Lemon Kamut Pound Cake

There is something so delicious about a dense pound cake. If you agree, I know you will love this Lemon Kamut Pound Cake. Made with Kamut flour, and ancient grain, this is a whole-grain option.

If you like using Kamut flour, let me suggest a few other recipes you will like. Kamut Pasta and Kamut tortillas are both really great recipes. Or if you are looking for a baking project, what about Kamut blueberry muffins? This Kamut sourdough pizza recipe is also a really good one! If you want something even easier, how about cooking kamut in an Instant Pot.

What Makes This Recipe Work?

This is a classic pound cake. Dense, lightly sweetened, and in this case, with lemon undertones.

Pound cakes are one of my favorite desserts. You can eat them as they are for a lightly sweet dessert. Or you can top the slices with fresh berries and whipping cream too. I love mine with strawberries or raspberries.

I love making my baked goods a little better by using whole grain flour. For this recipe, I decided on Kamut flour. If you are unfamiliar with this ancient grain flour, read in the Kamut section below for more details. I hope you learn to love it and other whole grain flours from trying my recipes.

Ingredients

• Kamut Flour- I normally like to grind my grains with my Nutrimill grain mill, but finding Kamut berries this past year has been almost impossible. So, instead, I have been buying the flour from Montana Flour and Grains. It has been of good quality, so no complaints.
• Salt- it won't take much, but it is necessary. I like using kosher salt.
• Baking soda- Pound cakes are very dense, so you won't use much leavener.
• Buttermilk- This reacts beautifully with the baking soda for a little lift.
• Lemon zest and juice- Make sure these are fresh for the best flavor.
• Butter- This will need to be at room temp for it to mix well in the batter.
• Granulated sugar- You could also use brown sugar if you prefer, but I like granulated for this recipe. I am not sure about using other granulated sugars as I have not tested them yet.
• Vanilla- It doesn't take much, but makes a difference.
• Plain Greek yogurt- I love adding Greek yogurt or sour cream to my baked goods as it helps them to stay moist.

How To Make

Start by creaming your butter and sugar together until they are light. Mine took about 2 minutes.

Next, add in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice zest, and Greek yogurt. At this point, only mix the batter until it all comes together. You do not want to overmix it.

Last are your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, and salt. Again, mix in until they are blended.

Pour into your prepared pan. I used a 9x4 loaf pan, but you can also use a 6-8 cup bundt pan if you prefer the look. Just remember if you are using a bundt pan that is prepared well. Grease and flour it for the best release.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. This is always important with baked goods, but even more important with whole-grain baked goods. Once it comes out, let it cool for about 5 minutes in your pan, then turn it out gently onto a cooling rack.

The cake is delicious as it is, but you can also make a lemon glaze if you want for it. If you are doing this, mix the ingredients for the glaze- 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, and enough lemon juice to make a medium glaze. Make sure it is mixed well. Then, you can either add it to the cake while it is warm or cooled.

If you add it to the cake when it is warm, it will seep into the cake, which is good. Or you can add it when it is cooled and it will sit on top of the cake. This is also really good. It just depends on your preference.

Notes

There are a few things to note about making this cake, and especially about baking with whole grains. Let me share some of these.

• If you are new to baking with whole grains, let me share a few tips.
• If you have bought the flour instead of grinding it, mix it with a fork before measuring. The flour will compact in shipping and storage. Mixing it will loosen it up.
• Do not overmix! When you combine the wet and dry, make sure to only mix until they are combined. Do not beat them! I prefer to make these by hand instead of using a hand or stand mixer for this reason. If the batter gets mixed too much, it will produce a tough muffin.
• The last tip for baking with whole grains is this- DO NOT OVERBAKE. If you have ever had a dry whole-grain muffin, chances are really good it was baked for too long. This is the reason I recommend underbaking just slightly.
• Also, it is really important in this recipe to make sure you use both fresh lemon zest and lemon juice. This will yield the truest lemon flavor.
• If you want a stronger lemon flavor, this cake is subtle, add in ¼ cup of lemon zest. This will give you a stronger flavor. I also recommend the glaze for extra flavor too. The glaze is 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, and enough lemon juice to make a medium glaze. Make sure it is mixed well.

Kamut

• Kamut is an ancient grain. It is a much larger grain (almost triple the size) than you might be used to seeing in wheat. It also has a distinctly lighter color. The grain is called Kamut Khorasan.
• No one is exactly sure where Kamut came from, but most people guess it was the fertile crescent. It is named after the Khorasan region in this region of Northern Iran.
• Kamut started gaining popularity in the late 2000s in the United States. It was first cultivated modern by a farmer in Montana in 1949.
• It is a great high-protein wheat that I use in many baked goods. I have also sprouted Kamut and cooked it as well. It is delicious to use as a breakfast porridge or in place of rice. If you are not using it yet, you need to be!

• Cakes
• Kamut Flour