Recipe: Orange Pound Cake

Orange Pound Cake

1 lb butter
1 lb powdered sugar
2 Tbsp grated orange rind
6 large eggs
3 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp mace
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup apricot jam, strained
2 Tbsp shredded orange peel

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add sifted sugar and rind. Cream thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift the flour before measuring, then combine the dry ingredients. Sift. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture. Add orange juice and combine thoroughly. Turn into buttered and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn into wire rack and cool thoroughly. Brush with jam and top with orange peel. If you try to make a pound cake with margarine or shortening you will end up with a tasteless mess. Butter is the major taste in a pound cake; even if it weren't, butter and margarine have different properties in baking, and this recipe is adjusted for butter. Don't make this cake if you don't have an electric mixer or \fIvery\fR strong wrists. I figure I spend nearly half an hour beating butter and such when I make this cake. Also, this cake is easier to handle if you have a tube pan that comes apart into two pieces.