Orange Pound Cake

Orange Pound Cake - made May 30, 2011 from A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti (book #118)

Just a thin layer of glaze adds a nice touch

Since I went back to work, I'm still baking only on weekends so far and I made this cake last weekend on Memorial Day.  I haven't quite adjusted to getting in a baking mood once I get home from work, especially since I'm getting back into the groove of working out in the morning before work and, when I'm motivated enough, doing a second workout after work.  Which doesn't leave much time or energy to bake too.  So for now, I'll load up on the baking on the weekends and dole out the blog posts during the week.

This baking book is responsible for the Pumpkin Upside Down Cake that I now make as part of our Thanksgiving desserts almost every year.  It was the recipe and the cake that made me realize I actually do like pumpkin (as long as it's not in a pie) and in the right recipe, I even like cranberries.  I don't use this book often enough as some of the recipes seem a bit too fancy but I should probably get over that because I suspect there are many more potential favorites in here that I could discover.

There are much fancier recipes in this book and this one actually comes with a Grape Compote but I elected to go for simplicity and left it out.  I'm still on an orange kick since I have a few more oranges to use up from my mom's orange tree.  I also added the glaze from the Orange Velvet Cake to dress this up a bit and add more orange flavor.  As you can see, I baked in this a Bundt pan, not a loaf pan.  Once I had it mixed up, there was too much batter for even a large loaf pan so I poured it into a Bundt pan.

This is a nice basic pound cake with a perfect pound cake texture.  If you like orange cake, it's a good version for a pound cake.  I liked it with the glaze I spread over it.  I spread the glaze while the pound cake was still slightly warm so that it melted a bit over and into the cake before it set.  Yum.  This is also perfect for summer picnics and barbecues not to mention sending in care packages.  If you're sending it somewhere warm, it's best to leave off the glaze or it'll just melt in transit.

Note the nice pound-cakey texture

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

6 ounces (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 2/3 cups sugar

Grated peel of 2 oranges

4 large eggs

¾ cup sour cream

One 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan, buttered and floured

1.     Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

2.     Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

3.     Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, sugar and orange peel on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes with a stand mixer.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  On low speed, stir in the sour cream and then the dry ingredients.

4.     Spread the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 60 minutes.

5.     Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes.  Run a small knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen it.  Invert the cake onto a wire rack and remove the pan.  Let cool completely.