New Page

INGREDIENTS (1 cake)

1 lb     butter
1 lb     powdered sugar
2 Tbsp     grated orange rind
6     large eggs
3½ cups     sifted all purpose flour
½ tsp     mace
¼ tsp     salt
¼ cup     orange juice
1 cup     apricot jam, strained
2 Tbsp     shredded orange peel

PROCEDURE

(1)     Preheat oven to 350º F.
(2)     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.
(3)     Sift the flour before measuring, then combine the dry ingredients. Sift.
(4)     Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture. Add orange juice and combine thoroughly.
(5)     Turn into buttered and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350º F for 50–60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes.
(6)     Turn into wire rack and cool thoroughly. Brush with jam and top with orange peel.

NOTES

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 very 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.