Blueberry orange pound cake

Nicoletta June 17, 2015

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The flavour of this Blueberry Orange Pound Cake is fantastic: blueberry and orange such a great combo, and the icing on top just completed it all.

I was walking back home after a nice yoga class at my studio Lion’s Breath, all loosened up and limber and in peace with the whole world. My mind was not running its usual hundred miles per hour, just ten, maybe, and the thoughts that I was having were about what to bake in order to have something for breakfast the following day. Breakfast is a huge part of my life and a huge part of my thinking: what to bake, what to have, or where to go.

I like variety, so we try not to have the same thing twice. My husband provides my favourite breakfasts: pancakes, waffles, scones, scrambled eggs and omelettes (I don’t go further than scrambled eggs or omelettes for my breakfast, I am still not fully accustomed to savoury in the morning). Here and there I like to bake something and usually it is a pound, loaf or bundt cake with some fruit and a nice density in case I feel like dipping it in my cappuccino 🙂 .

Back home, a quick scan of the fridge and pantry gave me the idea of what I was going to bake: a luscious Blueberry orange pound cake.

Altough citrus fruits are not in my top list (you should see how funny my face turns when I’m having something citrusy 🙂 ), I regularly incorporate lemons, oranges and limes in my baking. I love the flavour they release in combination with other fruits or chocolate, custard or in a simple shortbread pastry dough.

So, muscles stretched from the yoga practice, I was ready to start baking. And I love baking, I’m telling you just in case you were distracted and didn’t notice 🙂 . I arranged all the ingredients on the island, separated the wet and the dry, washed the blueberries, tasted them for sweetness…hmmm, good… got my stand mixer ready and here we go. Easy peasy, the batter was ready in the blink of an eye. The orange zest smelled so incredibly good and I must say that the orange wasn’t tart at all, I even had a couple slices after the photo shooting.

I like checking the oven when I am baking and I like when I see the top cracked: it means to me that it’s perfectly cooked and has the right density. After an hour in the oven this Blueberry orange pound cake was ready and in that hour I cleaned up the kitchen and relaxed on the couch, reading. Then I thought that a simple icing with orange juice and icing sugar wouldn’t be a bad idea, and it actually wasn’t. The flavour was fantastic, blueberry and orange such a great combo, and the icing added a little sweetness to a cake otherwise not overly sweet.

I had a piece right after taking the pictures and then another after supper with my husband. The morning after it wasn’t something new, but it was still deliciously good.

Enjoy!

Based on a recipe found on Canadian Living.

Blueberry orange pound cake

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup (250 mL) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp (45 mL) milk (I used almond milk)
2 tbsp (30 mL) finely grated orange zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1–1/2 cups (375 mL) fresh wild blueberries

For the Orange Glaze:

1/4 cup (60 mL) icing sugar
3 tbsp (45 mL) orange juice

Instructions

In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until light and creamy.
Beat in milk, orange zest and vanilla.
In separate bowl, whisk together all but 1 tbsp of the flour, baking powder and salt; stir into butter mixture until smooth and blended.
Toss blueberries with remaining flour; fold half into batter.
Scrape half of the batter into 9- x 5-inch (2 L) parchment paper-lined loaf pan.
Sprinkle with remaining blueberries.
Scrape remaining batter over berries, smoothing top.
Bake in 350ºF (180ºC) oven until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean, about 1 hour.
Remove from pan and let cool on a rack for 5-10 minutes.
Orange glaze: In a bowl, mix icing sugar with orange juice, stirring until sugar is dissolved,
With a spoon pour glaze evenly over top.
Let cool on a rack.