Time for Orange Thyme Tea Cake

I find that summer is ideal for fruity desserts, and i love incorporating herbs in dessert, so this cake sounded perfect for me!  Other than Jessica, who doesn't enjoy a citrus graced dessert on a warm summer day?

I found this recipe from Lynn Smythe, the herbs & spices feature writer at Suite101.com.  With over 90 varieties of herbs and veggies in her organic garden, she sure knows her herbs.  You'll notice i added a bit more of the orange zest and juice, which i figure just enhances the orange taste.  You can stay true to Lynn's recipe or vary it as i did.  In fact, i think this would be delicious with lime or grapefruit (but be sure those devouring the grapefruit variety don't take lipitor since it can cause muscle pain).  I also understand that there are different varieties of thyme, such as orange thyme or lemon thyme.  None of my markets had those interesting varieties, so i used plain ol' fresh thyme.

Now that i've baked this cake, i must say it's extremely moist.  I'm anxious to hear what my taste-testers think.

Lots of fresh orange zest and chopped thyme

Ingredients -

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup butter - room temperature
• 2 eggs - room temperature
• 2 teaspoons orange zest from one orange
• 2 tablespoons orange juice from one-half of an orange
• 2 teaspoons fresh orange thyme leaves

Directions for the Orange Thyme Tea Cake -
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, cream the sugar and butter together until well blended.
Add the eggs, orange zest, orange juice and thyme to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well.
Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and stir until well blended.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured nine inch square baking dish.
Place the baking dish in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Remove the pan from the oven and poke a bunch of holes in the top of the cake with a fork.
Immediately pour the glaze over the hot cake and let the glaze thoroughly soak through the cake.
When cooled to room temperature, cut the cake into approximately 16 pieces turn the cake out of the pan, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar, and enjoy!

Ingredients for the Orange Glaze -

• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions for the Orange Glaze -
Place the orange juice and granulated sugar into a small bowl.
Use a large spoon to mix the ingredients together until all the sugar has been thoroughly dissolved.

Lemon Limencello Pound Cake

When i was in Italy i discovered Limencello - the lemon flavored liqueur made of vodka, and it is delish! I was thinking that it would be a good addition to a lemony dessert, and Rosa at my office told me about her favorite Lemon Almond Poundcake recipe from Bon Appetit that has Limencello brushed on top of the cake. Yummm! Since i'm going to a dinner party this evening, i thought it would make a terrific dessert to bring. But i fear not everyone will like the almond flavor which can be overpowering. I did, however, find another lemon pound cake recipe by Bon Appetit that got rave reviews. I've been looking forward to making this one because it's made with 1 cup of sour cream, but i thought i could use Fage plain yogurt instead. I figure it will be super moist.

I also decided to make "schlag", or homemade whipped cream to dollop on top of the cake.

Silly me... after i popped the pound cake in the oven and sat down to write this post, i realized i forgot to add the yogurt. Meantime, i lost that cake. Don't ask. All i can say is maybe these silicone cake pans aren't the easiest to use. Apparently that cake just wasn't meant to be so i decided to do it again but make sure i add the yogurt this time.

Sour Cream Lemon Limencello Pound Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit

3 cups cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel (i used 4 tablespoons)
1 cup sour cream (i substituted with greek yogurt)
1/3 cup Limencello (you might want to make sure you have a little extra to sip while you're waiting.)

Preheat oven to 325° F.
Spray and lightly flour a tube pan, and set aside.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt into medium bowl and set aside.
Using a mixer, beat butter at medium speed until fluffy.
Gradually add sugar and beat 5 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until combined after each addition.
Beat in lemon juice and peel.
Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients.
Now mix in sour cream or yogurt.
Transfer batter to prepared pan.

Bake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cake cool in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn out cake.

Carefully turn cake rightside up on rack and cool completely. Take wooden toothpick and punch holes throughout the top of cake. Brush with limencello and sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Voila!

Schlag, or Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoon of confectioner's sugar

Put cold heavy cream, vanilla and sugar in mixing bowl.
With standing mixer, use the whisk attachment and, start out slowly otherwise you have cream all over your kitchen.
As the cream thickens, turn the speed up. As it gets foamier, start checking for a soft peak, which is what you want. The peak should bend over at the top when you remove the whisk. As it gets close, slow down, because if it goes too far, it will clump and separate (essentially become butter).

This dessert turned out to be a success! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. My parents, who are both real fans of lemon desserts, thought it was fantastic, and nobody had thoughts of "next time try adding less of this or more of that". In fact, Laurence said it was his favorite dessert that i've recently made. I particularly liked the crusty outside and very moist inside.  This is definitely a keeper.