For two years running I’ve had the fun ‘job’ of judging the The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Bailliage Southwest Region Jeunes Commis Competition – a fascinating cooking competition with young chefs from all over the Southwest.
One year, the winning chef Crockett Wessels, the sous chef from Auden’s Kitchen, was the winner. He made an incredible lemon pound cake. He shares his recipe today – he infuses the whipped cream with basil—It’s delish!
For the Cake:
Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and the juice from two of the lemons. Slowly add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in-between each one.
Next, add the sifted flour, baking powder and salt, mix just until smooth, be careful not to over mix. Pour batter into a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center returns clean.
For the Gastrique:
In a small saucepan combine the vinegar, water, sugar, honey and black peppercorns. Reduce this mixture on medium heat until reduced by half or coats the back of a spoon. Now add the whole basil leafs and the ground black pepper and cook for 5 more mins. Strain and serve.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 8 oz. butter (softened)
- 8 oz. sugar
- 3 Meyer lemons (zested)
- 7 ½ oz. cake or pastry flour
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
For the Gastrique
- 1 cup Champagne vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 5 large Basil leaves (fresh)
- 1 tsp. black peppercorns
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper