I was given a bag of oranges and lemons by my first husband just after the holidays. The oranges went fast but I still had a crisper full of lemons. I went online to one of my favorite baking sites, Bake or Break, to look for lemon recipes. A recipe for Lemon Poke Cake caught my eye. The idea is to make a lemon cake, poke a bunch of holes in it, pour a lemon glaze on it, let the glaze soak in, and frost with lemon cream cheese frosting. This recipe sounded good and I thought it would use at three lemons. I decided to go for it. I'll post the recipe exactly as it comes from the Bake or Break website. My only change would be to add a little more lemon juice to the glaze so that it would be thinner and soak into the cake more. Other than that, it was lemon perfection! The recipe is borrowed. The picture is mine.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 & ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2-3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1-1 & ½ teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 cup sour cream
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9"x 13" baking pan.
To make the cake:
Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in lemon juice and lemon zest. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Stir in sour cream.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
To make the topping:
Whisk together condensed milk and ¼ cup lemon juice until smooth. Using a fork, poke holes over entire surface of warm cake. Pour mixture over cake. Note that not all of the mixture will be absorbed into the cake.
Allow cake to cool completely. Refrigerate cake for at least 1-2 hours to allow topping to set and soak into cake.
To make the frosting:
Beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice until smooth. Spread evenly over topping of cool cake. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving.
Notes
Don't be shy when it's time to poke holes in the cake! You want lots of little holes for all that topping. I do recommend not making the holes all the way to the bottom of the cake so you don't have any topping in the bottom of the pan.
Keep cake refrigerated.