Citrus
Pound Cake w/Blood Orange Sauce (Halloween)
From:
ArcaMax Publishing's "After Work Gourmet," by Lisa Messinger, via
creators.com & CookingLight.com (10/19/2011)
(Lisa
Messinger is a first-place winner in food writing from the Association of Food
Journalists & the author of seven food books, including "Mrs.
Cubbison's Best Stuffing Cookbook" & "The Sourdough Bread Bowl
Cookbook." She also writes the Creators News Service "Cooks'
Books" column.)
Notes
from Lisa: Do the oranges in your juice benefit from volcanic soil & cool
ocean breezes? If not, you might think about trading up to sweet tart or gory
oranges, choice for Halloween parties because they have the dark red juice of
blood oranges.
Though
not in season until December through May & often difficult to get since
they are mainly grown in the Mediterranean, bottled gourmet imported blood
orange juice is available anytime, often at reasonable prices, from online
retailers, like Amazon.com & at gourmet & specialty chains like Trader
Joe's.
Italian
Volcano Blood Orange Juice brand, recently selling on Amazon.com for about $15
for three 750 ml bottles, is made from oranges from a small area of Eastern
Sicily (the volcanic soil heart of blood orange country) in varying color &
flavor combinations rarely available from other parts of the world. Blood
orange sodas, syrups & concentrates also sell at retailers, perfect for
snow cones & inclusion in sophisticated desserts.
In
fact, blood oranges, since they are sweeter than ordinary varieties, are
considered one of the top dessert oranges in the world. The juice is
outstanding in cakes & sauces for baked goods. It also has a bold
presentation & flavor choice for savory foods, like the Hollandaise-based
maltaise sauce, which it is often used in, or mixed with spices for a cocktail
sauce for shrimp cocktail or dressing for shrimp salad. Cold, slick shrimp
(ghoulishly resembling severed fingers!) with a blood sauce make an interesting
Halloween menu choice.
The
bright red juice, excellent alone as a refreshing beverage, is also the perfect
base for grown-up Halloween party cocktails. Cooking Light magazine suggests a
pitcher of dynamically colored mimosas with 1 / 2 cup strained blood orange
juice, 3 cups champagne or sparkling wine & 1 tablespoon Cointreau
(orange-flavored liqueur).
Ingredients
Cake:
2
1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 tablespoon for dusting pan
1
teaspoon baking powder
1/4
teaspoon salt
1
3/4 cups sugar
10
tablespoons butter, softened
1/2
cup (4 ozs) Neufchatel cheese, softened, or cream cheese, if necessary
1
teaspoon grated lemon rind
1
teaspoon grated orange rind
3
large eggs
1/2
cup (preferably low-fat) buttermilk
1/4
cup fresh orange juice
2
tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3
large egg whites
Ingredients
Sauce:
2
cups blood orange juice (see Note)
2/3
cup sugar
Yields
16 servings
Directions:
1.
Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
2.
To prepare the cake: Coat a 10 inch tube pan with non-stick cooking spray. Dust
with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.
3.
Lightly spoon 2 1/4 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.
Combine the flour, baking powder & salt. Stir well with a whisk.
4.
Combine 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, butter & cheese in a large bowl. Beat with
a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 7 minutes). Add the rinds;
beat well. Add 3 large eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5.
Combine the buttermilk, 1/4 cup orange juice & lemon juice. Add the flour
mixture & buttermilk mixture alternately to the sugar mixture, beginning
& ending with the flour mixture.
6.
Place the egg whites in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until
soft peaks form, using clean, dry beaters. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar,
1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form.
7.
Gently fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the batter & fold in the remaining
egg white mixture.
8.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour & 10 minutes or
until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from pan. Cool
the cake completely on a wire rack.
10.
To prepare the sauce: Combine the blood orange juice & the 2/3 cup sugar in
a large, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, carefully stirring until the sugar
dissolves. Reduce the heat & simmer until reduced to 1 cup (about 30
minutes), stirring gently occasionally.
11.
Serve the sauce with the cake.
Note:
When blood oranges are not in season, or anytime, you can use bottled blood
orange juice (strained if there is any pulp in it). During blood orange season,
if desired, you can use the strained juice of fresh blood oranges (about 12 for
this recipe). Regular strained orange juice, preferably fresh, also can be
substituted.
