Not Just For Pies
My mother has been emailing me, repeatedly, asking me for fruit recipes. Very nice idea, but I had not really been in a fruit mood, as you may have noticed from recent blog postings.
Yet, the request was in the back of my mind, when I went grocery shopping a couple of days ago, aimlessly roaming the produce section, trying to decide what I had a taste for. I love melons, but they are not really at their peak, yet. Berries are always lovely, but they did not look terrific on this particular day.
I almost walked right past the bag of itty bitty key limes when, at last, I knew exactly what I felt like baking: Key Lime Pound Cake. I know that most people do not think of combining these two things, but once you try this cake, I think you will agree that they are delightful together.
I am willing to squeeze the juice out of a key lime, which must be over a strainer as they have a zillion seeds. However, I am not willing to zest a key lime. I have visions of half my skin being grated along with the zest.
The solution could not have been made simpler, at least for me, as the Persian limes were located right next to the key limes. I bought a couple of Persian limes, which turned out to yield the 2 tablespoons of zest I wanted for the cake.
If I had to pick one feature of the Key Lime Pound Cake that pulls the cake together, it would be the glaze. Its tartness blends, beautifully, with the moist key lime cake. I knew it was a hit when I had girlfriends scraping the glaze drippings onto their plates.
So next time you find yourself staring at the produce in your grocery store, pick up a bag of key limes and make a delicious cake. After all, why should pies have all the fun with this fruit?
| Key Lime Pound Cake | | Print |
- Cake:
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, divided
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1¼ cups sugar
- 2 tablespoons lime zest
- 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed key lime juice
- 3 eggs
- ⅔ cup sour cream
- Glaze:
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed key lime juice
- For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a 9” x 5” baking pan with the melted butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.
- Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Combine the 8 tablespoons softened butter, sugar and lime zest into a mixing bowl. Beat for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl down as necessary. This will not be fluffy.
- Add the key lime juice, followed by the eggs. The mixture will look like it has curdled. Don’t worry, it comes together soon.
- Add ½ of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed to combine, followed by the sour cream and then the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl down in between additions.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake in the middle rack of the oven at 325° for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow the cake to sit for 10 minutes in the pan. Invert the cake onto a cooling rack and then flip back over onto another cooling rack. Cool completely before glazing.
- For the glaze:
- Stir together the confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons key lime juice until smooth. Spread evenly over the cooled cake. Allow the cake to set and transfer to a serving plate or slice and then plate.
- Betsy's tidbits:
- I use Persian limes for zesting. Two of them give me the 2 tablespoons I need. Sure beats zesting many, many more itty bitty key limes.
- Baking in the middle rack of the oven prevents the bottom of the cake from getting too dark.
- An alternative way to apply the glaze is to drizzle it onto the cake. Pour the prepared glaze into a freezer bag. Cut off a small corner of the bottom and drizzle the glaze over the cake. Be sure to place a piece of wax paper under the cooling rack when drizzling.
