It's really a matter of preference...not vital. You probably already know lemon extract is pretty potent stuff. Lemon zest is sometimes used in place of the extract vs combining them. You can definitely omit the vanilla, but it can be good combined with some zest. Another option would be to use some fresh lemon juice with the zest. Better than the extract IMO.

I made a lemon zucchini cake and I used extract, juice, zest AND vanilla!

Martha, sounds like it was a winner! I think it's just preference. It's been forever since I bought lemon extract...maybe in the 80's. We have a lemon tree that's pretty much loaded year round. Got a good supply of juice and zest!

Agree with cloebud - it's a matter of taste/preference. If the recipe calls for fresh lemon juice and zest, I often leave vanilla out (or the recipe won't even call for it) because I know it'll be quite lemony and that's what I'm in the mood for... if it's extract and some zest, again lemony but I want to balance that with some vanilla. If there is also a glaze, I'll put vanilla and zest in that, no vanilla in the pound cake...sometimes. Pretty much anything goes, so follow your heart I suppose : )

I frequently omit vanilla in recipes that have fruit flavoring, especially when using another extract. If you are using lemon extract plus lemon zest, you will not need vanilla, and for me, it would distract from the lemon flavor. To me, it would be like putting vanilla extract in lemonade, which might be okay but might not be what you want.

I do put vanilla in recipes that have chocolate, such as chocolate ice cream, but I do not put vanilla in strawberry ice cream, and I do use lemon juice in that. I generally do not like vanilla with fruit, except for cherimoya or guanabana, and they really do not need it either.

My lemon trees are not loaded all year, but when they are, I freeze excess lemons whole for later use. Right now it is time for me to start hand pollinating my cherimoya tree.

Lars, we bought our current house 5 years ago here in SoCal. The lemon tree has never been without fruit. Not sure but am guessing it's a Eureka. It also appears to be fairly old. It's back in a corner of our backyard. I've told the neighbors behind us to help themselves, and we also give them to family and friends. We still have way more than we need.

Thank you all for the comments. Greatly appreciated.

Chloe, we've bought our current house nine years ago, but we have very poor (i.e. hard clay) soil where we live in Westchester and so we grow most things in pots. I have a Meyer lemon and a Eureka, both in whiskey barrel planters, and both trees are dwarfs. I assume yours is not a dwarf. The house came with a citrus tree planted in the ground that was very small when we moved in, and it is just now making fruit for the first time - I cannot tell yet whether it will be orange or lemon, but I'm guessing orange. I gave away figs when I lived in Venice, but we also grew citrus trees in the ground there as well.

Kimberly, I wish you luck with your lemon pound cake. I love pound cake, but it is not on my diet at the moment :(. What are you planning to serve with your cake? I used to serve it with strawberries and whipped cream, and strawberries are in season now.

Lars, ours is in the ground and definitely not a dwarf. It also gets very little sun due to some old oaks around it. Kind of amazing how much fruit it produces. I'd be sick if anything happened to it. One thing's for sure...I don't need lemon extract. ;-)

Kimberly...yes...enjoy the pound cake. As Lars mentioned, strawberries and whipped cream would be great. In fact, lemon pound cake with any kind of berry is one of my favorites.

My DIL and DS have a cake business and use this pound cake recipe. It is delicious and the flavors don't fight - they give an unusual but delightful flavor to the pound cake.

Seven Flavors Pound Cake Recipe

2 sticks butter, 1/2 C vegetable oil, 3 C sugar, 5 eggs, 1 C milk, 3 C flour, 1/2 t baking powder, 1 t each of the following Bickford Flavorings: Lemon, Rum, Vanilla Extract, Orange, Coconut, Pineapple, Butter.
With mixer, combine butter and oil. Add sugar and eggs
and mix well. Add flour and baking powder, alternating with milk. Add the seven
Bickford Flavors. Bake in a greased and floured Bundt pan at 325°F for 1¼ to 1½
hours. Cool cake in pan 10 to 15 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool. *Note: I bake this recipe in two loaf pans with a little less baking time - test with toothpick.

Glaze: 1 C sugar, 1/2 C milk, 1 t each of the 7 flavors. Combine ingredients in small saucepan and dissolve sugar over low heat. Pour
glaze over cake.

I never use lemon extract....it always tastes chemical-ish to me...I use juice and zest and vanilla.....i add vanilla to every flavor...it enhances chocolate, lemon, spices like cinnamon and ginger....and I add vanilla to sweet roll dough! to apple pie, blueberry pie, rhubarb pie....etc!

Linda, have you ever had vanilla yogurt? It is the worst. I bought it once by mistake and ever afterwards I make a point of avoiding it. Nothing I could add to vanilla yogurt would make it palatable to me. I guess I'm just not a vanilla type person. I do like vanilla ice cream, however, and so I was surprised at how bad the vanilla yogurt was.

Ugh...buying vanilla yogurt by mistake! Years ago I brought some home thinking it was plain yogurt. Worst of all, I was using it to make tzatziki. I combined all the ingredients and realized what I'd done...luckily before serving it. :-/

I only like yogurt combined with flavors that are also tangy...lemon, lime, raspberry, boysenberry, etc. No...not vanilla.

Lars, that's odd, because sometimes I just crave plain old vanilla yogurt! No fruit, nothing but plain yogurt. I can't for the life of me remember the brand I buy (and hope to make some now with the Instant Pot).

I am do love vanilla ice cream (homemade, of course!), and vanilla... oh, stop me. I like vanilla! Ha ha! I guess sometimes my taste buds just want something a bit plain.

ETA: Ok, now that it's been clarified, I do like plain yogurt, no vanilla, but yes, also vanilla yogurt.

I'm with Lars on the vanilla yoghurt, and I like vanilla. Real vanilla. Vanilla yoghurt reminds me of Play-Doh, even though I haven't eaten that since I was 3. :)

As to the cakes, vanilla extract is the original "secret ingredient". It made so many things taste so much better that people started putting it in everything. I think sometimes, it's the small amount of alcohol that's the important part, because with some strong flavors you can't tell the difference with or without vanilla but the vanilla just seems to make it better. I'm in no mood to experiment, but one could substitute vodka and see if that worked just as well. But you have to make the cake with and without vanilla on the same day as with the vodka no vanilla, and have a blind taste test. Sounds tiring....

"I never use lemon extract...it always tastes chemical-ish to me..."

I agree...nothing beats fresh lemon juice and zest. Many years ago I was at Williams Sonoma looking at some lemon extract (brand was Boyagian, I think). When I asked about it, the woman kind of made a face and told me not to buy it. She said it had an "off and chemical taste."

Maybe vanilla yoghurt is made differently here; I really like it and find it pairs well with fresh fruit.

That seven flavours pound cake is delish- I used to make it a lot. It's a favourite of a friend of mine as well.

I have to chime in on the yogurt. I just recently discovered this wonderful vanilla yogurt called "Oui" by Yoplait. It comes in a little 5 oz. glass jar and says it is French style yogurt. It has a subtle vanilla flavor, but the mouth feel is wonderful! It also comes in lots of other flavors, but the vanilla is my favorite.

I don't care for the vanilla extract from those small bottles. Got hooked on the real stuff one year when dad brought back a case of big bottles from Texas: Mexican vanilla. Ordered four bottles this year, prob a five year supply.

dab

Chloebud, I'm in So Cal too, with clay soil. Whereabouts are you?

I love my dwarf lemon tree! I think it's a Meyer.

I agree about using lemon juice and zest...however, LorAnn makes a pretty good product--it used to be available locally but now I guess I'll have to find another source and drive a bit, or order from Amazon!

sooz, we're about 18 miles east of Pasadena. How about you? We took out a very small Meyer lemon tree that was planted in the ground when we moved in. It didn't look good, and our gardeners confirmed it should be replaced. We replaced it with a Coral Bark Japanese Maple. Meyers are nice but I actually prefer the tartness of Eurekas.

Regarding the Boyagian lemon extract I mentioned, I'm pretty sure it might have been lemon oil. It was a long time ago!

I tend to use a lot of vanilla to help hide the cannabis taste, so I would answer your original question with: Yes, use the vanilla.

Now, in terms of extracts...

The only two I've been forced to use are an organic vanilla bean extract that uses an organic alcohol base and organic peppermint extract. They're pricey, but my cookies are 100% organic now. I would never consider a fruit extract when the real fruit is usually available, especially lemons! We've had some huge Meyer lemons in the local supermarkets for months and the sheer volume of zest and juice one of these elephant lemons produces makes for some awesome cookies.

There must be two dozen Kroeger brand extracts in King Soopers - every fruit you could think of for a recipe. Yuk. Chemical crap. Use the real fruit when you bake; there's enough chemical detritus in the rest of our food to turn the Mississippi blue.

Chloebud, I'm more south, in San Diego county but grew up around L.A.

Japanese maples can be so pretty but I tell ya, if we had room for another tree, I'd go for a navel orange b/c it would rock here (once we prepped the ground really well!).

I always have a lemon tree AND some rosemary too or I'd be disowned! :0)

sooz, we have neighbors who are fortunately very generous with their navel oranges. We're just very fond of Japanese maples and have a nice variety.

OMG...yes...rosemary is another must. Luckily, it grows like crazy here! We also have an avocado tree...bliss!

Chloebud, you're a lucky gal!

I've decided to make my own lemon extract, since I have quite a few lemons right now. I'll probably use the zest of four lemons and then just cover that with vodka and let it sit in a dark area (under my sink) for four weeks. I'm not sure what I will use it for, but I think it might be nice to have. I read the proportion is 6 lemons per cup of vodka, but I don't want to make that much, and so I'll use 2/3 cup of vodka and four lemons. I'll then freeze the lemons for later use. I need to put some in the freezer now anyway, as I am out of frozen lemons.

I also have an avocado tree in a whiskey barrel planter, and I need to repot it because the soil level has sunk dramatically. I do not have enough drainage in my soil to plant it in the ground. I have three papaya trees in a planter as well. They also drown if I plant them in the soil but do well in pots. I had a great mango tree in Venice, but those trees get huge and will not grow in planters.

Lars, that's a great idea. My lemon tree is groaning. I could make extract, limoncello, etc. Thanks.

BTW, given that you're semi-retired now, you could fix the soil. It's a pain, but with a few graduated sieves and a big tub, you can, one section at a time, dig down a few feet, break up the clay, and mix with potting soil. Or make bricks out of the soil and just replace with new soil. :) We did both when I was a kid...

So while on the topic, could someone recommend a good vanilla available online?

2Many, I use Nielsen Massey's vanilla. I've bought it at Wms. Sonoma, but you can often find it at places like HomeGoods, TJ Maxx and Marshall's for a great price. I'm pretty sure the good stuff is about 35% alcohol. Years ago someone gave me vanilla products from Baldwin & Sons...also good. Have you ever ordered anything from Penzey's?

http://www.baldwinextracts.com/shop-online.html  

https://www.penzeys.com/search/#?q=vanilla

You can also make your own...such as this. I never have.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/vanilla-extract-recipe-1941109 

Opinions on vanilla can really differ. It can also depend on what you're using it for. You can read about taste tests that result in less expensive brands doing really well. Gotta decide for yourself.

Just an example of pricing differences. This 4-oz. bottle of Nielsen-Massey is about $33 at Wms. Sonoma. I've seen it at HomeGoods for $11 or $12.

Thank you chloebud : )

Hi Chloebud-- I have checked stores like Ross and Marshalls and have never found extracts. I'm always looking. Update on my lemon poundcake, it turned out fabulous!

kimberly, keep checking for extracts since it can be hit or miss. Glad your poundcake was yummy!

FYI - I have successfully used lemon oil in place of zest in many recipes. I buy it locally at Hobby Lobby, but it is also available online from King Arthur.

All you lemon tree owners, I am jealous! And clay soil, well, compost is your friend, I feel your pain.

The price of vanilla has gone up this year and those $11 bottles at Marshalls and such don't exist any more. I haven't found a bottle of vanilla at one of those stores in 2 years.

Bumblebeez, no surprise if the cost has gone up. The last bottle I found at HomeGoods was about $12, and that was last Fall.