Lemon Poppy Buttermilk Mini-Loaves Perfect for Purim mishloah minot (gifts), this classic Jewish dessert has two-thirds less fat and three-quarters less cholesterol than its traditional counterpart. For the perfect texture, make the cake at least four hours in advance. If you like a bitter edge to your lemon cakes, add 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract, and/or one teaspoon of grated lemon zest.

Also serve on: Sukkot, Shabbat, Yom ha-Atzma'ut Dairy Makes four 3"x 5" ~inch mini-loaves or one 12-cup Bundt cake

1. Preheat the oven to 325° degrees FahrenheitF, with an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Spray-grease and flour four 3"x5" -inch loaf pans or 1 Bundt pan..

2. In a small bowl, make the glaze by mixing together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and water. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

3. To make the cake, iIn a large mixer bowl, beat the butter or margarine, on medium speed, until creamy. Add the brown sugar, and beat for two 2 minutes.

4. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and egg whites. On medium speed, beat in the eggs into the butter mixture a little at a time. Beat on medium-high until the mixture is smooth, thick, and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

5. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in the poppy seeds.

6. In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and pear baby food. On low, in three 3 additions, alternately stir in the flour and buttermilk mixtures into the batter, mixing only until no flour is visible.

7. Divide the batter among the pans. Rap them on the counter to remove any large bubbles. Bake for 30 to -40 minutes for loaf pans, and 35 to -45 minutes for a bundt pan, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out with no moist crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and set the pans on a cooling rack. Immediately use a skewer to poke about two 2 dozen holes into each of the cakes (eight 8 dozen in the tube pan), making sure the skewer goes all the way to the bottom. Spoon 3 tablespoons of glaze over each mini-loaf (the whole thing over a tube pan). Cool completely before removing from the pans.

8. Cakes can be wrapped in foil and stored at room temperature for 4 days, or frozen for up to 3 months (defrost in foil at room temperature. Individual slices defrost nicely in the microwave).

seeds can be omitted or replaced with finely chopped nuts.

Nutritional notes per serving (1" -inch piece of a small cake or 1/20th of the bundt cake): 151 Calories, 4g Fat (21%), 27g Carbohydrate, 3g Protein, 167mg Sodium, 1g Fiber, % of Rda 2% Vitamin A, 2% Vitamin C, 4% Calcium, 7% Iron

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