Orange Pound Cake

1 lb Butter

1 lb Sugar, powdered

2 T Orange rind, grated

6 lg Eggs

3 1/2 c Flour (all-purpose),

-sifted 1/2 t Mace

1/4 t Salt

1/4 c Orange juice

1 c Apricot jam, strained

2 T Orange peel, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add sifted sugar and rind. Cream thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift the flour before measuring, then combine the dry ingredients. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture. Add orange juice and combine thoroughly. Turn into buttered and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and cake is golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn onto wire rack and cool thoroughly. Brush with jam and top with orange peel. NOTES: * A luscious orange-flavored pound cake -- Absolutely the best cake I have ever eaten! I got the recipe from the mother of a friend. I think Don's mom got the recipe off the back of a sugar box. * If you try to make a pound cake with margarine or shortening you will end up with a tasteless mess. Butter is the major taste in a pound cake; even if it weren't, butter and margarine have different properties in baking, and this recipe is adjusted for butter. * Don't make this cake if you don't have an electric mixer or very strong wrists. I figure I spend nearly half an hour beating butter and such when I make this cake. Also, this cake is easier to handle if you have a tube pan that comes apart into two pieces. : Difficulty: easy to moderate. : Time: 30-40 minutes preparation, 1 hour baking. : Precision: measure the ingredients. : Liz Sommers : The Soup Kitchen, Edison NJ : caip!unirot!mamaliz : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust