Whether you're a dog mama, a baby mama, a friend mama, or a fairy godmama, you deserve to be celebrated—for everything you do (big and little) to love and support your hive. This “church” cake is one of my family’s favorites and squad FOOD LA LA amped it up with a lemon basil glaze and some fancy, crispy lemon chips. It’s beautiful, zesty, celebratory . . . and fun to make! And I think it’s extra fun enjoyed in jammies and robes (which would, of course, formally categorize this recipe as a breakfast cake).
To get this pretty shape, you’ll need a bundt pan (we call it a church cake because some of these forms are extra ornate and look like beautiful little churches!) Make sure your pan is heavy aluminum and has a good nonstick coating for easy release (and pay attention to the cooling instructions in the recipe below!) We use a pan like this one!
This recipe includes:
Meyer lemon pound cake (pay close attention to the dismount instructions to keep the beautiful mini cathedral shape!)
Lemon basil glaze
Crispy lemon chips (for this cake, or even on a cheese platter!)
Along with this recipe, I’m passing on a little wisdom from my own mama (the older we get, don’t we appreciate our moms even more!?): Love is always the answer (even when it’s the harder choice), trust yourself (even when that little voice is so quiet you can barely hear it whisper), and there is nothing in this crazy world that YOU cannot do (yes even that wild dream of yours that feels so far away).
So make a special weekend playing in the kitchen with your mom, but if you're far away, all she really wants is a phone call from you! This cake will not disappoint.
And for the little guy who made me a mama—whose cheeks are bigger and squishier than any baby’s should be allowed, and whose throaty giggle I could listen to until the end of time—I’m so lucky to be yours!
Ingredients (Cake):
3 eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup milk
1 TBS vanilla bean paste
1 cup baker’s sugar
1 1/2 cup peanut oil
3 Meyer lemons, zest + juice
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted + 1 TBS for church cake pan
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 TBS kosher salt
Unsalted butter, room temperature (for pan)
Ingredients (Lemon Basil Icing):
2 2/3 cup powdered sugar, divided and sifted
1 TBS unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 TBS lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
2 TBS boiling water
12-15 basil leaves
Pinch of salt
Ingredients (Lemon Chips)
1-2 lemons (ideally seedless)
Olive oil
Steps:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Wet ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and sugar until the eggs are slightly fluffy. Add peanut oil, lemon zest and lemon juice. Whisk until everything is incorporated.
Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add wet ingredient mixture to dry ingredient mixture and mix until all is incorporated.
Brush entire church cake pan with the butter, then sift about 1 TBS of flour into pan and turn it sideways, tapping to evenly coat with flour. Dump out any loose flour. Pour cake mixture into church cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes, until the top is slightly golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Lemon Basil Icing: While cake is baking, whisk together 2 cups of powdered sugar, butter, lemon juice and zest, and boiling water. Transfer mixture to blender and blend until basil leaves are broken down. Work mixture through a sieve to strain out basil leaves. Whisk in salt and remaining 2/3 cup powder sugar.. Transfer to a piping bag or plastic bag.
Let sit for about 6 minutes, then put a plate over top of flat side of cake, and invert. Let cool completely before lifting up pan.
Make Lemon Chips: Lower oven temperature to its lowest setting (around 200 degrees). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then add a cooling rack. Spray or brush cooling rack with olive oil. Thinly slice a (seedless!) lemon with a mandolin or very sharp knife, in slices about 1/4" thick. Remove any seeds if not using seedless lemons! Lay lemon slices on the cooling rack then bake for 90-120 minutes, checking every 30 minutes. Once lemon slices are dry, remove from oven and let cool completely before lifting off cooling rack.
Pipe a thick ring of icing on the top of the cooled cake, then gently tap the cake on the counter to encourage the icing to start dripping. Repeat with another few rings of icing.
Garnish cake with lemon chips and fresh basil leaves. Bon appétit!