If you’re a fan of indulgent, creamy desserts, then you’ll love this panqué de nata or Mexican nata pound cake. Nata is the thick cream that rises to the top when boiling milk, and in Mexico we use it to make desserts and it’s an absolute must-try treat.
¼cuppowdered sugar aka icing sugar or confectioners sugar
Instructions
Butter a loaf pan with a thin layer of butter then lightly dust with a little bit of flour. Discard any extra flour and set aside. (You could use a small bundt cake pan instead.)
Use a metal sifter to sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. If you don’t have one you can use a mesh sieve instead. Sift into a medium bowl and set aside.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat on low speed until airy. Then pour in the sugar and beat until well incorporated.
Pour in the nata, the vanilla extract then the orange zest. Beat until well incorporated.
Add half of the sifted flour mix into the bowl. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until it’s well combined and there aren’t any lumps. Use a spatula to scrape off the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there aren’t any chunks of unincorporated flour.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Use the spatula to smooth out evenly.
Bake in the center of oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Checking on it at about 35 minutes by inserting a long toothpick or a butter knife into the center, if it comes out clean it’s ready to come out and if not it needs to bake longer. You can cover with aluminum foil if the top is getting too golden.
Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack until completely cooled.
Once completely cooled and right before serving, dust with powdered sugar. You could also decorate with some orange slices if desired.
Notes
The orange zest is optional and adds such a lovely citrus burst that combines perfectly with the creamy nata and fragrant vanilla. If you don’t have orange you could do lime or lemon zest.