Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cake

5 from 2 votes

Bright, citrusy, and impossibly tender, this Orange Cream Cheese Pound Cake brings together fresh oranges and rich cream cheese for a moist crumb that melts in your mouth.

Course baking, Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword cream cheese, orange, orange cream cheese pound cake, pound cake

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 1

Total Time 1 20

Servings

Calories 525kcal

Author Tami Steggell

Equipment

9" x 5" loaf pan silver metal
Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer
Rubber Spatula
Kitchen Scale

Ingredients

Dry Goods

1 ¾ c unbleached all-purpose flour (220g)
2 tbs cornstarch (16g)
1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
1 teaspoon salt (6g)

Wet Goods

1 ½ c sugar granulated or fine castor (300g)
2 tablespoon orange zest from 3 oranges (16g/.5oz)
1 c butter softened (227g = 2sticks)
4 oz cream cheese softened (113g)
2 tablespoon orange juice (30ml)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract pure (5ml)
5 large eggs room temp (250g)

The Glaze

1 ½ c powdered sugar sifted (180g)
2 tablespoon orange juice (30ml)
2 tablespoon heavy cream 40% fat (30ml)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 325°F/163°C and prepare 9”x5” metal loaf pan (2lb/900g) with parchment or butter/floured, shaking any excess flour out.
In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
1 ¾ c unbleached all-purpose flour, 2 tbs cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
Blend together sugar and orange zest to release orange oils.
1 ½ c sugar, 2 tablespoon orange zest
Beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed for 1-2 minutes until light, soft and fluffy. This can be done with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
1 c butter, 4 oz cream cheese
Now add your orange sugar to your butter and cream cheese mixture and cream together.
Add half of your dry ingredients and beat for 1-2 minutes on medium speed. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides before adding the next step.
Add the orange juice, vanilla extract, and 2 eggs, one at atime. Do not overmix.
2 tablespoon orange juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 5 large eggs
Now add the other half of your dry goods, batter will be stiff.
Continue adding the remaining 3 eggs, one at a time, being careful not to over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 60-65 minutes. Use a toothpick to test for doneness. Toothpick should be clean when inserted into center. (Note: if baking in a glass loaf pan, the pound cake will need a longer time to bake)
Remove from the oven, allow to sit in pan for 10-15 minutes. Then invert cake onto a wire rack.
Make the glaze: whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, juice and heavy cream. If you prefer a thinner glaze add a splash more orange juice until desired consistency is reached. Spread over cooled cake, slice and enjoy!
1 ½ c powdered sugar, 2 tablespoon orange juice, 2 tablespoon heavy cream

Notes

Tips for Success:

Either weigh or use the spoon and level method for your dry ingredients so you’re not ending up with too much flour. I’m a huge proponent of weighing for speed and accuracy.
Temperature of ingredients is important. Room temperature is key! Butter should be soft, but not overly soft. To test the perfect temperature, poke the butter with your finger, it should be easy to make an indentation without losing its shape.
Add the eggs slowly: keep the mixer running on low speed, add in the eggs one at a time. Don’t rush the process! The fact of chemistry is, eggs and butter do not mix naturally. Butter is 80% fat, while eggs contain a lot of water, adding them slowly gives them time to thicken and emulsify to avoid curdling and retaining air for a lighter more tender cake.
For a perfect center crack at the top of your baked loaf, draw a line of butter down the center of your batter prior to baking. Simply place a little butter in a baggie, snip a small corner cut and pipe onto the center of your batter.
Bake to proper doneness: over baking will lead to a dry pound cake, remember it continues to bake while it’s cooling. When inserting a toothpick in the center, you will be left with a few moist crumbs, that’s perfect. Do not leave cake in the pan too long, move to a cooling rack after 10 minutes.
Keep in mind your altitude, higher altitudes bake longer, while lower altitudes near sea level bake much quicker. So set a timer a little early, you can always bake longer, but you can't "unbake", that's why the toothpick test is very handy.

Nutrition