Sweet Cherry Pound Cake

I've been coveting a cherry pitter. That's right a cherry pitter. I'd pass it in the gadget aisle at Target and always decided not to put it in the cart, whether because it was just not cherry season or because I didn't want to add to the collection of "must haves" already in the pile (can anyone get out of Target for less than $50?--seriously, you need everything there). Well, I up and done it. I bought myself said cherry pitter. A gadget for no other purpose than to pit cherries.

By golly...I love my cherry pitter.

Of course, I had to put that pitter to good use immediately and let me tell you--it is slick! I shucked the pits out of a whole bag of cherries in a matter of minutes. As a bonus, the kitchen didn't look as if I had just slaughtered a pig! Do you see the little shatter shield on this thing? It works! :)

After Pete and I ate our fill of fresh cherries, I still had quite a huge bowl full. They begged to be made into something (tell me I'm not the only one who hears food chanting to them). I swear I heard them whisper "pound cake". Who am I to refuse such a request?

Sweet Cherry Pound Cake

Printable Recipe

Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

6 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon almond extract

½ cup plain or vanilla Greek yogurt

2 cups chopped, fresh cherries

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1-2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; grease and flour a 10” Bundt or tube pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond extracts.

Beginning with the flour mixture, add alternately with the yogurt to the egg mixture. Gently fold in the cherries.

.

In actuality, I had neither plain nor vanilla Greek yogurt in the house. I threw in a 6 oz container of pineapple yogurt and called it a day. No one was the wiser.

Pour batter into tube pan and distribute evenly. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes. Invert onto a cake dish and let cool another 30 minutes before glazing.

Please remember to grease and flour your pan...even if it is non-stick. Don't ask me how I know that this is so important....

For the glaze, beat confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, and a tablespoon of milk; add additional milk as necessary. Drizzle over the top of the pound cake.

Woohoo! Sweet Cherry Pound Cake success!

My husband beat me to the next gadget on my list...he had all of the strawberries hulled before I got to them. Wait--what's that I hear? Muffins?

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

Pumpkin-Orange Pound Cake

Pumpkin-Orange Pound Cake...the Midwest meets the Tropics.

Writing a food blog has its perks. Why just a couple of weeks ago, I received an email from the coconut coordinator for Kelapo Coconut (wouldn't you love that job title?), asking if I would like to review some coconut oil. To be honest, I've never cooked or baked with coconut oil, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This much I do know--coconut oil has been used in many cultures for generations as a primary source of fat. Back in the 1970's and 80's coconut oil got kind of a bad rap for being high in saturated fats, so most food manufacturers replaced it with hydrogenated oils--aka trans fats. Of course we all know what kind of decision that was, so now coconut oil is back and it's touted as a healthier fat. Confused? I was. At any rate, if you want the nitty-gritty on coconut oil, you can find it on Wikipedia and on the Kelapo website.

So now that I have my sample, what should I make with it?

I posed the question of what I should make with my coconut oil to my Facebook and Twitter friends and they came back with all sorts of good stuff. People use it in cooking and baking, of course, but they also use it to condition their hair and they put it into facial scrubs. Pretty versatile stuff. I am first a baker, however, so in the end I came up with a way to use some pumpkin and some coconut oil all in one recipe.

Pumpkin-Orange Pound Cake

Printable Recipe

2 ½ cups cake flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon ginger

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup coconut oil

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

¾ cup canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons orange juice

1 tablespoon grated orange peel

1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; Grease two 8-inch loaf pans.

Sift or whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, cardamom and ginger into a large bowl; set aside.

Cream the butter and the coconut oil in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating at low speed, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy.

I opened the jar of coconut oil and got a wonderful coconut smell.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl sides after each addition. After all the eggs are in, beat several minutes at high speed until the mixture is smooth and very pale. Beat in the pumpkin, orange juice, orange peel, and vanilla.

It didn't look much different than my best buttercream. 

Beating at low speed, add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk.

Check out the beautiful orange color.

Pour the batter into the two greased loaf pans. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched. Let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack before removing from pans to slice.

 I like to use the foil loaf pans so that I can easily give them away.

Take that Sara Lee...

In conclusion, I really liked working with the coconut oil. It gave the pound cake a subtle coconut taste that worked well with the other flavors. I can't wait to try it in another recipe!

For more recipes using coconut oil, you can visit the Kelapo Coconut blog at http://www.wearecoconuts.com/  or visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kelapococonut.

Disclosure: I was given a sample of Kelapo Coconut Oil to review, however all opinions and the recipe are my own.

Orange Scented Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Ok, I'll admit that sweet potato pound cake has been done. I've seen it. I've googled it. It exists.  While many of the recipes I've seen looked quite delicious, my intent was to make a sweet potato pound cake that was just a little different. No nuts, no cinnamon (although cinnamon and sweet potatoes make a mighty fine combination), and no dense heaviness.  I wanted something that would celebrate the sweet potato as something worthy of a Spring food. Something light, citrusy, and sweet. To be honest, my first attempt was a bit of a bomb. Methinks I used too much sweet potato. Or maybe I didn't bake it enough. Oh, it was tasty, but the end result had a ribbon of paste near the bottom that was quite unappealing. So it was back to the drawing board.....

Everyone knows about Sarah Lee Pound Cake, right? My dad was a baker, and we still had Sarah Lee in the house when I was growing up. It is a bit of moist delish in a little foil pan. I was kind of going for that kind of texture, but with a beautiful sweet potato/citrus flavor. Not to toot my own horn, but---toot, toot---I succeeded beyond my expectations. Without further ado, here is my recipe:

Orange Scented Sweet Potato Pound Cake

Printable Recipe

1 cup butter, softened (I use unsalted butter)

1 ½ cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
¾ cup cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ginger paste (or ½ teaspoon powdered ginger)
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cardamom
½ cup milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel (I used the peel of one orange)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating at low speed, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl sides after each addition. After all eggs are in, beat several minutes at high speed until the mixture is smooth and very pale. Beat in the sweet potatoes, ginger paste, vanilla and orange juice.

As long as I had the orange left over from grating the rind, I thought I'd add a little of the juice to the batter.

I found this ginger paste in the produce section of the grocery store. It gives the cake a subtle ginger flavor, but you can sub ground ginger or even fresh ginger, if you prefer.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom.  Beating at low speed, add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk. Stir in the orange peel.

Isn't it a pretty color?

Pour the batter into two greased and floured 8"X4" loaf pans (I like to use foil pans...maybe because I'm reminded of Sarah Lee...or maybe because I'll eventually bring one to work or give one away and the foil pan is easy to transport). Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until the top springs back when touched. Let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack before removing from pan to slice.

They smelled incredible at this point.

Take a close look at the crumb. The texture was very light and moist, and the orange, ginger and cardamom complimented the sweet potato perfectly. It tasted like Spring. Sweet potatoes really aren't just for Thanksgiving!

Perfect for breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea.

So that is my sweet potato pound cake story. Don't go thinking, however, that I'm done with the sweet potato. At the risk of turning orange from all of the beta-carotene, I have a couple more ideas.....

Crazy Good Banana Pound Cake

I don't know about you, but I am a recipe hoarder. I cut them out of magazines and newspapers and file them in the pages of cookbooks or in between piles of old bills. Every once in a while, I will run across one of my treasures and will actually give it a try. Such was the case for this lucious Banana Pound Cake. I had actually cut it out of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune several years ago, tucked it away and forgot about. When I re-found (is that a word?) it a couple of months ago, the list of ingredients really sounded good---bananas (of course) with a little ginger and little orange zest. It turns out this one is a keeper. I have made it several times now, and I like it so much better than a banana bread. This is truly a pound cake, but lighter in flavor and texture than some (think Sara Lee) At any rate, here it is:

Banana Pound Cake (adapted from the Star-Tribune)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 medium, very ripe bananas, mashed not too smooth with a fork (3/4 cup)
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange peel

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; Spray 2 9x5 loaf pans with cooking spray and line with parchment paper, leaving an over-hang on the long sides of the pans.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating at low speed, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy.

When you beat the heck out of the butter and the sugar, it will become a beautiful, light lemony color....

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl sides after each addition. After all eggs are in, beat several minutes at high speed until the mixture is smooth and very pale. Beat in the bananas.

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ginger. combine the milk and vanilla. Beating at low speed, add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture. Stir in the orange peel.

(I'm a whisker, not a sifter...)

Pour the batter into 2 9x5 loaf pans, spreading evenly. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until the cake pulls away slightly form the sides of the pan and a toothpick or cake tester inserted near the center---and nearly all the way down---comes out clean.

Have you seen this stuff? Love! I sprayed the pans, then lined with parchment and sprayed again.

Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife, invert onto a rack, invert again and cool completely.

Certainly, you can bake this in a tube or a Bundt pan. If so, be careful not to overfill the pan--there may be a bit of batter left over. The bake time would be a bit longer as well, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cover with foil to prevent over-browning after about 45 minutes.

The hint of citrus and ginger is perfect!

If you really want to jazz it up, serve a couple slices with some ice cream, bananas, and homemade hot fudge. Need a recipe for the hot fudge? Find it right here: Dark Chocolate Hot Fudge

Or add some strawberries and pineapple to make a banana pound cake split!