Winter Citrus Pound Cake

It's been a tough season for the flu--I know from first hand having just had a bout during the holidays.  Today, with this in mind, I decided to do a pound cake loaded with Vitamin C to give us all a boost :-)!

Citrus fruits are believed to have originated in Southeast Asia and the best known are lemons, oranges, grapefruit and limes.  I chose to do all four of these fruits, zest and juice, in this moist pound cake, loaded with flavor.

My mother thought lemon was the most useful and not only made us a hot toddy with a squeeze of the juice, but added it to honey and rye for a cough syrup.  Oh, and later she made a lemon chicken soup that was guaranteed to cure the common cold...at least that's what she told us.

Since we still have the rest of January and the dreaded February to get through with the weather, citrus might be our best bet in warding off illness--at the very least, enjoy a piece of cake with a cup of tea by a roaring fire and wait for Spring.

Winter Citrus Pound Cake
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cup granulated sugar
6 large eggs, separated
Zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime, 1 orange, and 1 grapefruit
1/2 cup of juice from all the fruits (save the rest of the juice for the soaking sauce)
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour


Preheat oven 325F-degrees.  Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with a non-stick baking spray.
In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter for 2 minutes, scraping the sides as needed.  While the mixer is on medium, add the sugar, one cup at a time.  Once all the sugar is added, increase speed to med/high and beat the butter/sugar mixture for 8 minutes.  Scrape down the sides.

Turn the mixture back to medium and add the egg yolks, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Scrape down the sides as needed.  Add the zest (you should have about 5 Tablespoons) and mix again.  Add the flour alternately with the juice, starting and ending with the flour.  The batter will be thick.

Beat the 6 egg whites until stiff.  Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter and mix to lighten it.  Then add the rest of the egg whites and fold gently.  Spoon mixture into the prepared Bundt pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour 20 minutes or until a tester comes out crumb-free.  About 10 minutes before the mixture is due to come out of the oven, make the citrus soaking sauce.
1/2 cup citrus juice
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Place the juice and sugar in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil; turn down to low and simmer until the cake is ready to come out of the oven.
Use a skewer and poke holes in the cake, then, pour the citrus sauce over it (while it's still in the pan).  Let the cake set in the pan about 20 minutes while it's soaking up all the sauce.
Turn the cake out onto a serving plate.


Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 T light Karo syrup
2 T hot water


Mix everything and drizzle over the top of the cake.

The golden cake, with it's desirable dark crumb is moist and so refreshing.  It's the perfect dessert on a cold nights--just need the water to boil for tea and I'm set to curl up on the sofa to watch The Gifted Man.  Enjoy!