Subtle orange, with a hint of bitterness against the sweet. Oranges are sweeter and less sour than lemons, so the balance needs to be controlled. Also, this was the first time I’ve used a stand mixer, and with some adjustments it worked out great. We need to be careful not to over mix, which is quite easy to do now that I’m not hand beating anymore. Our first loaf turned out a bit too crispy on top, so I recommend setting the timer for 45 minutes, checking the browning and potentially covering with foil. This first attempt involved a test at 50 mins and adding 12 more with the foil cover.
Next time I might try this with lemon zest (instead of orange) and whole blueberries
Orange Vanilla Poundcake
-
Prep Time:
20m
-
Cook Time:
1h
-
Total Time:
1h 30m
Ingredients
- 1/2 c Unsalted butter, softened at room temperature (1 stick)
- 1 1/4 c Sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp. Grated orange zest
- 1 tsp. Pure vanilla extract
- 2 c All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (skip if using salted butter)
- 3/4 c Sour cream
Orange glaze
- 1/4 c Confectioners' sugar
- 2 tbsp. Fresh orange juice (about 1 medium orange)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan (or similar).
- Using an electric or stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light.
- After the butter and sugar are well creamed, continue beating and add the lemon zest, then the eggs, one at a time. Continue mixing until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet in roughly 4 separate pours. Between each dry mix add around 1/4 of the sour cream (basically alternating mixing in dry vs sour cream).
- When mixed, spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick or butter knife comes out clean. If the cake starts to brown too much and it's not done, cover with foil and continue baking.
- Place on rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
Optional: Sweet orange glaze
- Sift the powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Slowly whisk in the orange juice until desired consistency is reached. 2 tbsp should yield a glaze consistency, or if you'd like it to be more liquid, add 2 more tbsp orange juice.
- If glazed, brush the top of the loaf. If you went more liquid, brush all sides twice, letting it rest 10-15 mins between each application.
