Baking wild: Gluten-Free Elderberry Orange Pound Cake with Orange Glaze

Welcome to baking wild where we show you how to work with foraged baking ingredients. Today’s secret foraged ingredient is elderberry. I already featured the sweet little elderberry in my post on how to forage and use elderberry to make elderberry syrup. Click here to read about how to make this winter classic. Today’s treat is Gluten-free Elderberry Orange Pound Cake with orange glaze. This is soooo good. It’s a perfect fall treat to have with a cup of coffee or hot foraged tea.

You can use fresh or dried elderberries for this homemade happy treat. Fresh elderberries are always the best, but that is not always possible. After making syrup with my foraged elderberries, I dehydrated the leftover berries for later use and for tea. If you are using dehydrated elderberries you will first need to rehydrate them. Soak your 1/2 cup elderberries in boiling water for a minimum of half an hour. Fresh elderberries are always best but dried elderberries will work in this recipe as well. I use 1/2 cup dried elderberries which is about 3/4 cup fresh. Use more or less according to your taste.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a medium bowl, cream together your 1/4 cup ghee (or butter), 1 cup sugar, and 2 eggs.

Add 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to 3/4 cup milk and let stand for 5 minutes. Any milk is acceptable for this recipe. I use raw goat milk but cow milk or plant based milks will also work. Adding the tablespoon of apple cider vinegar creates a buttermilk alternative. If you have buttermilk on hand, you can just use 3/4 cup of buttermilk. After five minutes, add your milk to your butter mixture and stir until creamy.

In a large mixing bowl add the 1 1/2 cups of gluten-free flour blend, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder. If your flour blend does not contain any xanthan gum then add 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum. Mix well.

Slowly add the butter mixture to the dry mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Once the butter and flour mixtures are well integrated, add the vanilla, orange extract, and elderberries. Stir to combine.

One key to not having your baked goods stick to your loaf pans is to grease your pans really, really well. I take a glob of ghee on a paper towel and spread it all around my loaf pan. Butter would work as well. Don’t be afraid to grease your pans well. This will not affect the finished product. A quick spray with cooking spray will not do.

Pour your gluten-free elderberry orange pound cake batter into your 9” x 5” loaf pan. Bake for one hour or until a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle comes out clean. To prevent the top from becoming overly brown, drape the loaf pan loosely with a large piece of aluminum foil.

After your pound cake is finished baking, remove it from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool. Cool for 10-15 minutes before removing it from the pan to finish cooling.

The dairy-free orange glaze is really simple make. However, don’t make it until your elderberry orange pound cake is fully cooled and ready to be glazed. The glaze will set up after just a few minutes so you want to prepare it and then immediately pour it over your elderberry orange pound cake. If your pound cake is still warm, the glaze will not set properly.

To make the glaze combine the 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon orange extract in a small bowl. Stir the ingredients with a fork, breaking up any lumps if needed. If you want a really strong orange flavor then you can use up to 1 teaspoon of orange extract. The tartness of the orange extract is offset well by the sweetness of the elderberry orange pound cake.

Drizzle the prepared glaze over the pound cake making sure that it drips down the sides.

Slice your pound cake and enjoy!

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Gluten-free Elderberry Orange Pound Cake

Author: Kimberly Fulmer

Ingredients

Pound Cake

• 1/4 cup ghee 
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour blend
• 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum IF your blend does not already contain it. 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 3/4 cup milk (goat milk or alternative milks are ok)
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup dried elderberries (3/4 cup fresh)

Frosting

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Instructions

Pound Cake Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and generously grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan. 
2. If using dried elderberries, place them in a medium bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand for 1/2 hour to rehydrate. Drain. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, eggs, and sugar until smooth. 
4. Add 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar to the 3/4 cup of milk and let stand for 5 minutes. 
5. Stir in the milk to your butter mixture and beat until smooth.
6. In a medium bowl, sift together the gluten free all-purpose flour blend, xanthan gum (if it is not in the blend), salt, baking powder, and baking soda. 
7. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Stir in orange extract, vanilla, and drained elderberries. 
8. Pour mixture into a generously greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. 
9. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Place a piece of aluminum foil loosely on top of the loaf pan after baking 1/2 way through to prevent over browning of the top. 
10. Cool the pound cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack before glazing. 

Glaze Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and orange extract until smooth. 
2. Pour over the top of the pound cake after it is completely cool, letting the glaze fall over the sides. 
3. Let the frosting set up for 10 minutes before eating. 

This recipe is modified and altered from the Lemon Pound Cake recipe in 1000 Gluten Free Recipes. Although I do not recommend buying this book unless you are an experienced baker due to the many errors and failed recipes, I do want to put credit where credit is due. See my FAQ on why I cite the history of my recipes.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is one of my favorites.