Healthier Lemon Pound Cake & Lemon Trifle

Happy Lemon Days! I’m open to votes to stop with the lemon recipes, already! Just let me know… one recipe I will not repost but will heartily endorse is David Lebovitz’s lemon bars. DO NOT do what I did, and reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe- it’s just perfect as is, and easy, too.

I did revise a lemon pound cake recipe from Facebook, credited to a hotel restaurant in 1920. Gee whiz, do you think I swapped out the shortening? Yes! Here’s what to do: preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat 1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks, softened),  and 2 ½ cups sugar (I used 1 cup white sugar, ½ cup maple sugar, and ¾ cup honey) for 2 minutes. Add 5 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. In a separate bowl, combine 1 ½ cups white flour, 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and ¾ teaspoon salt. Alternate adding the flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture with the liquid ingredients listed next: 1 cup skim milk, 6 tablespoons lemon juice*, and zest from 1 lemon**. Bake in a greased bundt pan for 55 minutes (or 2 loaf pans). 

* if you do not use whole wheat flour, keep this recipe as is (it originally had only white flour). If you DO use whole wheat flour, you don’t need to add more liquid to the recipe if you use honey like I did. If you choose to not use honey, you will need to add a few extra teaspoons of lemon juice so the dough isn’t too dry. Add 1 teaspoon at a time until the dough is moist.

**I suggest using more lemon zest to help bring out the flavor when using whole wheat flour. The pound cake tastes nice as is, but not super lemony, so it’s your call.

If you’d like to make a trifle with egg-yolk filled custard, please look elsewhere- there are plenty of recipes out there. Here is a healthier version that tastes great! Prepare 2 boxes of lemon pudding with skim milk according to the package directions (I used instant sugar free fat free pudding). Thaw 1 container of frozen whipped topping, or beat a pint of whipping cream with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 3 tablespoons sugar. Rinse and pat dry an assortment of fresh berries of your choice: raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, etc. In the summer, I would use fresh peaches. If using fresh fruit is not possible, drain frozen fruit well so the dark color of the fruit juice doesn’t bleed though the layers---unless you wouldn’t mind that look.

Cut the pound cake into squares that would fit on a dessert spoon. Place a layer (1-2 inches) of pound cake into a trifle dish or large glass bowl. Quantities will vary based on the size of your bowl, so  the number of cups of cubes will vary- just eyeball the depth and aim for two layers of each ingredient. Over the cake, layer half of the lemon pudding, then half the fruit, then half the whipped topping. Another layer of cake, pudding, fruit, and whipped topping. Decorate with berries or garnish of your choice. Enjoy!