This recipe came from the small cardboard sleeve that adorned the mini-flower bunt pan that made the cakes you see pictured below (another great gift from my roomie who says "really these things are a gift for me..."). I have to say it's one of the best recipes in my arsenal. You find the great ones in odd places, like this. I have a theory that recipes that come with products, like the recipe for chocolate cake on the box of Hershey's Cocoa, are almost sure fire winners. Recipes in magazines, however, are usually not. I think it has to do with quality versus quantity. Packaging can only hold one to two recipes so the product makers put the best of the best so they can sell more of whatever it is they sell. I don't know if this recipe will sell more mini-flower bundt pans, but it should.

Lemon-Orange Pound Cakes
From the bundt pan package

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  

Directions:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.
• Blend 1 minute at low speed, scraping the bowl often.
• Beat 3 minutes more at medium speed.
• Pour batter into greased and floured pan.
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Okay, a few things about this recipe: I think the "pound cake" is misleading. The consistency of this dessert is really nothing like pound cake and I would absolutely rename this dish "Lemon-Orange Cakes."

I was a bit taken aback by the direction to put all the ingredients in the bowl and mix it. I mean, I've been baking cakes for a long time and was ready for the usual: cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs one at a time blending well after each, mix the flour and salt together, add flour mixture alternately with the milk, mix in orange and lemon peel, lemon juice, and vanilla. And I admit I did it my way the first time I made it. So I thought, "maybe that's why it turned out more like cake than pound cake." So I made it again, this time actually following the instructions. Lo and behold the finished product had the exact same consistency. So you can do it my way or you can do it their way and be happy in the knowledge that either way, your cake will still be delicious.

I find that orange and chocolate go very well together. I topped these little cakes with a bittersweet chocolate ganache (mmmm...) that completely covered the pretty little flowers.

Chocolate chips would be an excellent addition to this recipe.

If you don't have a mini-flower bundt pan, these would make great muffins, large or small. You could also just throw it into a 13x9" pan. Either way, you'll need to adjust your baking time.

This recipe deserves 5 stars.