Book Spotlight & Guest Post: The Memory of Lemon by Judith Fertig

Please join me in welcoming Judith Fertig to Always With a Book. Judith’s new book, The Memory of Lemon, is out today. I’ll be reviewing this book in the coming weeks, but for now, please enjoy this spotlight on the book along with the yummy Lemon Verbena Pound Cake recipe she has graciously shared with us!

 

Title:The Memory of Lemon

Author:Judith Fertig

Published:June 2016, Berkley

Format:Paperback, 304 pages

The author of The Cake Therapist
returns with another sweet and emotional tale featuring Neely, the
baker with a knack for finding exactly the right flavor for any
occasion…

A crisp tang of citrus that is at once
poignant and familiar, sharpening the senses and opening the mind to
possibilities once known and long forgotten…
 

Claire “Neely” Davis is no ordinary pastry chef. Her flavor combinations
aren’t just a product of a well-honed palate: she can “taste” people’s
emotions, sensing the ingredients that will touch her customers’ souls.
Her gift has never failed her—until she meets a free-spirited
bride-to-be and her overbearing society mother. The two are unable to
agree on a single wedding detail, and their bickering leaves Neely’s
intuition frustratingly silent—right when she needs it most.

Between trying to navigate a divorce, explore a new relationship, and
handle the reappearance of her long-absent father, Neely is struggling
to make sense of her own conflicting emotions, much less those of her
hard-to-please bride. But as she embarks on a flavorful quest to craft
the perfect wedding celebration, she’ll uncover a family history that
sheds light on both the missing ingredients and her own problems—and
illustrates how the sweet and sour in life often combine to make the
most delicious memories…

Lemon Verbena Pound Cake

Makes (12-cup) tube or Bundt cake to serve 12

3/4 pound (3
sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 (8-ounce)
package cream cheese, softened

3 cups sugar

6 jumbo eggs

3 cups
sifted cake flour

2 teaspoons
vanilla extract

2 teaspoons
lemon zest

Confectioners’
sugar for dusting

           

Preheat the
oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a (12-cup) tube or Bundt cake and set
aside. If you like, press fresh lemon verbena leaves onto the sides of the pan.
With an electric mixer or food processor, cream the butter and cream cheese
together until smooth. Beat in the sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a
time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the flour, a little at a time,
until well blended. Stir in the flavorings. Pour the batter into the prepared
pan.

Bake for 1
hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out
clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then invert the cake on a wire rack to
cool. Dust with confectioner’s sugar.

Tip: Try lining the
buttered pan with lemon-scented leaves of fresh lemon verbena, lemon balm, or
Rober’s Lemon Rose scented geranium. 
Then pour in the cake batter.

Thank

you Judith for sharing this recipe with us…I know I’m quite excited to read your new book and
just might be trying this recipe myself. It sounds delicious!!!