What's your favorite pound cake recipe?

[Marianne]

Since we got on the subject of cakes on another topic, I thought I'd google for a simple pound cake recipe. There are many! And none were the 1:1:1:1 ratio that k15n1 was talking about. Hint, hint.
I remember something about one pound of sugar, one pound of flour..... one egg? that's not right. One pound of eggs?

I saw lemon pound cakes, strawberry pound cakes...what kind do you like?

 

[Justme]

A pound of eggs is about a dozen small to medium eggs. Often pound cake recipies call for large eggs hence the < a dozen. The old time pound cake recipe was a pound of everything. But as on the "other thread" probably everything was in "abouts".
FYI the american standards for egg size are (this is the minimum and they range upto the next larger size) UK sizes are a bit higher.
small 1.25 oz or 42 g
Med. 1.5 oz 49 g
Large. 2 oz. 56 g
Ex lg. 2.25 Oz. 63 g
Jumbo. 2.5 Oz. 70 g

To answer your question I don't really have a favorite as it all depends on the moment. I do love some good lemon pound cake with some fruit topping though.

 

[k15n1]

I like the real thing. It's sweet but not too much. It's "moist" but not greasy. It's good for a few days and makes THE BEST toast when it goes stale.

Gotta watch out for the right recipe. Even the pound-cake recipe in the Betty Crocker (2003 edition) cookbook isn't a pound cake. Many pound cake recipes just don't work. But people cook so little now that they don't recognize a fallen cake. They bring it to the potluck without any compunction and even brag about their cake.

A proper pound cake cake does not even have chemical leavening. Preheat the oven, grease/flour a pan, measure out the flour, chop nuts or fruit, get out a rubber spatula, put the baby in the play pen, etc. Then whip/beat the eggs into the creamed sugar and butter. The eggs and bubbles whipped into the batter are the leavening. Then fold in the flour quickly-like and pop it in the oven. When I say "quick", I mean 30 seconds from adding flour to closing the oven door.

Even so, I sometimes add a little baking powder. A little.

Pound cake with fresh-ground whole-whole wheat flour is---good. Some recipes need to be adapted but a good old-fashion pound cake is fine with real flour.

Now, let's look on the internet. The recipe below gets some things right and other wrong. It's not a pound of flour. You always put cake (and all other raised items) in a pre-heated oven, not a cold one. This is because you want to set the bread/cake before the bubbles will pop or float out of the batter. Also, those tiny bubbles you beat into the cake will expand. If you want a particularly light cake, you have to steam the oven to prevent the top from crusting over in the first few minutes of baking. That's more of a bread issue (same with slashes on top of the loaf) but I suspect it applies to all baked items. Furthermore, I doubt that someone with a wood-fired stove/oven would ever start cold because stable oven temperatures are probably more easily achieved with coals.

http://hbs1991.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/old-fashioned-real-pound-cake/

Here's another recipe that's totally wrong. I'm not looking hard for these. They're in the first few pages of the Google. For starters, 3 C of sugar is not a pound, 4 C of flour is not a pound, and 1.75 C butter IT NOT A FREAKIN' POUND! COME ON people. The recipe also includes a full dose of baking powder (1 t/C) which isn't traditional and contributes to the taste. Also, the main part of the mixing should come before the flour is added, but this lady mixes it for 5 min after adding flour. She says it's delicious but I wonder. I've had cake that I mixed too long and it's not good. Maybe she hasn't had a proper pound cake lately and her taste has shifted a bit. That's OK but this isn't traditional pound cake.

http://cubbyholes.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/moms-old-fashioned-true-pound-cake/

Another recipe---too much sugar, substitution of chemically altered plant oil in place of butter. But only a small amount of chemical leavening is used and the directions are basically correct, though they do not bother trying to explain the important bits.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/mamas-pound-cake-recipe/index.html

Number Uno Google hit on pound cake (below) doesn't have any butter in the recipe. Too much sugar, not enough egg and includes milk.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/old-fashioned-pound-cake-ii/

Another top-10 google hit (below) is totally off...

http://www.food.com/recipe/old-fashioned-lemon-pound-cake-457616

Well, I could go on and on, but I think the point has been made. These cakes may or may not work (as in, not fall) and they may be delicious but they're not pound cake.

 

[lazyday]

This is my favorite and go to .....needs no baking powder and I think it is perfect!!!

Million Dollar Pound cake

Ingredients
CAKE
1 lb butter, softened
3 c sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 lg eggs
4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.

2 In a large bowl, cream the butter;
gradually add sugar,salt beating with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3 Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
Gradually add flour alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour and mixing well after each addition.
Mix in almond and vanilla extracts.

4 Pour batter into pan and bake 1 hour and 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 to 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack.

 

[baymule]

I have NEVER put the pound cake in the oven in 30 seconds.........that's NOT enough time to eat half the batter!

 

[k15n1]

I have NEVER put the pound cake in the oven in 30 seconds.........that's NOT enough time to eat half the batter!

Yeah, 30 seconds is hyperbole. It usually takes me more like a minute or so because I'm compulsive and I want to totally clean out that bowl. Sometimes, after I've taken one of those batter spatulas (super soft rubber) to the bowl, it almost looks like it's been washed!

My daughter always wants me to use the electric mixer so she can lick the beaters clean

 

[k15n1]

This is my favorite and go to .....needs no baking powder and I think it is perfect!!!

Million Dollar Pound cake

Ingredients
CAKE
1 lb butter, softened
3 c sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
6 lg eggs
4 c all purpose flour
3/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.

2 In a large bowl, cream the butter;
gradually add sugar,salt beating with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3 Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.
Gradually add flour alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour and mixing well after each addition.
Mix in almond and vanilla extracts.

4 Pour batter into pan and bake 1 hour and 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan 10 to 15 minutes then remove to a wire rack.

This recipe is 1 lb butter, 1.3 lb sugar, 1.1 lb flour. A little sweeter than the old standby, but thats OK. You're probably using standard commercial flour, right? I hear that coarser flours (like what I get out of the Junior WonderMill) can't accommodate as much extra sugar. Looks like some milk is substituted for eggs. That's probably one of those SS adaptations that needed when you're running short on eggs and the chickens can't be persuaded to lay another in time for the cake!

 

[k15n1]

For those of you who like to get your nerd on in the kitchen, here's a nice summary:

http://www.cookingsmartathome.com/2012/05/cake-ratios-and-butter-cake-hints.html

 

[Marianne]

Thanks!

 

[Corn Woman]

The one that has no calories.