7 Days of Oranges - Day 7

Orange Glazed Pound Cake

Today is the last day of my 7 Days of Oranges mission. "Saving the best for last" phrase applies here. For my last course, dessert, I made an Orange Glazed Pound Cake. Oh my gosh, it was sublime. The orange flavor wasn't over powering. There were subtle hints of the orange throughout the cake and stronger notes of orange in the glaze. The glaze was made with not only with orange juice but also the zest. So every time I took a bite of the glaze with zest I tasted a burst of orange flavor. The cake was dense but moist and had a sweet buttery taste. I served this with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a few of the mint leaves I had left over from my Orange-Mint Asparagus, Lima Beans and Peas recipe. I wish I would have taken a picture but just imagine the taste of orange glazed pound cake with ice cream and fresh mint. Yum! I made 4 small loafs as opposed to 1 large loaf and I'm regretting it. Why you ask? Because it's like eating Timbits or Munchkin Doughnut Holes; they give the illusion you aren't eating much but in reality 5 Timbits equals 1 doughnut. I almost always pop 5 or more of those things in my mouth in like 30 seconds, seriously! I'm way better off just eating one full size doughnut. We'll same thing with my mini Orange Glazed Pound Cakes. I would cut  myself a slice, eat it, only to find myself cutting a second piece and then a third piece. Not good for my upcoming Punta Cana trip! I wish I could say these are low fat but sadly they are not. So whether you make 4 mini loafs, 1 large loaf or in a bundt pan don't be surprised if you find yourself eating a 1/3 of it yourself just like I did! Salute to my 7 Days of Oranges mission successfully accomplished!

Orange zest in the mix

Just out of the oven

Drizzling the orange glaze

Dense and moist, buttery and sweet, orange delight

Orange Glazed Pound Cake (Click to print recipe)

Preparation and cook time: 60 minutes

Serves 10

Ingredients:

• 1 cup softened butter
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 t orange zest
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs

For Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups confectionary sugar
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 t orange zest

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 4 mini loaf pans or 1 9 x 5 loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl add flour, baking powder and salt and mix well. Using a mixer beat the butter and sugar until fluffy about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Add the orange zest and the orange juice and mix. Add the four and mix well. Pour the batter in the loaf pans evenly. Bake for 25 minutes in mini loaf pans or 45 minutes in large loaf pan or when toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake on wire racks.

For glaze: In a bowl mix confectionary sugar, orange zest and orange juice until thick and creamy. Pour glaze over cake until top is covered. Let glaze set and harden a bit about 1 hour. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Food impressions:

Nate: "Wow this is super good. Can I have this for snack tonight, breakfast tomorrow and in my lunch?"

Tyler: "Oh my gosh, this is like grandma's frosted cupcakes"

Zachary: "It tastes like an orange. It's really good mom."

Dave: He doesn't even eat dessert and he ate this and loved it. It's not overly sweet so I think that why he liked it.

Andrea: A nice alternative to regular pound cake. Great for dessert and even great for breakfast! Loved this. What a great way to end my 7 days of oranges mission.