I thought I’d step away from cookies and cupcakes for the moment to make… pound cake. I don’t know why I am on such a baking kick, but at least I have the chance to try a bunch of different new recipes! I found this recipe through MyRecipes.com, originally from Southern Living. The recipe sounded absolutely fantastic so I stuck to it for the most part, but I added blueberries because, well, I like blueberries!
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar, divided
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 (12-ounce) jar lemon curd
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced
1 pint fresh blueberries
Add the granulated sugar and mint leaves to a food processor. Blend until combined. (It ends up looking like green sugar).
You will use this mixture a couple times so it will be divided.
Add the butter to a large bowl and beat with a mixer for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mint mixture and 2 1/2 cups powered sugar to the butter and beat for 5 to 7 minutes.
Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Add the 1 1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup whipping cream, alternating between the two. Begin and end with the flour. Beat on low until just blended after adding each ingredient. Stir in the lemon rind and lemon juice with a spatula. Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan (8.5 x 4.5 inch).
Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan by loosening the edges of the pound cake with a knife, and cool on wire rack.
To make the cream, beat 2 cups whipping cream, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and 1 tablespoon mint mixture at medium speed with electric mixer until stiff peaks form. (You will still have some mint mixture left over. Reserve). Fold in lemon curd using a spatula.
Note: I just bought some lemon curd at Reading Terminal. But, you can also make your own lemon curd. Alton Brown has a recipe that takes all of 20 minutes to make.
Stir together remaining mint mixture, 1/4 cup powdered sugar, strawberries and blueberries.
Serve pound cake with lemon cream and berry mixture.
I made this for my boss’ birthday. When I ate a sample, I loved it so much I wasn’t sure if I’d be willing to share it the next day with my coworkers.
The lemon flavor is probably the most noticeable, but is by no means overpowering. The dish is very sweet, so if you wanted, you could just serve with fresh berries without mixing in the sugar and mint.
I didn’t taste the mint flavor nearly as much as I wanted to, so I’d suggest maybe adding 1/3 cup loosely packed leaves if you want to taste the mint.
This dish is so pretty! I was also surprised how oddly well it held up overnight. I kept the berries in a plastic container and the whipped cream in a plastic ziplock bag. At work, I just cut off a corner of the bag, piped the whipped cream onto a piece of pound cake, and topped it with the berries. This is without a doubt better fresh (when the bread still has some warmth) but if pressed for time, you can make it the night before.
It looks like a fancy strawberry shortcake! 🙂 Mmmmm, I bet those flavors work wonderfully together…
I’m not always a big fan of frosting, so pound cakes are my favorite all time cake. The flavors in this one sound incredible!
looks very tempting :).Nice blog!
All of the flavors go so perfectly well together! I especially love that you used mint too… I love to use it cooking or as a garnish!
So glad you’re adding pound cake to your repertoire–it’s always a hit, and this particular recipe looks wonderful!
Sooooooo yummy I eat The Screen 😛