This citrus pound cake is bright with both orange and lemon flavors—truly a delightful treat. For pound cake enthusiasts, I’ve gathered all my pound cake recipes on the blog in one place.
It has been overcast for days and the cool weather is a welcome break before the long, hot summer. Today is May 2, 2013. I live in Garner, North Carolina, and my parents live in Indian Trail. This week we celebrated Auntie Leenie’s 93rd birthday.
Our senior cat, Sammy, is 14 and doing well; we cherish each day with him. The other cats range from four years old down to little Lester, who is two.
This morning I went strawberry picking with a friend and her twin two-year-old boys. We picked only the ripe red berries and fed carrots to horses named Bacall and Cooper. I mention these details to fix this moment in time — where I was, who I was with, and what I was doing — because it’s the day The Peoplehood of the Traveling Swirly Pan launched. The project is the beginning of something that may take years and might never be “finished,” and that’s part of the excitement.
I baked a very special cake last night in The Swirly Pan — the Heritage Bundt Swirl Pan by NordicWare, which I call Dorothy. This cake is the first of many that Dorothy will shape with her nine beautiful swirls. After baking, I cleaned Dorothy, wrote the recipe in the journal, and prepared to send her (and Toto, the smaller pan) on to the next participant so the Peoplehood can continue to grow.
Today the Peoplehood counts nearly two hundred members across the United States and Canada. Dorothy even has a sister pan, Matilda, that will travel to Australia. Members will take turns baking with Dorothy and journaling their experience. We’ll share on social media and eventually on a dedicated website. Along the way we hope members will meet in person to hand-deliver the pan, share coffee or a meal, and perhaps bake together.
Through this project we’re building a community connected by shared experience, food, and storytelling. Each cake baked and each journal entry will add to the Peoplehood’s ongoing narrative. I love the idea of Dorothy as a needle that stitches our diverse experiences together into a colorful quilt, one unique patch at a time.
The special cake I baked will be mailed to a friend in New England whose help made it possible for our group to show another friend how much we care. Below is the recipe so you can make the cake too.
Citrus Explosion Pound Cake
Jennifer Field
30 mins
1 hr
1 hr 30 mins
Ingredients
- 13 oz cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 5 eggs
- 5 ½ oz plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
- 3 ½ oz freshly squeezed , strained lemon juice
- 1 oz freshly squeezed , strained orange juice
- 12 oz unsalted butter
- 20 oz granulated sugar
- 1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
- zest of 1 orange
- zest of 1 1/2 lemons
- ⅛ teaspoon lemon extract
- 3 drops orange oil (or 1/4 teaspoon extract)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and set the rack one position below center.
- Prepare your pan(s) with a light coating of oil/flour spray or regular cooking spray followed by a thorough dusting of flour; remove excess flour.
- Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Crack the eggs into a pitcher and whisk well. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, and orange juice. Set aside.
- Cream the butter until smooth.
- Add the sugar, salt, citrus zests, orange oil (or extract), and lemon extract.
- Beat until the mixture is very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed; this takes about 8–10 minutes.
- With the mixer on medium speed, slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs over about five minutes, adding just a bit at a time and scraping the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer off, add half the flour mixture, turn mixer on low and mix briefly, then add half the yogurt mixture.
- Turn off the mixer, scrape the bowl, add half of the remaining flour, mix briefly, then add the rest of the yogurt mixture.
- Turn the mixer off, add the remaining flour, and fold the batter by hand a few times, making sure to reach the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Return the bowl to the mixer and run at high speed for 3 seconds to finish.
- Scrape and smooth the batter into the prepared pan(s).
- Bake until done: about 1 hour for a 12-cup Bundt, about 50 minutes for the swirly pan, about 35 minutes for a small 6″ cake, and 18–20 minutes for cupcakes. Test for doneness with a skewer or toothpick.
- When the cakes test done, remove from the oven and cool on a rack: about 20 minutes for Bundt or swirly pan cakes, or about 10 minutes for regular layers.
- Turn the cakes out of the pans. For extra moistness, wrap tightly in plastic and chill in the fridge or freezer before serving.
- Serve at room temperature.
Notes
Please tell us how it went!
Please join the Adventures of Dorothy and Toto through the Peoplehood of the Traveling Swirly Pan by filling out the form on the Peoplehood website to be added to the map. I look forward to the voyage.
If you’re already in the Peoplehood or thinking about joining, please leave a comment and share your thoughts, questions, or encouragement. Thanks for reading, and have a lovely day.