PECAN SOUR CREAM POUND CAKE

“I won first place with this cake at the Cuyahoga County Fair (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1993. For a nuttier variation, you can substitute 1 cup of the flour with 1 cup of ground pecans.”

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped pecans

3 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter

3 cups white sugar

6 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt or tube pan. Sprinkle pecans on bottom of pan; set aside. Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream. Pour batter over pecans in prepared pan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 75 to 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

To prepare the glaze: In a small bowl, combine confectioners’ sugar, orange juice and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Drizzle over cake while still warm.