Baking

I have been in a baking mood lately. Good for my taste buds, not for my hips :). Anyway we went to the store last weekend and bought a ton of lemons. So I've been making any kind of bread or dessert that has lemon juice. I NEVER knew how much better things tasted with real lemon juice instead of bottled lemon juice. The most recent thing I made came from a blog I subscribe to. The blog is: http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/
She is a Texan who lives in New York and she is constantly putting recipes up on her blog. This is the first one I've tried even though I've been reading her blog for months. I have to say I will DEFINITELY try more of her recipes.

Here is the recipe.

Sour cream pound cake with ruby red grapefruit
Ingredients:
1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ruby red grapefruit zest
1/4 cup ruby red grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Powdered sugar

Method:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 12-cup tube pan.

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar, and beat until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the grapefruit zest, grapefruit juice and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

Add the eggs to the batter, one at time, mixing each one until it’s well incorporated. Slowly pour in the sifted flour and mix until the batter is smooth and fluffy. Stir together the sour cream, salt and baking soda, and then add to the batter, mixing until well incorporated. Pour batter into the pan and bake for an hour and 30 minutes, or until an inserted knife pulls out clean.

Cool the cake for 15 minutes and then invert onto a platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Yield: 16-20 servings

Note: This recipe can be divided in half and baked in a loaf pan. You can also flavor this with lemon, orange or lime juice, using the same amounts. For a bit of crunch, you can add to the batter 1/2 cup chopped pecans or 1/4 cup poppy seeds.