Tropical Pound Cake ~ the Perfect Summertime Dessert

I mentioned on my Five on Friday post last week that I wanted to try this pound cake recipe – and I actually baked it on Saturday for a get together I was having at the house.  True to form, I didn’t follow the recipe exactly (how boring would that be?!?) and after the rave reviews I received on Saturday night, I decided to share my version of the recipe with you here.

I am sorry I don’t have a picture – it didn’t last long enough for me to snap one – but here is a copy of the picture of the original cake recipe (from their blog)

For my version, I added a glaze (recipe below) and left off the sprinkling of coconut on the top.  I am also renaming it because I added a little more “tropicalness” to the cake in my ingredient choices… it’s not the pure lemon-coconut cake that the original recipe was.

The yogurt (instead of sour cream) in this recipe yields an interesting flavor and texture to the cake. I think it made it a softer cake – sweeter, a little bit, than with the sour cream.

This is the perfect summertime dessert. Light, refreshing and simply delicious. I served it with fresh sliced strawberries, but it was really good with tea the next morning for a simple breakfast snack as well.

This is not a large cake recipe. It bakes up a perfect loaf-sized pound cake (unlike my Great-grandma’s lemon pound cake which is a monster in a tube pan)

So, if you are looking for something to bake for a special occasion and don’t want any leftovers, this is a good choice.

Lois’ Tropical Pound Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coconut
1 container Chobani Pineapple Greek Yogurt (6 oz)
1 lemon zested (just the zest)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar together at medium speed until creamy, about 2-3 minutes.
4. Crack eggs into a separate bowl and add extracts to eggs.  Beat slightly to break yolks and mix in extracts.
5. Add eggs to sugar/butter mixture, beating just until blended.
6. Alternate adding flour mixture and yogurt to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.
7. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice and 1/2 cup coconut.
8. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.
9. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine took close to an hour and ten minutes.)
10. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes and then remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Glaze:

4 cups powdered sugar
lemon juice
1 Tablespoon melted butter

1. In a large, microwave safe measuring bowl, mix powdered sugar, butter and enough lemon juice to make a thick (just a little looser than a paste) mixture. A whisk works great here.
2. Place in microwave for about 30 seconds, until glaze gets a little liquidy (yes, this is a technical cooking term)
3. Whisk mixture to thoroughly combine.
4. Pour onto cake.
5. As the butter cools, you will get a nice, set glaze with a glossy sheen.