Elegant and Affordable: Pound Cake with Candied Lemon Zest

Today is my husband’s birthday.  We had a couple friends over to celebrate this past weekend and I, of course, had to make him a birthday cake.  But… birthday cakes in our house never tend to be traditional.  If you can put a candle in it, it’s a “birthday cake”.  Well, you can certainly put a candle in this pound cake!  We found it to be moist and delicious, plus it came from a new favorite cookbook of mine — “The New American Olive Oil” by Fran Gage.  What’s different about this pound cake is that instead of butter, you use olive oil.  It gave the cake a finer texture which really worked out nicely.

This cake is good plain, as well as drizzled with Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar!

Pound Cake with Candied Lemon Zest — modified from The New American Olive Oil

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 lg eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1-2 ounces Candied Lemon Zest, finely chopped
• Cooking spray
• Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

Stir the vanilla and lemon juice in with the buttermilk and set aside.

Beat the olive oil and sugar on medium speed with the paddle attachment of a stand mixture, or medium speed with a hand mixer.  Combine until slightly fluffy, scrapping the sides.  Note that the mixture will not be as airy as it is with a beaten butter-sugar mixture.

Break the eggs in a small bowl and beat them lightly with a fork.  With the mixture running, drizzle the eggs into the oil-sugar mixture a little at a time until it is all incorporated.

Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture.  Start and end with the flour mixture.

Beat the lemon peel into the batter until just combined.

Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray.  Line the inside of the pan with parchment paper.  (This allows for easy removal of the cooked pound cake without any mess or breakage).

Pour batter into the loaf pan and bake for 45-55 minutes, or until puffed and browned (and the toothpick test comes out clean).

Remove cake from oven and let sit on a cooling rack for five minutes before removing from the pan.

If desired top with extra Candied Lemon Zest and serve with Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar.