Orange Infused Pound Cake with Glaze, Fresh Berries and Coconut Whipped Cream

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Orange Infused Pound Cake

There is always something going on in Santa Barbara!  

I Modonnari, the Italian Street Painting Festival was happening over Memorial Day Weekend, which is part of a sister festival held in Grazie di Curtatone, Italy.  Every year the Santa Barbara Mission plaza is transformed into beautiful works of art by street painters of all ages using pastel chalks on the pavement.  Many local businesses sponsor squares for local artists to paint and the money is donated to a nonprofit arts education program, the Children's Creative Project. 

It's been a few years since we've been in town for this festival so I was excited to check it out.  Hubby and I went with some good friends of ours and had dinner on the lawn while listening to a fun band.  There were over 150 squares of chalk creations to admire.  These were some of my favorites.

Of course I was drawn to the food paintings.

This one really caught my eye!  She looks like a Berry Goddess and reminded me of all the deserts I do with Fresh Berries.  While I've been home I've really been taking advantage of all the lovely fruit at the Farmer's Market.  

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For my middle daughter's graduation party I served Fresh Berries over my Orange Infused Pound Cake and topped it with Coconut Whipped Cream.  This is one of those deserts that just makes me happy! 

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This Pound Cake is so simple and is made with ingredients you probably have on hand.  Of course, you don't have to serve it with Berries and Whipped Cream.  It's yummy on it's own.  Infusing it with orange or lemon makes it so bright and moist but if you don't have oranges or lemons on hand you could leave that step out.

If you prefer, you can top this with regular dairy Whipped Cream but I think this combination with the Coconut Whipped Cream is to die for.  Don't get me wrong, I love fresh Whipped Cream but it's fun to do something different once in a while and is a perfect solution for someone who is dairy intolerant.  My gluten-free and mostly dairy-free daughter ate this desert with just the Fresh Berries, Orange Glaze and Coconut Whipped Cream.

Enjoy this yummy recipe!  As for me... I know I won't be able to eat another berry desert without thinking of the Berry Goddess!!

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Orange Infused Pound Cake with Glaze, Fresh Berries and Coconut Whipped Cream

Recipe Type:  Desert

Serves:  6 to 8

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 C Unsalted Butter
  • 2 C All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1 1/2 C Granulated Sugar
  • 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
  • 6 large Eggs
  • Fresh Berries of your choice
  • Fresh Mint for garnish

Orange Glaze Ingredients

  • 1 C Powdered Sugar
  • 8 tsp fresh Orange Juice
  • 1 tsp Orange Zest

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan.  Set aside.
  2. In a medium bowl mix together Flour and Salt.  Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer beat the Butter, Sugar and Vanilla on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.  
  4. Add Eggs one at a time beating until combined.  
  5. With mixer on low-speed add Flour mixture and beat until just combined.
  6. Spoon batter into buttered loaf pan and smooth with a spatula.
  7. Bake until Pound Cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.  Let cool about 10 minutes.
  8. Remove Cake from pan and let cool about 30 minutes.  Pierce with fork about every 1/2 inch.
  9. In small mixing bowl whisk together Powdered Sugar, Orange Juice and Zest.  Glaze should be the consistency of a smooth, thick syrup. 
  10. Pour half of the Glaze over warm Pound Cake and let run over sides of Cake.  Reserve the other half to drizzle over the Berries and Coconut Whipped Cream once desert is plated.
  11. Slice Pound Cake (two per plate), top with Fresh Berries, drizzle with Orange Glaze, add a large dollop of Coconut Whipped Cream, drizzle with more Orange Glaze and top with fresh Mint.

Coconut Whipped Cream

Ingredients

  • 1 can of Full-Fat Unsweetened Coconut Milk without Guar Gum listed in ingredients (the higher the fat content the better)

Instructions

  1. Place can in refrigerator at least overnight.  It needs to be very firm.
  2. Place a metal or glass mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for about 5 minutes prior to making Cream.
  3. Remove the Coconut Milk from the refrigerator and flip over.  The liquid Coconut Milk (the part that doesn’t harden) will now be at the top of the can.

  4. Open the can and pour off the liquid.  I like to add the liquid to my smoothies.

  5. Scoop the hardened Coconut Cream into your mixing bowl you have been chilling.

  6. Whip the Cream until fluffy.  You can add a little Sugar, Agave Syrup and/or Vanilla Extract if you prefer.
  7. The Cream can be stored in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to 10 days.  It will harden a bit more in the refrigerator.  If you want to make it fluffy again, just re-whip it.