Difficulty: moderate
- 4 sticks butter, that’s 1 pound, room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup fresh key lime juice
- 1/4 cup evaporated milk, (I always keep a good number of those small, 5 ounce cans in my pantry.)
- 4 teaspoons key lime zest, minced
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Preheat oven to 300°. Cover inside of 10 inch tube pan with non-stick spray. My pan is 10 1/2″ and it’s just fine. Set aside.
- Using a stand-up mixer or electric hand-held, beat the butter well until light in color and fluffy. Add the sugar and again beat well for at least 5 minutes. I use a stand up mixer and beat the mixture 10-15 minutes. I don’t like a “grainy” cake.
- One at a time add the eggs and beat only until the yellow disappears.
- Stir juice, milk, zest and vanilla together.
- Now mixing by hand, gradually flour to the butter-egg mixture alternating with the key lime juice and milk mixture. Begin and end with flour. Mix well but just enough to incorporate all ingredients. You don’t want a tough pound cake!
- Pour evenly into the tube pan and tap pan on the counter to loosen any air bubbles.
- Bake for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
- Cool on a cooling rack for 20-25 minutes in the pan then transfer from pan to cooling rack and allow to cool another hour or until completely cool.
The cake is far better the following day or 2 days later.
Key Lime Cream Cheese Icing
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3-4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
- 2-3 teaspoons key lime zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Using a hand mixer beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until well mixed.
- Add confectioner’s sugar and beat well until completely smooth and fluffy.
- Add key lime juice, zest and vanilla and mix until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Ice cake.
This makes quite a bit of icing. After icing the entire pound cake I fill the middle hole with the excess icing. When the cake is served icing can be taken from the middle and dolloped along the side the slice of cake.
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