Last week, Joseph Foreman, the artist known as Afroman, won a major victory in an Ohio courtroom. In 2022, Adams County deputies raided his home searching for suspected drugs and potential kidnapping victims and found nothing except for some tasty-looking pound cake. Afroman used his home surveillance footage of the incident to make some music videos, including “Lemon Pound Cake,” “Will You Help Me Repair My Door,” and others.
The videos went viral, and the sheriff’s deputies got their little feelings hurt and sued him for defamation and invasion of privacy. They lost. Per Afroman, “Freedom of speech! Right on!”
On March 18, a jury ruled in Afroman’s favor on all 13 counts. For a really great lowdown on all of the above, including clips of the viral videos, watch the March 19 episode of The Daily Show. You may have to watch it twice. You’ll laugh that hard.
Afroman’s Mama’s Lemon Pound Cake has become a bit of a legend, thanks to his song and the viral video of the sheriff looking longingly at said treat. While his mom’s exact recipe isn’t publicly available, many Redditors have shared their own lemon pound cake recipes worth trying, including this one from AfricanBites.com, which uses sour cream to keep the cake moist. “Don’t forget to smoke a bowl before. It really brings out the munchies, err, flavor.”
Courtesy iStock
Sour Cream Lemon Pound Cake
Ingredients
Unsalted butter (8 ounces), granulated sugar (2 cups), sour cream (3/4 cup), 5 large eggs, all-purpose flour (2.5 cups), baking soda (2 tsp), medium lemon (1), vanilla extract (2 tsp), and almond extract (2 tsp).
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 10-inch tube pan generously with cooking spray, then set it aside. Cream butter and sugar at high speed in a stand mixer until fluffy and looking white (about 5 minutes). Add sour cream and mix for another minute. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture well between each addition. Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter, then add lemon zest and juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir well until everything is fully combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. Pour the cake batter into the greased pan. Tap it on the work surface to eliminate large air bubbles. Bake at 325℉ until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (55-60 minutes). Let it cool for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool completely before glazing.
Lemon Glaze Ingredients
Powdered sugar (1 and 3/4 cups), lemon juice (3 tbsp), lemon zest (1 tbsp), salted butter (1-2 tsp), and water (1 tbsp).
Lemon Glaze Instructions
In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, almond extract, and melted butter. Adjust the thickness with water if needed for the desired consistency. Gently whisk until the mixture is smooth. Adjust the glaze’s consistency as desired. It should be thick but pourable. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake with a spoon, letting it run down the sides.
The folks at AfricanBites.com also included some tips. “The secret to baking a perfect pound cake lies in the mixing. Please don’t overmix, or you risk ruining your cake.”
As the cake is a bit fragile, let it cool before trying to remove it from the pan, so it has time to firm up. The glaze will also go on better if it’s cool.
