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orange almond pound cake

Combining my favorite things into an orange almond pound cake with a crackle-y glaze. Not into almond? Head to the notes for ingredient swaps! Make sure to read the notes for instructions on loaf pans.
Not into glaze? Sprinkle some coarse sugar on top before baking. You'll still get the crunch!
Adapted from this recipe by the phenomenal Erin McDowell.
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Ingredients
  

for the cake

  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, aka room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
  • zest of one large orange
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ teaspoon almond extract* see notes for swaps

for the glaze

  • ¼ cup fresh orange juice
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon almond extract*
  • tiny pinch of salt

Instructions
 

for the cake

  • Before anything else let's make some orange sugar! In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and orange zest. Use your hands to really work the zest into the sugar. You'll smell the orange oils and the sugar will change in color--this is good. REALLY good! I do this about 10-15 minutes before the next step. This gives the sugar time to absorb the orange oils and flavors.
  • Preheat your oven to 325.* SEE NOTES!
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer (using the paddle attachment) cream together butter and orange sugar until light and fluffy, at least 4 minutes. I usually let it go for about 5 minutes. Make sure to pause about halfway through to scrape down your bowl and the attachment.
  • While the butter and sugar mix, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. (I use the same one from the orange sugar because I hate extra dishes.)
  • After 4-5 minutes of mixing, add in your eggs one at a time. Scrape down the bowl and attachment each time! Once your eggs are added, add in the extracts, stirring briefly to combine. It might look weird and lumpy--don't freak out!
  • Add ⅓ of your dry ingredients to your butter and egg mixture. Mix just until incorporated.
  • Follow with ⅓ of your buttermilk, again mixing just until it's incorporated. Repeat the flour/buttermilk alternations until everything's added. Scrape the bowl one last time to make sure it's all combined, taking care not to overmix.
  • Pour your batter into a greased and lined loaf pan*. Spread the batter as evenly as possible.
  • Bake your loaf until a toothpick comes out with minimal crumbs or clean. Mine usually takes about 1 hour 20 minutes, but you know your oven! I start checking at 45 minutes. If you can touch the pan and the center jiggles it's too soon. Don't start testing with a toothpick until you can tell the top is set or you might collapse the cake! If you're worried the top is browning too quickly cover lightly with foil for the rest of baking.
  • Remove and place on a cooling rack, then start on your glaze.

for the glaze

  • In a small saucepan, combine orange juice and sugar.
  • Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until you just start to see bubbles around the edges. No need to fully boil here! You just want to make sure the sugar is fully dissolved and heats up.
  • Remove from heat and stir in extracts. Make sure to combine well!
  • Immediately pour over your cake. Yes, while it's warm and still in the pan! This allows the cake to cool in the glaze so it's fully covered. (It's theee best.)
  • Let your cake cool completely. Then use the parchment to lift and remove the cake. You might have to run a knife around the edges--that's fine!
  • Slice, serve, enjoy.
  • Store at room temp tightly, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or else you'll have stale cake. Hard pass. The cake is good for about 3-4 days if it lasts that long!

Notes

Ingredient substitutions:
Okay I get it, not everyone's into almond extract. (y tho?!) You can leave it out and increase the vanilla extract! I'd do 1 teaspoon in the cake and 1/2 teaspoon in the glaze.   
Loaf pans:
I used this dark nonstick loaf pan because it's what I have. If you have a lighter metal or glass loaf pan, I think you could increase the temp to 350. Dark metal pans conduct heat differently so I adjusted the temp to ensure the outside didn't bake faster than the middle. Either way, I cannot state this enough, I do not know your oven so you will need to monitor bake time. Check your cake starting around 45 minutes! 
To line your loaf pan:
I take my parchment and crinkle it up a bit so it's easier to mold to the shape of the pan. After putting it in the pan, I use the butter wrappers from my softened butter to ensure alllll the pan is covered. You can use baking spray if that's more your lane!