Cream Cheese Pound Cake

A dense, buttery melt in your mouth cake with a sweet blood orange glaze.

This recipe has been in my archives for a while and I thought I would dust it out and share it with you guys. I saw a cream cheese pound cake years ago and then, scoffed at the idea. I turns out that it produces an incredibly delicious cake. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, as they say.

There is something quite special about pound cakes in general – rich, buttery, dense bites which pair wonderfully with a cup of tea. The addition of cream cheese lets the cake stay true to these characteristics, but it also produces a crumb that almost melts in your mouth. Each bite feels rich, silky and luxurious. Admittedly, I did eat three slices in a single sitting.

Blood oranges are really hard to come by in South Africa. On a recent visit to Babylonstoren, an oasis of beauty with it’s fresh produce and breathtaking sights, I humbly requested a few blood oranges to take home. The result of which was a full box of some 50 odd oranges, which were not going to last very long. So I used them in every way I could, including making this blood orange glaze for the cake. It delivers a pretty pink tone, no food colouring here!

The cake is delicious enough to be eaten on it’s own though, or with a simple dusting of icing sugar. If you’re feeling extra special, perhaps a dollop of whipped cream would also be lovely. I personally would not use any frosting on the cake, as it is quite sweet. I really hope you try this one out and let me know if you enjoy it 🙂

If you make this recipe, please share it with me by tagging me on Instagram @adventureswithsugar or on Facebook at Adventures with Sugar.

WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT MAKING THIS CAKE?

Not much actually, it is quite a straightforward recipe.

• How long should I cream the butter and sugar for? As usual, you want to cream the butter (and in this case, cream cheese) as well as sugar until it is light and fluffy. I reckon a total of five to seven minutes is good here.
• My mixture has curdled! Add in the eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated. Do not be alarmed if the mixture curdles a bit, it will come together in the end.
• Do I have to use cornflour? I like using cornflour as it produces a lighter textured bake, but you can substitute regular flour if you like. It will affect the overall feel though.
• My cake is getting too brown. If this is the case, just tent the cake. That is cover the top of the tin with foil so the cake is not directly exposed.
• The bake time is long, is this correct? Yes, this is a big cake and quite a deep one so requires a bit of time to bake. Do keep an eye on the cake though. Check it at around the 40 minute mark, as it may begin to brown too much. Check for doneness around the 65 minute mark and every five minutes thereafter.
• What can I use instead of the glaze? Try a dusting of icing sugar, some whipped cream, a dark chocolate ganache drip or leave it plain, even.

CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

• 150g salted butter, at room temperature
• 15ml flavourless vegetable oil
• 125g full fat plain cream cheese, at room temperature
• 250g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g cake flour
• 30g corn flour
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 30g sour cream

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celcius. Grease and line a 23 by 13cm loaf tin, which rises 8cm high. Allow for a little overhang on the length of each side, so that the cake can be easily lifted from the tin.
2. Cream the butter, oil and cream cheese for two minutes, then add in the sugar and continue to cream until the mixture is light and fluffy. This should take around 7 minutes in total.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time and continue to beat until the egg is fully incorporated. Only once one egg is incorporated, then add in the next one. Do not be alarmed if the batter curdles.
4. Add in the vanilla.
5. Sift the flour, baking powder and cornflour together.
6. Gently fold in half the flour mixture, then the sour cream and the other half of the flour mixture.
7. Bake for about 70 – 95 minutes. Do keep an eye on the cake though, as it is a long bake, the cake may brown too much. If you find the cake is browning, add a layer of foil over the tin to cover the top and prevent it from browning further. Check for doneness at around 65 minutes, then continue to check every five minutes or so. The cake is cooked when a skewer inserted comes out clean.
8. Let the cake rest in the tin for an hour. Then run a knife around the perimeter of the tin to loosen the cake. Using the overhang from the baking paper, lift up the cake and set on a cooling rack to cool completely before glazing.

GLAZE

• 150g icing sugar
• 30 – 45ml blood orange juice (you could use any other fruit juice, or even water).

METHOD

1. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl to ensure that there are no lumps
2. Add the blood orange juice, a tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved.
3. For a thicker glaze, use less juice and for a thinner glaze, use more juice.
4. Once, the cake is completely cool, pour the glaze over the cake.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com