A delicate lemon ricotta pound cake is perfect for baking in mini! Enjoy this Meyer Lemon Pound Cake Bites recipe with a cup of your favorite tea.
I can’t resist Meyer lemons. The minute I see the bags appear I buy one, and they’re a favorite all winter long. Meyer lemons are a less acidic version of the regular lemons you typically find at the store and thought to be a cross between a lemon and a Mandarin orange.
They’re a bit sweeter, so you could conceivably eat them raw. But I love to use them in the kitchen where they add a sweet lemon flavor to dishes ranging from green beans to this pound cake.
Getting the texture just right for this one was a bit of a challenge. I started by trying out a new to me recipe in an old cookbook I had that looked good, but it was a total flop! The mini pound cakes came out so dense and eggy.
A huge challenge with mini desserts is that you have to get everything right in one or two bites! And while I think it may have turned out fine as a larger cake, there were just too many eggs in round 1. I tossed it and felt awful about waste, but I couldn’t share that!
Another round came out better, but didn’t really wow me either. Again, the goal is to have a dessert that satisfies in a bite or two and I had a very specific bite in mind. The Godfather thought I was getting a little crazy about it, but he was supportive.
Actually, he kind of solved my problem. As you know, he takes a lot of my baked goods in to work. When he brought in one of the “good but not it” batches, he mentioned to someone that I kept messing with the recipe because I wanted a different texture.
She said, “Why not try a ricotta pound cake as a base instead?” He told me, I bought ricotta the next day, and we had our winner! Almost… I had to send in some for his office to try first. Once they were approved, we were good to go!
Baking is a team sport, darlings. We bake the food because it brings us joy, share the food because it’s just too much joy to keep, and in turn bring joy to someone else. It’s all lemon-colored sunshine and happy vibes.
A quick lemon note…
If you can’t find Meyer lemons at the store, go ahead and substitute regular lemons. The flavor will be a little sharper, but it’s still delicious. And when made in mini, like using this mini flower bundt cake pan, you’ll be fine. More than fine, because not only are you having a lemon dessert (yes please), but you get to enjoy the beautiful little floral shapes!
Enjoy, darlings!
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake Bites
A delicate lemon ricotta pound cake is perfect for baking in mini! Enjoy this Meyer Lemon Pound Cake Bites recipe with a cup of your favorite tea.
Ingredients
Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese, room temperature
- zest from 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about the juice from one lemon)
Easy Lemon Glaze
- 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
- juice from 1 lemon
- 1-2 teaspoons water, if needed
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and grease two mini bundt pans or mini muffin tins (nonstick spray is great for this!). Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar until just combined, and then stir in the ricotta cheese and lemon zest.
- Stir in the eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice.
- Add all the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Divide the batter between the mini bundt wells and bake for 15-18 minutes until a tester inserted into a center bundt comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cover with a clean dish towel for 5 minutes. Remove the towel and place a cooling rack over the mini bundt pan. Carefully invert to release the mini bundt cakes. Set aside to cool.
- Make the glaze by whisking together the powdered sugar and zest. Add in the juice of one lemon and stir. If it is still too stiff, add in water 1/2 a teaspoon at a time.
- Spoon the glaze over the slightly warm pound cakes and allow to harden.
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Notes
If you don't have cake flour, make your own by measuring out all purpose flour, removing 3 level tablespoons, and adding 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift well to combine.
Adapted from Proud Italian Cook
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