Back from vacation with fresh orange pound cake with passion fruit icing

Hey, everyone!

After a couple of weeks on vacation I am back home, tired and immensely happy. I haven’t baked in a while but have a delicious cake recipe to share with you today, something I prepared weeks ago and that turned out really good. The passion fruit icing is completely optional: in fact, I personally liked the cake better without it.

Oh, and I’ll be answering your questions and emails over the next few days. :)

Fresh orange pound cake with passion fruit icing
adapted from the wonderful and delicious Desserts from the Famous Loveless Cafe

Cake:
1 ¾ sticks (198g) unsalted butter, softened
1 ¾ cups (350g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 large oranges
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup sour cream*
1 ½ tablespoons orange juice

Glaze:
2 cups (280g) icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons passion fruit juice, more if necessary

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter two 20x10x5cm (8x4x2in) loaf pans, line them with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar, zest and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the yolks, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt over the bowl, add the sour cream and juice and fold together by hand. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until the cakes are golden and risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans over a wire rack for 10-15 minutes then carefully unmold onto the rack. Peel off the paper. Cool completely.
Make the glaze: sift the icing sugar into a medium bowl, add the passion fruit juice gradually, mixing until desire consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Makes 2 loaves (serves 6 each)