Christmas Pound Cakes

Happy Tuesday and Merry Christmas! I’ve been sharing some of my favorite recipes for Christmas cooking, and today I’m moving on to Christmas baking with two pound cake recipes that are suitable for any holiday gatherings and gifting.

The first pound cake is one my dear friend, Missy, developed herself, having taken her favorite elements from various Christmas pound cake recipes to create one of the best cakes I think I’ve ever put in my mouth! The tangy burst of orange and cranberry combined with creamy morsels of white chocolate, under a blanket of buttery cream cheese icing make this cake fantastically festive in both appearance and taste. I baked her recipe for the first time last Christmas, and my mom and I couldn’t get enough of it! We both said it was our favorite new recipe of Christmas 2018.

Missy calls her recipe Holiday Poundcake, and that’s perfect since you will not want to limit yourself to making this luscious cake only at Christmas. Last year, I made one for Christmas, and since we enjoyed it so much, I served another one for New Year’s Day.

Just look at how moist this cake is!

For presentation, I always like to garnish with a few of the keynote ingredients. Orange slices, cranberries, and white chocolate chips add vibrancy, balanced with a few green sprigs of holly (not an ingredient, ha!) for additional color and texture.

If you only make one dessert this whole season (but who makes only one dessert, right?), Missy’s Holiday Pound Cake should be the one! Click the link and it will take you to the recipe on her blog Our Neck of the Woods. While you’re there, be sure and subscribe to receive all her posts via email. After a recent hiatus, Missy has picked back up on blogging and I couldn’t be happier because she offers great posts for almost everything home-related: cooking, baking, cleaning, crafting, DIY-ing, hosting, table-scaping, homeschooling, and the list keeps going. I’ve been the blessed recipient of Missy’s food and hospitality, and this lady definitely knows her way around the kitchen and home!

*****

 

Now, if you don’t have time to make a pound cake completely from scratch, Eggnog Pound Cake is a great go-to with only five ingredients! The secret is to start with a boxed pound cake mix, and, as my mother always said about mixes, “just doctor it up”!

Quick Eggnog Pound Cake

This recipe came from a Southern Living magazine at least ten years ago. 

Ingredients:

1 (16 oz) package pound cake mix

1 1/4 cups eggnog

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. nutmeg 

1/2 tsp. vanilla

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat all ingredients together at low speed with an electric mixer until blended. Increase speed to medium, and beat 2 minutes. Pour into a lightly greased 9-x-5 inch loaf pan.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until a long wooden pick comes out clean. Adjust baking time for smaller pans. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan to a wire rack and cool completely. 

Last year I baked the pound cakes in small ceramic loaf pans for gifting. After completely cooled, I wrapped the pound cakes in cellophane, tied with ribbon and a tag, and lined them up on my dining room table to hand out when someone dropped by during the holidays. Next time I do this, I think I’ll include a miniature jar of jam. This pound cake is delicious toasted with a spread of jam.

Oh hey, and did you see the cute bottle of homemade vanilla extract in the ingredients photo? A gift from my crafty friend, Lisa, also a blogger and gifted writer at Life to the Full. She doesn’t blog much anymore, but has great content in her archives on topics of home, fashion, organizing, and books, just to name a few. Go check her out!

Have a blessed day, and Merry Baking!