In 2009 I gave myself a Christmas present (sidenote…I think everyone should do this) of a Baking Series class at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts in Cambridge, MA. I didn’t have a blog then, and I didn’t know much about baking, but I knew I wanted to learn. And boy, did I!
It was a wonderful experience, and I baked and ate many, many (many) things…but the recipe I enjoyed the most was this Sour Cream Citrus Pound Cake. Banish all thoughts of bottled extracts, and grab an orange, lime, and some lemons instead. The tang of the citrus zest gives the cake such a wonderful aroma and flavor, and like all pound cakes, it also works well as a Bundt…arguably my favorite way to serve cake.
Check your frosting at the door, ma’am. Mix up a simple glaze and drizzle that on instead, thank you very much!
Look at that shining beauty! Don’t worry about wasting the glaze. Once you remove the wire rack you can run your finger down the baking sheet and pucker up.
I thought this was a great cake to make for Easter, since this is the time of year when we New Englanders are at the point where we would seriously consider trading a kidney…or a firstborn…for a few warm breezes and the promise of summer.
Speaking of Easter…how lovely was the hydrangea-themed Easter table at John’s parents’ house?
The girls got a little something extra. See those little purple pouches? They were foldable shopping bags with little lotions tucked inside! Adult Easter party favors were one fun thing…
These Peep-Tini’s were another! John’s mom Maureen outdid herself – these were so cute and refreshingly fruity. Now that I am too old for a proper Easter basket, I refuse to waste any sugar offered to me on Easter Sunday…so I didn’t waste the coconut grass rim or the Peep. You can also see that there are jellybeans in the bottom of the glass for a little extra burst of sugar. I never turn jellybeans down…
I also never turn down a slice of this cake.
That donut-y crackly glaze is just heaven.
I had a wonderful and delicious Easter. If you celebrate it, I hope you did, too!
Sour Cream Citrus Pound Cake
Adapted from Roberta L. Dowling – Basic Baking Cake Recipes, Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
Grated zest of 1 orange, 1 lime, and 2 lemons
Lemon Glaze
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease/flour one 12-cup Bundt pan or two 9×5 loaf pans. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, stopping to scrape the side of the bowl as needed with a rubber spatula.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a small bowl, combine sour cream with vanilla and citrus zests.
- Add dry and wet ingredients alternately to butter and sugar mixture until just combined – do not overmix.
- Pour batter into Bundt pan or loaf pans and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow cake/s to cool before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely. Drizzle glaze, allow glaze to harden, then enjoy!