New Orleans Praline Pound Cake

It's been a while since I baked a sweet cake ... a beautiful cake ... a pound cake ! This is a variation of a typical pound cake recipe that I found in a cook book by Nick Malgieri. The man knows how to tempt me. I should learn not to take cook books to bed for browsing before sleep. The idea of this cake kept rattling around in my head before I dropped off last night.



By this morning, the praline spin on the pound cake was taking on the addition of a coffee sugar glaze ... a sure fire treat for afternoon tea and coffee break! It's been a rainy day and the kitchen has been made cozy by the scents of this cake baking and the back smells of a chicken and rice soup simmering on the stove. If this Memorial Day weekend turns out to be a wash-out, we'll at least be hunkered down with comfort food!

Looking at that first photo reminds me ...  how sweet is this little granite ware coffee pot?  I scored it at the antiques shop this week along with a deep circular granite ware bowl that I thought would be perfect for bread baking. This coffee pot will have a tall glass liner added to it and will host summertime bouquets on the back porch picnic table. Can't you just see Black-eyed Susans, wild daisies, and Queen Anne's Lace in it ?!? It's the simple things, folks!

Now, here's Nick Malgieri's recipe for the pound cake with a little addition of that coffee glaze ... enjoy!

Nick Malgieri’s New Orleans Praline Pound Cake

Makes 1 large loaf pan-sized cake

Ingredients:

2 c. all purpose flour

½ c. granulated sugar

½ c. light brown sugar (packed)

¼ tsp. salt

1 rounded tsp. baking powder

Zest of one mid-sized lemon

8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very soft

5 large eggs, room temperature

2 tsp. good quality vanilla extract

2 tbsp. Bourbon whiskey

1 c. chopped pecans, tossed with 1 tbsp. flour

Making the Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F and generously grease a 13x5x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Measure the flour, sugars, salt, baking powder, and lemon zest into a stand mixer bowl fixed with a paddle attachment . 'Stir' the mixture for 30 seconds or so.
3. Add the really soft butter and mix on the ‘stir’ setting for 2 minutes, stopping after one minute to scrape the bowl sides and push the batter off the paddle beater. Continue on ‘stir’ setting until the butter is completely absorbed.
4. Meanwhile crack the eggs into a small bowl and add the vanilla and the Bourbon whiskey. Whisk the eggs to break the yolks and incorporate the vanilla and Bourbon.
5. When the butter is absorbed and the batter is very stiff, add the egg mixture and mix on ‘stir setting’ for one minute. Stop the beater and scrape down the bowl sides.
6. Start the beaters again at ‘low’ setting and let the batter beat for one more minute, repeat the scrape down. Set the beater at ‘medium’ and beat the batter for 2 minutes until smooth and whipped.
7. Remove the paddle beater and get all the batter off it. Turn the prepared pecans into the batter and turn it into the prepped loaf pan.
8. Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven until a deep golden and nicely risen.
9. Use a cake tester inserted in the center to judge if the cake is ready to come from the oven.
10. Cool for ten minutes on a rack, then invert the cake in your hand and place on a pretty platter.
11. Drizzle the top with a soft mocha sugar glaze when the cake is almost cooled, letting the glaze drizzle down the sides of the cake.
12. Store tightly covered on a cake plate or under a large bowl to keep things moist.

 Mocha Sugar Glaze

Mix 1 cup confectioner's sugar with enough strong black coffee and a bit of Kahlua liqueur to make an icing glaze that will drizzle from a fork when you lift some from the bowl ... drizzle over the top of the warm pound cake.