I was flipping through my Bon Appetit magazine and came across this easy pound cake recipe. I just had to try it, especially since it uses cream cheese, which is supposed to guarantee a moist cake. I am proud to say that it was a success, and the result actually looks like the photo in the magazine! The only difference I made was that I didn't use the citrus glaze because I thought the lemon syrup was enough for me, personally. I used a basic glaze; recipes below.
Ingredients
Cake
-
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
-
1 1/2
cups
cake flour
-
1/2
teaspoon
baking powder
-
1/2
teaspoon
kosher salt
-
1/4
teaspoons
baking soda
-
1 1/2
cups
sugar, divided
-
2
teaspoons
finely grated orange zest
-
1
teaspoon
finely grated lemon zest
-
1/2
teaspoon
finely grated lime zest
-
3/4
cup
(1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
-
2/3
cup
cream cheese (5 ounces), room temperature
-
3
large eggs
-
1
teaspoon
vanilla extract
-
1/4
cup
fresh lemon juice
Citrus Glaze (I did not use this)
-
1 1/4
cups
powdered sugar
-
1/2
teaspoon
finely grated lemon zest
-
1/2
teaspoon
finely grated orange zest
-
1/4
teaspoon
finely grated lime zest
-
2
tablespoons
fresh orange juice
-
1 1/2
tablespoons
fresh lemon juice
-
1
tablespoon
fresh lime juice
-
Special equipment:
A 9x4x3-inch loaf pan
The basic glaze recipe that I used:
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 cup of powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon of milk
Beat all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.
Drizzle on the cooled cake.
Preparation
cake
-
Preheat oven to 350°. Coat loaf
pan generously with nonstick spray; line bottom and long sides with
parchment paper, leaving about 1 1/2-inch overhang. Coat paper with
nonstick spray.
-
Sift flour, baking powder,
salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Combine 1 1/4 cups
sugar and all zest in another medium bowl; set aside.
-
Using an electric mixer, beat
butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until blended and smooth, about 2
minutes. Gradually beat in sugar mixture; beat on high speed until very
light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add eggs one at a
time, beating to blend between additions and scraping down sides of bowl
as needed. Beat in vanilla. (Make sure mixture is completely
incorporated so flour won't clump when added.) With mixer on low speed,
gradually add dry ingredients; mix just to blend (do not over mix or cake
will become tough). Scrape batter into prepared pan; smooth top.
-
Bake cake until top is golden
brown and springs back when gently pressed with your fingertips and a
tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes. (I baked for 1 hour 10 minutes). Transfer
to a wire rack and let cake cool in pan for 30 minutes.
-
Meanwhile, stir lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved for lemon syrup.
-
Using parchment-paper overhang
as an aid, remove cake from pan; peel off and discard paper. Place cake
top side up on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet. Using a
skewer, pierce top of cake all over, inserting skewer about halfway
through cake (this helps the lemon syrup to soak in).
-
Using a pastry brush, baste
with lemon syrup. Use all of syrup plus any that may have dripped onto
baking sheet. Let cake cool completely.
Glaze
-
Whisk all ingredients in a
medium bowl; strain, if desired. Pour over cake. Scoop up any glaze that
may have dripped into sheet and spread over top and sides of cake. Let
cake stand at room tempera-ture until icing is set, about 30 minutes.
DO AHEAD: Cake can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.
-
Cut cake into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
Deliciousness
Good luck!
=)
