Orange Pecan Spice Pound Cake

Orange Pecan Spice Pound Cake

Pound Cake is a British creation dating back to the early 1700s. It was an easy recipe to remember because there was a pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. No leavening agents were used, just air whipped into the batter. This recipe would feed multiple families. During the 1800s, the recipe was tweaked to produce a lighter cake and by the 1900s, leavening agents were used.

Pound Cake is one of those dessert cakes that can be found in a bundt (mini and big) shape, loaf shape, or a tube shape. There are many varieties of pound cake depending on what you are looking for in a recipe. A friend of mine from Georgia makes a killer Pound cake recipe. One year she baked up some for us to take on a research trip to Belize and Guatemala. As she stated, "You can eat some during your flights and save some to throw at the jaguars if they are chasing you!" I was happy when she gave me the recipe before moving to Switzerland. My step-grandfather made a killer Cream Cheese Pound Cake. He was born and bred in Kentucky and this was a recipe he was known for making. He gave my mom the recipe along with the specialized pan he made it in. Not long after getting the recipe, Preston died. In remembering him, my grandmother overheard that he had given my mom the recipe. Gran stated that "not even his daughters have that recipe". This is the recipe we use and sell at the farmer's market in a loaf form but it can also be purchased in big form using the pan Preston used to make it.

I'm on a citrus kick so I decided to make a pound cake with orange in it along with some pecans and some additional spices that I wouldn't use if I was making a normal pound cake. I used a bundt cake pan because this cake is going to a friend's house for a potluck dinner and the bundt pan adds a little decorative touch to the cake. The finished product will be plated, brushed with an orange syrup and garnished with orange and pecan halves around the edge of the cake.

Ingredients: 2 cups finely chopped pecans, 1 lb. butter, softened, 3 c sugar, 6 large eggs, 4 c flour, 1/8 tsp. salt, 3/4 c milk, 2 TBSP. orange zest, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1 tsp. each of pure vanilla, pure lemon, and pure orange extract, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves.

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350. Arrange pecans in a shallow pan and bake 10 minutes or until toasted and fragrant, stir after 5 minutes. (BE CARE THEY BURN QUICKLY). Reduce oven temp to 300. (2) Grease and flour pan or you can grease the pan and use about 1 1/4 c of pecans to coat the bottom and the sides of the pan evenly. This will add a crisp coating to the pound cake. Make sure the pecans are evenly distributed along the bottom of the pan. (3) Beat butter on medium speed until creamy and gradually add in sugar, mixing well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated. (4) Combine flour and salt and add to butter mixture alternatively with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in orange zest, spices, extracts, and remaining pecans. Spoon into prepared pan. (5) Bake at 300 for 1.5 hours or until skewer  comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack for 20 min. Remove cake from pan and invert it so the pecan crust side is up. If you didn't add the pecans during step 2, just invert the cake. Brush orange syrup* along tops and sides and cool for an hour. Plate and garnish and serve.

*Orange Syrup can be brushed along the top and sides of the pound cake several times. To make the syrup you need 1 orange and 1 c sugar. Zest the orange for 2 TBSP and squeeze the orange for 1/2 c of juice. Stir zest, juice and sugar in small saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 3 min. or until sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to med-high and bring mixture to boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 3 min. Use immediately on cake. (DON'T POUR SYRUP OVER CAKE!)

**I added more zest because I love that citrus flavor. While making the cake, I don't level off the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) but use heaping teaspoons.  If I dress up the cake fancy, I'll make crystallized orange peels and glazed pecans. If I don't feel like doing the extra work, I just use raw pecan halves and orange slices.