Orange Pound Cake
I love anything lemon. But oranges are a refreshing alternative.
This pound cake is easy to make. It’s just a straight-forward cake batter of wet and dry ingredients blended together, poured into a loaf pan and baked. The most time-consuming part is grating the zest.
The cake makes for a light ending to a meal, or a lovely afternoon snack with a cup of Earl Grey.
If you want to make this a Lemon Pound Cake, all the same ingredients would apply, just substitute lemon juice and lemon zest for the orange.
Recently I had some orange juice in the fridge that needed to be used, so I made this cake for guests we were having over for dinner. It was really delicious and got gobbled up in 1 sitting (there were some hungry boys involved). I made the syrup called for at the end of the recipe and felt the cake was a bit too sweet. So next time I would reduce the amount of sugar. But you can leave it at a cup if you prefer.
Orange Pound Cake
Ingredients:
1/4 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar (if you prefer things less sweet, try 3/4 cup)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. grated orange zest (preferably from organic fruit)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp orange juice
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp buttermilk, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. vanilla extra
For the glaze:
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Mix in eggs, one at a time. Add the freshly grated orange zest.
Create orange zest using a fine grater.
Sift all the dry ingredients together in one bowl. In another bowl, blend the wet ingredients. Add wet and dry mixtures alternatively to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.
Pour batter into loaf pan and smooth the top. Bake 45-50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes.
Blend powdered sugar with orange juice in a small saucepan and heat over low heat until the sugar dissolves and everything comes together nicely. Spoon over warm cake and allow it to cool completely.
Instead of the sugar/juice syrup, you can just dust your cake (once completely cooled), with powdered sugar.
