Not a big fan of Christmas fruit cake? Actually, me neither. This soft, buttery and moist vanilla-lemon pound cake with a festive cranberry glaze is perfect for you then!
You will need:
For the cake,
All purpose flour – 1½ cups
Baking powder – ¼ tsp
Baking soda – ¼ tsp
Salt – ½ tsp
Butter – ½ cup, softened
Sugar – 1 cup
Eggs – 2, large
Lemon zest – 1 tbsp
Lemon juice – ¼ cup, freshly squeezed
Milk – ¼ cup
Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
For the cranberry syrup,
Cranberries - 2 cups, fresh or frozen
Sugar - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
For the cranberry glaze,
Powdered sugar - ⅔ cup, sifted
Cranberry syrup - 1-2 tbsp
How to:
Vanilla Lemon Pound Cake: Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg.F. Grease and flour a 9″x5″ loaf pan thoroughly or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside. Combine the lemon juice, milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar together till nice and fluffy, 2-3 minutes on high-speed. Add eggs and lemon zest and beat well.
Add the flour mixture and lemon juice mixture to the batter alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Batter will be thick and airy.
Spoon batter in to the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 40-50 minutes or till it passes the toothpick test. Check the cake at around 35 minutes. If the top seems to be browning too rapidly, tent with foil and bake till done.
Cranberry syrup: While the cake is baking, prepare and cool the syrup. Take all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium-high heat. Soon the cranberries will start popping.
Stir and cook till sugar is completely dissolved and berries are mushy. It should look like a thick syrup. Strain syrup into a clean jar and cool before use. Leftover syrup keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.
Cranberry glaze: Combine the powdered sugar and a couple of tablespoons of cranberry syrup. Mix well with a fork till combined. Glaze will be a pale pink color, thick but free-flowing. You can loosen it by adding more syrup or add more sugar if you want a thicker glaze.
Finishing touches: Once the cake is done, cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove onto a wire rack and allow the cake to cool completely.
Once the cake is completely cooled, pour the cranberry glaze on top. Let stand for some time and the glaze will become stiff.
Cut, serve and enjoy a lovely Christmas treat. Store cake well-covered on the countertop for 1-2 days or refrigerate it for longer duration.
Notes:
1. The cranberry syrup recipe makes more than you need in the recipe. Store the leftover syrup in the fridge and use it on cakes, cheesecake, pies, pancakes, sweet breads, etc.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2017/12/22/vanilla-lemon-pound-cake-cranberry-glaze/