Over the holidays, I made this recipe that I had found on an Australian blog site awhile back. I wish I remembered which, but I know it just sounded good. I love to cut and paste recipes and then give them a try, see if I can make them and if we like them. Sometimes, they need a little tweek, but this one was pretty good to go. It has such a lovely smell when it’s cooking, the fresh oranges just make it devine! I would think that you could do the same with other citrus, perhaps lemon? Lime? I might add a teeny bit more sugar to balance out the pucker in those fruits… still, it was a really good treat and I think I’ll be making this again and again!

Orange Pound Cake

1 orange
3 eggs
3/4 a cup melted butter
1 cup white sugar
1½ cups self raising flour OR 1½ plain  (all purpose) flour with 1½ teaspoons baking powder sifted in

Preheat oven to 350 F…. I used two loaf pans for this one, and gave it a little spray of cooking spray. If you’d rather, you can use all in one pan, it will fit. Or it’s nice in a 8 x 8 pan! Wonderfully adaptable recipe!

Cut up an large orange, and chop up the insides. Cut about a 1/4 of the peel really fine or grate with a zester. (Original recipe you just food processed the whole orange, peel and all, but I’ll admit, that was a little toooo, well zesty for us. Too many peel pieces were too big or odd to the texture. When I cut it back to 1/4 of the peel zested or finely diced, it was PERFECT! )

Add the rest of the ingredients and process again or stir until everything is mixed together, about 30 seconds.

Pour in the pan, and cook for about 40 minutes. (A little less if you use a larger pan and it spreads out… just watch it after 25 minutes or so till you find the perfect match) We found that a thin drizzle frosting was just the perfect touch.

Icing…

1 tablespoon of warm water
1 teaspoon of orange extract (or a squeeze of a fresh orange)
powdered sugar by the spoonful until you get a nice thin drizzle frosting. (about a half a cup?)

If you want, you can pierce the hot top of the cake when it is still warm with a fork, and then drizzle the frosting over. Very good. OR…. you can wait till it cools and then make a pretty pattern over the top and it makes a nice presentation, a wonderful coffee cake. OR you can just drizzle a little over a slice or two on a plate for a pretty display!

Super yummy and easy, nice change from the same old cakes…