Holiday pound cake
Today's
luscious pound cake descended from a nineteenth century French recipe calling
for equal weights of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. The cake weighed 4 pounds.
This is a recipe for mini-pound cakes decorated with candied lemon peel stars.
Cake
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking
powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated
sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons
vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon Fiori di
Sicilia
1 cup butter, softened
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons glacé
fruit mix, chopped
Lemon Glaze
Lemon peel
1/4 cup fresh lemon
juice
1/2 cup granulated
sugar
1. Preheat
the oven to 350°
.
2. Cake batter: Butter and
flour two 5 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2-inch
mini-loaf
pans, which are available in grocery stores.
3. In a medium bowl, sift the
flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In a large bowl, cream the
sugar, vanilla, Fiori di Sicilia and
butter. Beat in
eggs, one at a time, then add the flour mixture.
Stir in the fruit
or your choice of poppy seeds or currants.
5. Divide batter into the loaf
pans. Bake in preheated oven 30
minutes, then
reduce heat to 300°
and bake for 20 minutes.
Turn out and slice
off each top. Turn upside down with the
cut side down on a
plate. You can eat tops or use them as the
for some of the
cake in a trifle recipe.
6.
To decorate cakes, slice large thin pieces of lemon peel with
a vegetable
peeler or small sharp knife. Slice off any bitter
white pith. Use
a mini-star cutter to cut out baby stars from
the lemon peel.
7. Lemon glaze: Heat the
lemon juice, sugar and lemon peel
stars in 1-quart
saucepan. When syrup is thick and bubbly,
remove candied
stars and place on wax paper. Pour hot syrup
over loaves and
let set until cooled. Arrange half the stars on
each cake. Cool
completely.
8. Tear off a 6-inch piece of
baking parchment. Fold in half,
then cut into 2
pieces. Cut the edges in a scalloped pattern.
Open up and set
each cake on paper. Fold up around the
cake and slide
into a mini-cellophane bag. Tie with a bow.
Makes
2 mini-loaves