Almond-Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Lemon Neufchâtel {Pass the Cook Book Club}

This month for the Pass the Cook Book Club, Julie picked the cookbook,  Emeril's Kicked Up Sandwiches cookbook.  Each month a group member chooses a cookbook and picks three recipes.  You choose your favorite recipe from the three, cook it up, and share the adventure with all of you.

One of the things I love most about this group is learning about new cookbooks. I have my fair share of cookbooks but it never ceases to amazing me the vast number I have no idea exist. As you can imagine, Emeril's Kicked Up Sandwiches cookbook, has all sorts of sandwich recipes but each recipe makes everything from scratch.  You can find all kinds of bread and sauces within this book along with completely amazing sandwich combinations.  

The options for this month were Almond Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese, Turkey Waldorf Sandwich, and Beef Shwarma with Tzatziki Sauce.  They all sounded pretty yummy but I had neglected my sweet tooth for a while now. The sound of a sweetened up sandwich won me over.

I left out the poppy seeds - they are just not my thing. I also added some raspberries to the sandwich filling because well, they are pretty and wonderful.  It summer!  This was the perfect snack.  The cake itself wasn't too sweet so it didn't seem excessive for a big sliced sandwich in the middle of the day.  However, it was sweet enough to call this treat dessert after dinner. 

The only down side to this recipe was the fact the oven had to be on for over an hour. I made the stupid mistake of making this on a hot and humid day in the middle of the afternoon. My bad.  Yup, I just said my bad.  

Almond-Poppy Seed Pound Cake with Lemon Neufchâtel

by Emily Morris

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 65 minutes

Keywords: bake dessert lemon

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Ingredients (serves 8)

For the Cake:

• 12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon freshly squeeze lemon juice

For the Lemon Neufchâtel:

• (makes 1 cup)
• 8 ounces Neufchâtel or cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 ½ teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Instructions

For the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease with butter and lightly flour an 8 ½” x 4 ½” loaf pan.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on low speed for 1 minute. Slowly add the granulated sugar, and continue to mix until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add 1 egg, and when it is completely incorporated, add one-third of the flour. Mix for 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining eggs and flour.

Add the almond extract and the poppy seeds, and mix for 30 seconds more, until evenly distributed. Scrape the bowl with a rubber-spatula and transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 35 minutes. Then rotate the pan and continue to bake for another 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in one of the cracks has a trace of crumb. Removed the cake from the oven, set the pan on a wire rack, and let it cool for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth.

Pun a thin metal spatula around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan, and place a wire rack or a plate on top. Carefully invert the cake onto the rack and lift off the loaf pan. Set another wire rack on the bottom of the cake, and turn it right side up.

Set the rack over a parchment-lined baking sheet, and drizzle with lemon glaze over the top of the warm cake. Using a rubber spatula, smooth the glaze around the sides of the cake. You can scrap any glaze that has dripped onto the parchment and drizzle back onto the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before slicing, about 2 hours.

For the Lemon Neufchâtel:

Combine the Neufchâtel, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small bowl, and blend well with a rubber spatula or spoon. Use at room temperature. (Cover and refrigerate any unused portion for up to 1 week.)

To assemble the sandwiches, cut the cake into ½” thick slices. Spread the Lemon Neufchâtel between 2 slices, forming a cake sandwich. Enjoy!

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Here are what the other lovely bloggers came up with for July: