Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Orange Pound Cake


Apparently I've become obsessed with orange cake after the last try from the retro recipe box. I decided to try Ina's version (from Barefoot Contessa Family Style) this weekend and see how it turned out. I also happened to have half a bag of oranges and I like to use my juicer attachment on the kitchen aid.

I liked how it turned out - it was a lot more moist than the Orange Velvet Cake, but I still wasn't really sold. The orange is nice, but it's just not as good as a lemon flavour, in my opinion. The bittersweet chocolate buttons that I used on the top gave it a nice lift!!

I'd be interested to hear if anyone has a fantastic orange cake recipe that they would like to share!


½ pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
2 ½ cups granulated sugar - divided
4 extra-large eggs (at room temperature)
1/3 cup grated orange zest (6 oranges)
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice - divided
¾ cup buttermilk at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Glaze
1 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice


Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease two 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ -inch loaf pans. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the orange zest.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine ¼ cup orange juice, the buttermilk and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Combine ½ cup granulated sugar with ½ cup orange juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves and makes a syrup. When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes, then invert them onto a rack set over a tray, and spoon the orange syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the top of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

13 comments:

grace said...

isn't it amazing how a little chocolate can improve almost anything? i'm sure the glaze didn't hurt, either. :)

Anonymous said...

ina garten is amazing. i love her cooking shows. your pound cake looks v good and sturdy. and those chocolate buttons look like the best bit in my opinion! :D x

Anonymous said...

I love Ina too! I just posted about her lemon cake last week. It was delicious! This recipe sounds great too, but I can understand how the orange flavor was not as strong as lemon would be. I'll be on the lookout for a good orange cake recipe!

Maria♥ said...

Your Orange Pound Cake looks delicious. My son would love this, he loves orange cakes.

Maria
x

Patricia Scarpin said...

That looks wonderful - one more orange cake for me to try!

RecipeGirl said...

Looks good to me :) I love the look of oozy icing.

I've been doing a series of Ina recipes on my blog right now. I must have missed this one!

Tarah at Genesis of a Cook said...

That looks beautiful!!! Wonderfully done!

Brilynn said...

I don't have a recipe for you, but I do have a technique that I learned from Dorie Greenspan and that I use all the time now. Instead of adding the zest in later, start by rubbing it together with the sugar, it releases the oils better and smells fabulous!

Anonymous said...

Well it looks great. Orange and chocolate are really a classic flavor pairing. I can see how that improved the taste.

Deborah said...

This is so funny, because just last night I was eyeing the Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake in Barefoot Contessa Parties. I just compared these two, and they are really similar - the biggest difference is that this one has a glaze that goes over the top, and then a ganache. I wonder how different the end results are...

renae said...

Oh my gosh!!! That looks incredible!!!!

Cathie said...

Brilynn - thanks for the tip!!

Deborah - I bet the orange chocolate chunk cake is even better! I forgot all about that one - I'm going to have to give it a try!!

Jules said...

I made this last weekend. Just the cake, not the syrup and icing. I loved it! So moist and such a strong orange taste.

I wasn't prepared for the amount of orange cake I would end up with, though (my own fault for not reading the recipe before starting). I had to take cake to work to unload on my coworkers (they didn't complain ;)

Thanks for the recipe!