White Pepper and Ginger Lemon Cake

Set an oven rack a third of the way up from the bottom and preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Thoroughly butter a 10- to 12-cup Bundt (fluted) pan, even if it has a nonstick finish, and include all the crannies of the fluting and the center post; dust all, including the center tube, with fine, dry bread crumbs; invert and tap to shake out excess crumbs; set aside.

Finely grate the zest of the two lemons; juice the lemons, putting 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice in a cup with the lemon zest; set the rest of the juice aside;add the fresh ginger to the zest-juice mixture and set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and pepper; set aside.

In the large bowl of the electric mixer, beat the butter until it is soft; add 13/4 cups of the sugar and beat about 1 minute; add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk (starting and ending with the flour).

Stir in the lemon-ginger mixture; taste and add more pepper and/or ginger if desired, stirring well; the full amounts of ginger and pepper might be too hot for some folks- if you suspect you're among them, start small and taste a bit of the batter; you can always add.

Pour and scrape into the prepared pan; Smooth the top by twisting the pan sharply back and forth once.

Bake 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the middle comes out dry.

While the cake is in the oven, add to the set-aside lemon juice enough to total 1/3 cup; combine with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.

When the cake comes out of the oven, let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Cover with a rack, invert and remove the pan; put the rack and cake over a plate or sheet of waxed paper or foil to catch drips of glaze.

Stir the glaze mixture and brush it all over the cake, including the inside of the center hole; let stand until cool.

Use two spatulas to transfer the cake to a serving plate.