One Perfect Bite: lime glazed

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Lime and White Chocolate Pound Cake

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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is a Mother's Day cake for those moms who are so sweet they need no help from outside sources. This is a delicious cake, but do be forewarned, it is tart. I love the white chocolate and lime combination and I really like this moist pound cake. I've slightly adapted a recipe I found while browsing through a blog called Sweet Kat's Kitchen. Kat has a mother lode of truly wonderful recipes that you can find, here. Do visit her when you have some time. The cake gets most of its flavor from the limes that are used to make it. The recipe calls for key lime juice which I was able to purchase from a local Mexican grocer. Chances are very slim, that I would have prepared the juice myself. I have neither the equipment or patience required to juice the tiny key limes used here. Happily, Persian limes, the type found in almost all grocery stores, can be used with excellent results. I hesitate to recommend bottled lime juice because brands very so in quality. The finished cake is very moist and will appeal to anyone who enjoys tart desserts. The cake improves in flavor and loses any trace of bitterness, if it is allowed to mellow overnight. I stored mine in the refrigerator, though I brought it to room temperature for serving. I added white chocolate to the cake batter, and while I think it makes a more interesting cake, its use and that of the lime zest is completely optional. I hope you will give this recipe a try. It makes a lovely cake. Here's how it is made.

Lime and White Chocolate Pound Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Sweet Kat's Kitchen

Ingredients:
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2-2/3 cups granulated sugar1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 teaspoon lime zest
5 tablespoons key lime juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 cup white chocolate chips
Key Lime Glaze
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons key lime juice

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 10-inch (12 cup) bundt pan with a non-stick cooking spray that contains flour.
2) Combine flour, baking soda and salt and sift into a bowl. Sift again.
3) Combine butter and sugar in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Beat with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add lime zest, lime juice and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add eggs,one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce mixer speed and add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix each addition just until blended. Stir in heavy cream and white chocolate chips.
4)Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan, spreading evenly. Bake for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. While cake is baking, bring glaze ingredients to a boil and stir until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. When cake is done, set pan on a wire rack and cool for 20 minutes. Invert pan on a cooling rack set over wax paper and remove cake from pan. Slowly spoon glaze over still warm cake, allowing glaze to soak into cake. Yield: 16 servings.