All Around Perfect

As you know from previous posts, I am a big fan of all pound cakes.  They're just so perfect.  Pound cake is delicious for dessert with berries.  If you're feeling indulgent, you can pop on some ice cream or whipped cream.   And. even better,  pound cake is still delicious the morning after, toasted, with a little jam.  Or even just plain.  With coffee.  Because as we all know, everything is delicious with coffee.

Fortunately for me, there are as many pound cake recipes out there as their chicken recipes.  The possibilities are endless, and I have made it my personal mission to try as many as I possibly can.

I am currently engaged in a love affair with Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi.  First of all, the pictures are pure food pornography.  Honestly, if food photography is your thing, the pictures in this cookbook are positively stunning.  Paging through the book makes me want to make everything, even recipes with ingredients I don't like, like beets.  That's high praise coming from me.

The recipes are interesting, filled with lots of unexpected combinations of ingredients.  For example, this pound cake calls for orange marmalade, dried coconut, and ground almonds.  And it's round.  I like the idea of a round pound cake.  A pound (cake) in the round, You can't beat that.

Recipe:  Semolina, Coconut & Marmalade Cake
(Jerusalem Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi

For the Cake:

Ingredients:

Butter (for the pan)
¾ cup sunflower or canola oil
1 cup orange juice
½ cup orange marmalade
4 eggs
Grated rind of 1 orange
⅓ cup superfine sugar
¾ cup shredded dried coconut
¾ cup flour
1 heaping cup semolina
2 tablespoons ground almonds
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Set the oven at 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line it with waxed paper.

In a bowl, whisk together the oil, orange juice, marmalade, eggs, and orange rind until well combined.

In another larger bowl, whisk the sugar, coconut, flour, semolina, almonds, baking powder, and salt. Pour the orange juice mixture into the dry ingredients and stir well until thoroughly combined (the mixture will be runny).

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake the cake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a skewer insertedinto the center of the cake comes out clean. (Make the syrup while the cake bakes.)

For the Syrup:

½ cup superfine sugar
⅓ cup water
1 tablespoon orange flower water or orange extract

In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the orange flower water or extract. When the cake is done, set it on a rack, still in the pan. Brush the top with syrup and let it soak into the cake. Continue brushing several times like this. Leave to cool.

Unlatch the side of the springform and lift the cake off the bottom round. Transfer to a cake plate and cut into thin slices.