I don’t claim to be a baker.. like at all. There is too much precision involved. I’m a cook as you go kinda girl. I like to taste, adjust, taste again. Add a dash of this, a pinch of that. I like to be a free spirit in the kitchen.
That being said, I love a good pound cake. And I had a serious craving for a slice the other weekend. I was feeling very introverted during this craving so going to a coffee shop or bakery was really out of the question. It took an enormous amount of energy just to summon the courage to go to the grocery store. Don’t worry, I managed.. somehow!!
This recipe is based off of Ina Garten’s “Plain Pound Cake.” I would trust Ina with my life. No, seriously. I bet she’s wouldn’t shy away from a bar fight, if you know what I mean. I especially trust her with my baking recipes.
But obviously I had to jazz it up a little. I had made a lemon pound cake years & years ago. I definitely was feeling the citrus vibe but I was leaning more towards something sweet instead of sour. So after establishing all of my cravings, I decided an almond orange poppyseed pound cake was the absolute right path to take.
I pretty much followed Ina’s instructions to a T with a few minor tweaks. Her recipe was for 2 loaves & I was only needing to make 1 ( so I obviously ½ everything. )
To begin, I creamed together the room temp butter & sugar until it was light, fluffy & amazing. Then I added my eggs 1 at a time.
Then in separate bowls I mixed together all of my dry ingredients ( flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt ) & then my buttermilk & extracts ( almond & vanilla. )
After everything was well combined, I alternated adding the flour mixture & the buttermilk mixture to my butter/sugar/egg mixture. Beautiful, already.
This is finally where my creative & cravings energy came into play. I added orange zest, orange juice & poppy seeds to the batter. O.M.G. !!!
* if the batter is too runny, you can add and extra tablespoon of flour. I had to do this & it worked out perfectly.
I sprayed a loaf tin & then also added parchment paper, then sprayed the parchment paper. I was very concerned with it coming out clean as you can tell.
This little baby went into the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes.
AND AS SOON AS IT CAME OUT OF THE OVEN I poked as many deep holes as possible with a toothpick & poured my sweet, sweet glaze ( juice & zest from an orange, almond extract, vanilla extract & powdered sugar ) all over it. It’s going to look like A LOT of glaze. It is. But just let it sit for about an hour & all of that goodness will get soaked up right into the cake.
This was so satisfying. I may just be a baker yet!
Maybe don’t hold your breath on it though..
Bon Appetit!
ellyn
Yields 1 pound cake
Ingredients:
- Butter, 1 stick – room temperature
- Sugar, 1 cup
- Eggs, 2
- AP flour, 1.5 cups
- Baking powder, ¼ teaspoon
- Baking soda, ¼ teaspoon
- Kosher salt, ½ teaspoon
- Buttermilk, ½ cup – room temperature
- Vanilla extract, 1.5 teaspoons – divided
- Almond extract, 5 teaspoons – divided
- Orange zest from 1.5 oranges – divided
- Fresh orange juice, ⅔ cup – divided
- Poppy Seeds, 1 tablespoon
- Powdered sugar, 1.5 cups
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375.
- Cream together room temperature butter & sugar. Add eggs – 1 at a time – mixing well to combine. Set aside.
- Mix together dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
- Combine buttermilk with ½ a teaspoon of vanilla & 2 teaspoons of almond extract.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients & the buttermilk mixture to the butter/sugar/egg mix. Add a little at a time so everything is fully incorporated – beginning & ending with the flour mixture.
- Once all combined, add zest of 1 orange, ⅓ cup orange juice & 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds. If the batter seems to runny, add 1 tablespoon of flour.
- Add parchment paper to a loaf tin, spray generously with cooking spray. Add batter.
- Bake for 45 minutes – 1 hour.
- While the cake bakes, make the glaze. Mix together 1.5 cups of powdered sugar, the zest of ½ an orange, ⅓ cup fresh orange juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla & 3 teaspoons almond extract.
- Once the loaf is cooked through, poke as many holes as possible with a toothpick. Slowly pour over the glaze. It will look like a lot of glaze, but it will all soak in.
- Let sit for 1 hour or until glaze is absorbed.
- Enjoy!
