Orange Pound Cake

This has a been a year for trying new things for me. I have tried about a half dozen different pound cake recipes so far, and I really haven't been disappointed with any of them. Another thing that has been new for me this year is working with fresh citrus fruit using zest and juice in recipes. There really is nothing quite like it. Seriously. You should try it! I found this recipe for Orange Pound Cake Mini Loaves on Pinterest, and decided that this would be a great Monday treat at work. It went very well and I received quite a few compliments on it. I decided to just use regular loaf pans and it worked well. Another alteration is that I used about 1/2-1 tsp of almond extract in the glaze. It was a divine addition.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tsps pure vanilla extract
2 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 cup orange zest

For Simple Syrup:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar

For Glaze (optional):
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 Tbsps freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Generously grease and flour four 5 3/4" x 3 1/4" x 2" mini loaf pans or 2 regular size loaf pans and lay a strip of parchment paper along the bottom and up the two long sides of each pan, pressing the paper into the corners of the pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Measure buttermilk, orange juice, and vanilla into a measuring cup. Set aside.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter until creamy. Blend in sugar and beat for a few minutes until light and fluffy.

 

Mix in eggs, one at a time, and orange zest, and beat until well incorporated.

With mixer on low, slowly pour in 1/3 of the flour mixture. Mix in half of the buttermilk mixture. Blend in another 1/3 of the flour mixture and remaining buttermilk mixture. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until just blended.

Divide batter between prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

While loaves bake, prepare orange simple syrup. Stir together 1/2 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup sugar in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat while occasionally stirring, then reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes. Remove pot from heat and set aside to cool.

When cakes are done, cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack. Set rack over a sheet pan or piece of foil, and using a brush or a spoon, soak each cake with simple syrup.

 

Allow to cool completely. For glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and 1/2 tsp almond extract and enough orange juice for a smooth spreading consistency (about 1 1/2 Tbsps) in a small bowl. Drizzle over cakes and allow to set and harden before wrapping loaves or storing them in an airtight container.

Lemon Pound Cake

I have fallen in love with lemon this year. I keep several lemons in my refrigerator at all times now. The smell of fresh lemon zest ranks among one of the best in the world to me. So when I saw this recipe for Lemon Pound Cake on Pinterest, I had to give it a try. I upped the ante on the recipe though by adding a sweet lemony glaze to the pound cake. It. is. so. good. I received so many compliments on this one at work (I took it in for one of my "Monday treats." My mom asked for one to take to a party and liked it so much that she has already asked me to make three for her for an event next month! The fresh lemon juice and the zest just add such a fresh citrus spark to this cake. You really should give it a try!

3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1.5 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
5 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
6 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest

Glaze

1-2 cups powdered sugar

1-3 Tbsps lemon juice

1/2 tsp almond extract

1-2 tsp lemon zest

Frosting

1.5 cups unsalted butter

1.5 lbs powdered sugar

1-2 Tbsp of lemon zest

3-6 Tbsp of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray or butter and flour two loaf pans or one large Bundt pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into medium bowl. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream butter, shortening and sugar.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until well blended after each one.

Add dry ingredients in three additions to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.

Mix in lemon juice and zest.

Pour batter into prepared pans.

 

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes. Turn cakes out onto racks and cool completely. Note, I've made this pound cake twice now, and both times, I've lost large chunks of my cake when I turned it out of the pan. Still working on that... BUT, add the glaze and you will not care!

To make the glaze, add the almond extract and enough lemon juice to your powdered sugar so that it is thick enough to drizzle, but not too runny. Add in lemon zest. Drizzle onto completely cooled cake.

Key Lime Poundcake

As with many others my age who grew up in the 80s, we were inundated with offers of meals that were faster and easier to make. Microwaves could cook entire meals, and nearly everything came from a box. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I've learned lately, that it really isn't THAT much harder to make things from scratch. I had never had homemade pound cake until a couple of years ago. All I had ever had was Duncan Hines pound cake, and while it is tasty, it is only good until you have the real thing. I no longer buy it, because pound cake is so easy to make. I also never knew that there were so many varieties of pound cake. The past year I've made about five or six different kinds of pound cake, and I haven't been disappointed in a single one. 

This one for Key Lime Pound Cake, I came across on Pinterest while searching for recipes that use fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice. This cake is so fresh and flavorful and moist. The bad thing though is that key limes only produce about a teaspoon or two of fresh juice each, so I had to juice a lot of key limes and then still had to use some regular limes to make up the difference. Still, I highly recommend this recipe.

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lime zest
1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice

Key Lime Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp fresh Key lime juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat butter and shortening at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy.

 Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

 

Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice.

 

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (12-cup) tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. 

To prepare Key Lime Glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, fresh Key lime juice, and vanilla until smooth. Brush over top and sides of cake. Cool completely (about 1 hour).