The East 62nd Street Lemon Cake is from the famous Queen of Cake, Maida Heatter. Her famous lemon cake recipe was first published in the New York Times back in the 1970’s and soon thereafter it became insanely popular.
It was only until recently that I learned who Maida Heatter was, thanks to a podcast I was listening to in the car. Ms. Heatter was quite the avid baker, with over a dozen cookbooks published…and they were all about baking! Sadly though she recently passed away (at the incredible age of 102) but luckily for us she left us behind all of her most beloved recipes of sweets. Her last cookbook, Happiness is Baking, was published in April 2019, just 2 months before her passing. I guess you can say up until her last days she was doing what she loved the most.
I have since purchased Happiness is Baking, and have baked a few recipes from it already. The East 62nd Street Lemon Cake is definitely one of my favorites.
East 62nd Street Lemon Cake
Maida Heatter's famous lemon cake that was made hugely popular after being featured in the New York Times back in the 1970's.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (375g) sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (250g) butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (230ml) milk
- 2 lemons, finely grated zest
- Extra butter and flour for prepping bundt pan
- For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup sugar
- (Alternatively you can just dust confectioners' sugar over the cake instead of brushing on the glaze.)
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
- Step 2 Grease a bundt pan with butter. Dust with flour.
- Step 3 In a large bowl add sifted flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Step 4 In another large bowl cream the butter with a handheld or stand mixer. Add sugar and beat for 2-3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping the bowl as necessary with a rubber spatula.
- Step 5 On lowest speed, alternately add the dry ingredients in three additions and the milk in two additions, scraping the bowl with the rubber spatula as necessary and beating only until incorporated after each addition.
- Step 6 Remove the bowl from the mixer. Stir in lemon zest.
- Step 7 Transfer batter into prepared bundt pan. Level the top by lightly tapping the bottom of the pan against the counter.
- Step 8 Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Step 9 Let cake cool for about 5 minutes before you invert the cake. Then place the cake onto parchment paper.
- Step 10 FOR THE GLAZE: Stir the lemon juice and sugar together and brush all over the hot cake until absorbed. The glaze should be brushed over the cake immediately after it is mixed and the cake still warm. Let cake cool completely. Then use two wide metal pancake turners or something else flat that you can insert under the cake so that you can lift the cake onto a cake platter.