Rosemary Orange Pound Cake

Submitted by Gay Gilmore

"Make this orange and rosemary scented cake up to 3 months ahead. (found this on the internet somewhere as a request for someone, haven't made myself -- based on errors pointed out in reviews, I have corrected recipe 10/07)"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 2 loaves
• Serves: 20

ingredients

• 1 cup butter (no substitutes)
• 4 -5 eggs
• 2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon orange extract or 1/4 teaspoon orange blossom water
• 2 teaspoons orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange juice, for icing
• 1 cup powdered sugar, for icing
• fresh rosemary, for garnish (optional)

directions

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Grease and lightly flour two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans.
3. Combine flour and baking powder.
4. Set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds or until softened.
6. Gradually add sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating on medium speed about 6 minutes or until very light and fluffy.
7. Beat in honey.
8. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low to medium speed for 1 minute after each addition and scraping bowl frequently.
9. (Batter may look slightly curdled.) Gradually add flour mixture, beating on low speed just until combined.
10. Gently stir in snipped or crushed rosemary, orange flower water or extract, orange peel, and orange juice.
11. Pour batter into prepared pans.
12. Bake in a 325 degree F oven about 45 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.
13. Cool in pans for 10 minutes.
14. Remove from pans, and cool on wire racks.
15. For glaze, stir together powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons orange juice.
16. Drizzle over cakes.
17. If desired, top with rosemary sprigs.
18. Make-ahead tip: Prepare cakes as directed, except do not glaze.
19. Place in a freezer container, and freeze for up to 3 months.
20. To serve, thaw at room temperature.
21. Glaze as directed above.

Reviews

[ShaGun]

This was okay, but I was disappointed as I couldn't taste any rosemary or orange for that matter. I brought it to a pot luck and half of it was still left over.

 

[Rita1652]

I made this with 5 eggs and used lavender in place of the rosemary. I find the 2 very interchangeable. I use orange blossom flower water. An 1 cup of powdered sugar was used for the glaze. I loved the honey and lavender flavor. If making 3 months I suggest wrapping very good and freezing without the glaze. I garnished with orange rind and lavender. Thanks for posting.

 

[Vnut-Beyond Redempt]

I made this cake with 2 eggs and it is very soft and delicious. I googled this recipe and found an almost exact recipe. It states 5 eggs. I'm going to try it out with 5 eggs later. Just posting this for anyone who would like to try this recipe.

 

[AKQ165]

Is this recipe correctly entered? The recipe calls for "eggs" and yet only one is listed in the ingredients. It also says orange peel, which is not listed at all in the ingredients. I love the idea of rosemary and orange, but would like the correct amounts please.

 

[L. Duch]

I've always been a huge fan of rosemay. This had a very delicate rosemary flavour and complimented the orange flavour wonderfully. The aroma of it cooking was mouth watering. This was a cinch to make. I used just a bit of the orange extract with the orange juice in the glaze, which gave a bit stronger orange flavour. Wonderful recipe Gay. Thank you for posting. It's definatly a keeper. The only thing was that I had to bake it for an additional 20 min. Took a little longer than I expected, but was well worth the wait. LeeAnn