Old Fashioned Pound Cake

 

 

 

 

Move over Sara Lee there is a new pound cake in town!  That's right folks I have for you today THE. BEST. POUND. CAKE. EVER!!!!  All the credit for this recipe goes to the brilliant Carole Walter's of Great Cakes.  I am baking my way through this cookbook along side a beautiful group of fellow bakers called, The Cake Slice Baker's.  

 

 

This pound cake not only has the perfect texture - dense with a soft crumb - but the flavor was just divine. The crust that  surround the cake was also perfect.  It was like a thin cookie surrounding the cake.  My oldest daughter called it a "pound of yumminess".  I think she's got the right idea. :-) 

 

As with every other recipe from Great Cakes that I've made so far I loved how this recipe came together.  It may take a little bit longer to put the batter together for this cake but the final result is just perfect.  The butter is beaten until light and fluffy and then sugar is added in slowly, one tablespoon at a time. Eggs are also beaten in one at time to ensure complete incorporation into the batter.  I chose to add in 1 tsp of almond extract along with the vanilla extract.  I loved this addition of almond extract as it added just a hint of almond flavor to the cake.

 

 

As I sliced into this cake I began to think of all the delicious treats I could make with it.  I envisioned a beautiful truffle or parfait layered with cubes of pound cake, fresh berries, custard and whipped cream.  Or for a simple version I could serve sliced pound cake with a lovely berry sauce drizzled over it.  Hot tea to dip my pound cake slice in would be just fine too. 

 

 I took a couple of slices and cut hearts out with a cookie cutter.  I then presented my girls with a plateful of pound cake hearts and little bowl of Nutella for them to spread on top of the yummy hearts.  What delicious fun for all of us! 

 

 

 

Old Fashioned Pound Cake

recipe from Great Cakes by Carole Walter

 

Ingredients:

 

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour (don't have cake flour on hand? you can make your own HERE)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup superfine or strained sugar (I used regular granulated sugar and it worked great)

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract (my addition)

1/4 cup milk

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray loaf pan (9x5) with baking spray and set aside.

 

2. Sift together sifted cake flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside flour mixture.

 

3. Cut butter into 1" slices.  Toss butter slices into a large bowl of an electric mixer and beat on low to soften.  Increase speed of mixture to medium high to cream butter until light in color and smooth - about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

 

4. Add in sugar 1 Tbsp at a time. This will take about 6-8 minutes to complete. Scrape sides of the bowl occasionally.

 

5. Add the eggs, 1 at a time at 1-minute intervals.  Add in vanilla (and almond extract if you wish) and blend well. At this point the batter may appear curdled.  Not to worry as the addition of the dry ingredients will remedy this.

 

6. On low speed add in 1/3 of the flour mixture followed by 1/2 the milk.  Then again another 1/3 of the flour and the remaining milk ending with the last of the flour. Mix only until incorporated after each addition.  Scrap the sides of bowl to make sure all ingredients have been included.

 

7. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon. Bake in middle of the oven centered on the rack for 60-70 minutes.  If cake appears to be getting dark too fast cover lightly with tin foil. Cake will be done with toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean.

 

8. Cool cake in pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto a platter to serve. Enjoy!!

 

Happy Old Fashioned Pound Cake Baking!