Luxury Lemon Cake With Light Lemon Glaze

For the cake: Set the oven at 325 degrees F.

Grease a plain 10-inch tube pan, line the bottom of the pan with a circle of waxed paper cut to fit it, and grease the paper. Dust the pan with flour, tapping out the excess; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon rind and extract.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed for 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar in three additions, beating for 1 minute after each one. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing for 30 seconds after each one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to keep the batter even textured.

Blend in the lemon mixture. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.

Bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake is clean when withdrawn and the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan.

For the glaze: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes, or until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a rapid boil, then remove the pan from the heat.

When the cake is done, cool it in the pan on a rack for 10 to 12 minutes. Carefully invert onto another cooling rack, peel away the waxed paper, then set right-side up on another rack. Brush the top and sides of the warm cake with glaze.

Leave the cake to cool completely.