Orange Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis

Juicy, red strawberries lined nearly every stand at the farmer’s market last Saturday. You know it’s strawberry season when you can get three crates for under $10—we paid a mere $6 for all these gorgeous gems. So what to do with our overabundance of strawberries? We decided on an elevated version of strawberry shortcake by making orange pound cake with strawberry coulis.

A coulis sounds fancy, doesn’t it? But it really isn’t. It’s simply a strawberry sauce, which is the perfect thing to make when you have overripe strawberries (that sneaky farmer stuck all the extra ripe ones at the bottom of the crates).

This recipe turned out great. I mean, who doesn’t love pound cake? Adding orange just gives it a little more depth. Plus, orange and strawberry pair well together–just enough zing of citrus melds well with the sweet strawberries. The cake is rich and dense and the sauce is light and sweet, definitely a yummy take on strawberry shortcake.

What is your favorite thing to do with strawberries?

Orange Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis

Adapted from Saveur and Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients: 

For the Cake:

13 tbsp. softened unsalted butter, plus more for greasing pan
3 tbsp. milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups cake flour
¾ cup sugar
¾ tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. grated orange zest (1-2 oranges)

For the glaze:

⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
For the Strawberry Coulis:
2 cups quartered hulled strawberries (about 12 ounces)
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:

For the cake: Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 6-cup loaf pan with 1-2 tbsp. of the butter; set aside. Put milk, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl and beat until well combined; set aside.

Sift together flour, sugar, and baking powder into the bowl. Add zest, beating on medium speed, then add remaining 13 tbsp. of butter, 1 tbsp. at a time, waiting until each is completely incorporated before adding more. (If you do not have a stand mixer, you will want to hand mix a bit and then use an electric mixer so flour doesn’t spray everywhere.)

Slowly add milk-egg mixture, beating constantly, until batter is just mixed together. Pour into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 45-55 minutes. (Lightly cover cake with a piece of buttered foil during baking if it begins to get too brown.) Allow cake to cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold. Using a skewer, poke holes all over top of cake.

For the glaze: Combine sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Reduce glaze by half. Brush some of the warm glaze over top of cake, reapplying glaze until cake is saturated.

For the strawberry coulis: Combine strawberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in blender. Purée until very smooth, then press through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Coulis can be prepared one day ahead.