Orange-Pecan-Spice Pound Cake
(from Lucianolinda’s recipe box)
Source: Southern Living
Serves 12 peopleCategories: Cakes - Frosting - Icing
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted and divided
- 1 lb. butter, softened
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 Tbsp. grated orange rind
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. lemon extract
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- Orange Syrup:
- 1 large orange
- 1 cup sugar
- Glazed Pecan Halves, option
- Boxwood Garland, optional
Directions
- Sprinkle 1 1/4 cups finely chopped pecans into a generously buttered 10-inch tube pan. (Excess nuts will fall to bottom of pan. Make sure nuts are in an even layer on bottom of pan. Set aside.
- Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.
- Combine flour and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in remaining 3/4 cups pecans, grated orange rind, cinnamon, nutmeg, and next 4 ingredients. Spoon batter evenly into prepared pan.
- Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 30 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove cake from pan; invert cake, pecan crust-side-up, onto a wire rack.
- Brush top and sided of pound cake gently several times with hot Orange Syrup, using a 2-inch-wide pastry brush and allowing the cake to absorb the Orange Syrup after each brushing. (Do not pour syrup over the cake.) Let cake cool completely on wire rack. Arrange
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Glazed Pecan Halves around top of cake, if desired. Arrange Boxwood Garland around bottom of cake before serving, if desired.
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Orange Syrup:
- Remove rind from orange with a vegetable peeler, being careful not to get the bitter white
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pith. Set orange rind aside. Squeeze orange to get 1/2 cup juice.
- Combine orange rind, juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat, and boil 2 minutes.