Duck egg pound cake

Lemon & vanilla flavors

Ingredients:

2-3 citrus fruits, well washed and rinsed, zested (I used 2 limes and 1 lemon)

3 room temperature duck eggs

1 cup white sugar [preferably vanilla sugar]

2 Tbsp each butter and vegetable shortening, softened together in the microwave

3/4 cup milk

2 tsp baking powder

Heavy pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

For the glaze: the juice from the citrus, powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare the citrus fruits. They should be well scrubbed with soap, rinsed and zested. Try not to get into the white rind of the fruits while zesting since this will add bitterness instead of flavor.

Add 1-2 Tbsp of the AP flour to the zest and stir well, even pressing the zest into the flour with a spoon. This flour coating will help the zest flavor the cake during the entire cooking time instead of disintegrating quickly into the dough.

Next, whip the duck eggs with the sugar on high for at least 2 minutes.

You want a nice froth you get from duck eggs, chicken eggs do not have this kind of lift.

To the egg mixture add the baking powder, salt and vanilla.

Pour the milk into the softened butter and shortening (it’s okay if the shortening clumps, you don’t want to pour anything hot into the egg mixture). Then pour the milk and butter into the egg mixture and mix on medium until it’s mixed well.

Add the flour (1 3/4 cup minus what was added to the zest) and the zest mixture to the bowl and mix on medium again only until well mixed, you don’t want to overmix at this point. Pour into a well-greased loaf pan (or two pans for a shorter loaf) and bake for 60 minutes, checking at 45 minutes for doneness. The cakes will likely split on the top, but that’s fine. While the cakes are baking, mix the juice from the citrus fruits with powdered sugar, pinch of salt and a tsp of vanilla extract to the degree of thickness you prefer the glaze (more powdered sugar = icing, more liquid = glaze).

Once the cakes cool, remove them to a plate and pour the glaze on the top until it runs down the sides. Serve as is or with whipped cream.

Footnotes:

I adapted this recipe for ingredients and technique from the “Loaf o’Gold Cake” recipe in the 1961 Betty Crocker Cookbook