M: Pound Cake Two Ways

So I made pound cake…I made 2 pound cakes actually. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted to make, I found these two recipes and they both sounded so fantastic. So instead of making a painstakingly hard decision I decided to indulge myself =)

It’s spring-like weather here in Charleston, which means spring is coming, which means I want something tropically-tasting. So, naturally a coconut lemon pound cake and a key lime pound cake just sounded like perfection.

Seriously…I can’t describe how good these pound cakes are. I actually used Meyer lemons in the coconut lemon cake, which made it a little sweeter than a normal lemon would. Both turned out wonderfully – the flavors weren’t overwhelming to the pound cake at all.

Ok, I gotta get to this, for real…The steps are for the coconut lemon cake, but the key lime is essentially the same just with different fruit additions!

Coconut Lemon Pound Cake

from Southern Living

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/3 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups AP flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp lemon zest (I used Meyer lemons)

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut, divided

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat butter at medium speed in an electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended each time. Stir in lemon zest and 1/2 cup coconut.

Pour into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool in pan for about 10-15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Spoon lemon glaze over top and sprinkle with remaining coconut.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar

2-3 TB milk

2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Add additional small amounts of milk to icing for desired consistency. (I went with right at 3 TB)

For the Key Lime Pound cake, just go here. The only change I made was cutting the recipe in half and creating another loaf instead of using a tube pan like the recipe calls for.

If you wanted to make the coconut lemon pound cake into a larger cake, just double the recipe and use a tube pan instead of a loaf pan.

Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget about Itzy’s baked goods giveaway!! Just go to Erica’s previous post for the details. You have until this Saturday at noon to enter!