cup, packed)
- juice of 2 large lemons (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temp
ingredients list - lemon simple syrup:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- juice of 2 large lemons (about 1/2 cup)
ingredients list - lemon glaze:
- 1 cup sifted confectioners sugar
- juice of 1/2 (or up to 1) large lemon
i had to make the difficult decision last week of where my birthday burger would be -- there are 1000 PDX burgers on my hit list, but Slow Bar took the cake. i've had way too many people recommend it, and seen it pop up on so many burger best-of lists here, so it seemed inappropriate to live in Portland over a year and not try it.
the burger was a 1/2 pound beast -- columbia river reserve beef, gruyere, onion rings, butter lettuce (mmm the best burger lettuce), pickle relish and aioli. i had to take an onion ring off cuz the burger was so dang tall i could barely eat it. it was nicely seasoned and insanely juicy -- i tilted the burger vertically the entire time i ate i so it held all the juice in, kind of like a little burger cup. that sounds gross, but it might be one of the better burger tricks i've learned in some time. each bite turned into a juicy burgery mouth party, and i saved a bit of the bun from becoming overrun with dat meat juice.
the pickle relish was a little bit of a distraction at times (i'm not a big pickle-person), and that was really the only mild flaw i could find (which isn't even so much of a flaw as it just is a personal preference). that said, overall all of the flavors in the toppings were really, really well balanced. the onion rings and fries were perfectly crisp and light even though i know they were unhealthy as hell. i ended up eating 4893840238003 fries more than i should have because they, as well as the aioli, were just so damn tasty. Slow Bar, i get it. i will be going back. 8/10.
and - bonus - the cocktail list is amazing, and delightful as well!
