I came up with this recipe because I had about 6 lemons in my pantry that were on the verge of going bad, and I had to use all of them up as quickly as possible. So I figured, why not make a cake, syrup, lemon curd, and candy some lemons with them? That’ll be a fast way to get rid of six lemons! What I love about this specific cake, being the hot milk cake, is how spongy, light, and toothsome it is! I first heard about hot milk cake when I was in San Francisco with my sister, and read about it in a book at Ghirardelli Square. It sounded really intriguing, because you’re taking milk and butter that has been heated to the point of being piping hot, and just pouring that into your batter. Typically, what happens when you add a super hot liquid to a cake batter is that the final cake goes dense. But the technique here is a combination of a ton of leavening, and whipping your eggs to ribbon stage, which allows the cake to be light in texture and mouthfeel, but durable enough to be baked into a loaf pan, with no problems! I love using hot milk cake for cake loaves or for simple layer cakes with cream and berries, so it just made sense to make some lemony loaves with the lemons I had!

For the hot milk cake:
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 stick unsalted butter
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest from 2 lemons
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

In a pot on low heat, melt down butter into heavy cream and milk. In a bowl, whip the eggs with sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest until thick and glossy. Sift flour and baking powder together. Combine ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees F in four lined mini loaf pans for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool down the cakes before unmolding.

For the lemon syrup:
Juice from 2 lemons
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
a pinch of salt

Bring ingredients to a simmer. Take off heat once the sugar has dissolved. Pour into the cooled down cakes.

For the lemon curd:
Juice and zest from 3 lemons
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Whisk together the lemon juice, zest, cornstarch, sugar, and salt on medium high heat until it begins to thicken and cling to the sides of your whisk. Take off heat and whisk in the vanilla and butter. Once combined, pass through a sieve to remove the lemon zest. Spread evenly onto the cooled down and soaked loaves.

For the candied lemon slices:
1 lemon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt

Slice the lemon into 1/4-inch to 1/8-inch thick slices. Arrange onto a parchment-lined sheet tray. Mix the salt and sugar together and sprinkle onto each lemon slice. Bake the slices at 250 degrees F for 1 hour. Allow the lemon slices to cool down before garnishing the tops of your lemon curd-covered cakes with!