Recipe Background
There's nothing quite like sitting out on the front porch and enjoying a tall glass of Southern iced tea. Well, except a slice of Front Porch Cake, because it just captures the experience in a sweet bundle. The cake is golden and infused with sweet tea and lemon flavors; it's like taking a bite of summer. Then it's glazed with even more sweet tea and lemon deliciousness, which ends up soaking into the cake to make it extra moist! Front Porch Cake is the most relaxing moment of the day in edible form.
There's nothing quite like sitting out on the front porch and enjoying a tall glass of Southern iced tea. Well, except a slice of Front Porch Cake, because it just captures the experience in a sweet bundle. The cake is golden and infused with sweet tea and lemon flavors; it's like taking a bite of summer. Then it's glazed with even more sweet tea and lemon deliciousness, which ends up soaking into the cake to make it extra moist! Front Porch Cake is the most relaxing moment of the day in edible form.
Ingredients
For the sweet tea lemon cake:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 stick butter melted
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 3/4 cup southern-style sweet tea homemade or store-bought
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- salt to taste
For the glaze:
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar plus more, to taste
- 1/2 cup southern-style sweet tea homemade or store-bought, plus more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter melted
- lemon zest optional, to taste, for garnish
- lemon slices optional, to taste, for garnish
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Grease a 9-inch fluted tube pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour and the baking powder and whisk to combine.
- In a separate mixing bowl, add the eggs and beat them well.
- Add the yogurt, 1 stick of the melted butter, the apple sauce, the sugar, the vanilla, the lemon extract, and 3/4 cup of the sweet tea to the eggs and mix to combine.
- Add 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest and the salt to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
- Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared tube pan.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 50-55 minutes.
- In a clean mixing bowl, add 2 1/2 cups of the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup of the remaining sweet tea, and the remaining melted butter and use an electric handheld mixer to beat until a smooth glaze forms.
- If the glaze seems too thin, add the extra powdered sugar, a little at a time. If the glaze seems too thick, add the extra sweet tea, a little at a time.
- Allow the cake to cool completely, about 1 hour.
- Invert the cake onto a serving plate.
- Drizzle the cake with the glaze. The cake will absorb some of the glaze; that's normal.
- Serve garnished with the extra lemon zest and the lemon slices.
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