The Best Pound Cake

[Wendy DeBord]

I am sad that no one wants to give my Million Dollar Pound Cake a try. 

It is really good.

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I'll give it a try.............gotta give me a little time to get it into my schedule though.

[Wendy DeBord]

Here's a great resource for pound cake recipes. The website is a gem. Scroll way down the list until you hit the "p"s.

http://www.labellecuisine.com/Archives/ind...pe_archives.htm

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Pam, can I talk you into sharing which recipes you've liked from this site, please?

[prasantrin]

I've been planning on making pound cake since the start of these topic. I love a good pound cake, but have never had a good homemade one (at least not one made by me), so I've been quite happy with Sara Lee when available.

Tonight I had intended to try Becca's pound cake recipe, but for some reason (I can't remember why now) I ended up making the Sour Cream and Lemon Pound Cake from Bon Appetit.

I followed the recipe exactly, but I used Japanese sour cream since I'm in Japan. I find Japanese sour cream to be much thicker than US sour cream (or at least Canadian sour cream), and it seems to be richer, as well. I considered adding milk to it so the texture would be more similar to US sour cream, but decided against it. I baked it for 72 minutes instead of the suggested 90 (my tiny Japanese gas/convection oven bakes things quickly).

This cake is perfect! I took some pictures, but left my card reader at work so they'll have to wait until tomorrow. The top crust on this cake is wonderfully caramelized, and the cake itself is very moist and very buttery, with a fine crumb. I cut into it when it was still warm. Mmmmmm, I just cannot express how much I love this cake.

I would consider cutting the sugar a bit, but I liked the crust so much. I'm afraid cutting the sugar might ruin that slightly chewy crispy texture of it.

I did notice that the inner circle of the cake (it's baked in a Bundt pan) is much lighter than the outer part. Is this normal for Bundt cakes? Or is there a way I can get it more evenly browned?

Now, do I have another slice or go to bed? It's still warm....can I resist?

[Toliver]

Now, do I have another slice or go to bed?  It's still warm....can I resist?

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Life's too short to pass up a slice of just-out-of-the-oven pound cake.

[prasantrin]

Life's too short to pass up a slice of just-out-of-the-oven pound cake.

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I endulged, breaking two of my rules (no eating after 8pm, and no eating after flossing my teeth!). It was great, and I was able to find enough will-power in myself to stop from eating a third slice. I still have about 1/3 cake left, and all but 1 slice has been eaten by me!

Here's a too-dark picture of a slice of cake

And a close-up of the crust

The crust was the best part, but the entire cake is absolutely delicious. Even now, one week later (I can't believe it's only been a week--I feel like such a pig for eating so much of it!), it's still moist and tender. I'm going to make this cake again, but will leave out the lemon next time. I want to try it as a plain (vanilla) pound cake.

Edited March 5, 2006 by prasantrin (log)

[jobean]

Hi, newbie here. I tried Becca's pound cake ... halved the recipe, used cake flour, 3 eggs, increased the vanilla, and baked it in a mini bundt pan. The baked cake tastes great but it's a little hard, not very moist. After the week-end, it got harder, not moister. What did I do wrong?

[Becca Porter]

Hi, newbie here.  I tried Becca's pound cake ... halved the recipe, used cake flour, 3 eggs, increased the vanilla, and baked it in a mini bundt pan.  The baked cake tastes great but it's a little hard, not very moist.  After the week-end, it got harder, not moister.  What did I do wrong?

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Well Jobean, I think the main problem is that you didn't use my recipe .

The eggs are a major source of leavening, among other things. While it is possible to increase the eggs, decreasing them that much will greatly affect the recipe, as you noticed.

When I increase the eggs I like to use only yolks so that the added egg whites do not curdle the batter. I also do not find it necessary to use cake flour in this cake. The triple sifting really lightens the AP and I like the taste better. Unbleached AP tastes more pure to me. I hope this helps!

[jobean]

*You can also do a variation. You can add up to 7 eggs. I did 5 eggs and an extra yolk. Supposedly the 7 egg version is Elvis’s favorite pound cake.

Based upon the note, I thought it would be alright to essentially add an egg white since I didn't want to quarter a yolk.

[Becca Porter]

You are right I was forgetting you halved the recipe. . I am really not sure then. I'm Sorry.

Btw, Welcome to the board!!

[Varmint]

I also made Becca's recipe and can say it was fantastic. It did fall on me, however, but that's a small problem that I can work out. Most of my company thought it was one of the best pound cakes they ever tasted. Mrs. Varmint thought it was a little sweet, but she was in the distinct minority with that opinion!

[Darcie B]

I made Becca's pound cake last night. It is awesome! I made it in one large and one small loaf pan and they turned out beautifully.

I weighed my ingredients as I measured them so Becca could edit her recipe to include weights.

Unbleached AP flour, sifted 3x before measuring = 12 ounces

five eggs = 9.5 ounces

1 egg yolk = .5 ounces

3 cups of sugar = 21 ounces

Thanks again for the recipe!

[chefmoni]

i, too, tried becca's pound cake today. purely delicious, but i baked it in a bundt pan and the middle fell a tad. also, only the bottom (well the top that baked in the oven, but the bottom of the cake when inverted out of the pan) had that wonderful crust. how would i get that crust all over the rest of the cake?

[aznsailorboi]

quick question guys, the 1 cup whipping cream, i was wondering if i can use 1/2 whipping cream, and 1/2 sour cream. i'm thinking that if i add sourcream, it would act as an acid catalyst for the baking powder to react, and make the batter rise more and make the cake lighter.???? any comments about this theory? I'm planning on making the cake tonight, i'm making it the base cake for japanese plum wine cake.

[MelissaH]

quick question guys, the 1 cup whipping cream, i was wondering if i can use 1/2 whipping cream, and 1/2 sour cream. i'm thinking that if i add sourcream, it would act as an acid catalyst for the baking powder to react, and make the batter rise more and make the cake lighter.???? any comments about this theory? I'm planning on making the cake tonight, i'm making it the base cake for japanese plum wine cake.

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Baking powder already has the acid incorporated; it doesn't need any added acid the way baking soda does.

MelissaH

[aznsailorboi]

oh ok haha thanks for that clarification, now I know, I'm definitely baking it tonight. will let you guys know how it turns out, no photos for now, i dropped my dig cam in the washer.....dont ask how it happened. unless i borrow the neighbor's.

quick question guys, the 1 cup whipping cream, i was wondering if i can use 1/2 whipping cream, and 1/2 sour cream. i'm thinking that if i add sourcream, it would act as an acid catalyst for the baking powder to react, and make the batter rise more and make the cake lighter.???? any comments about this theory? I'm planning on making the cake tonight, i'm making it the base cake for japanese plum wine cake.

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Baking powder already has the acid incorporated; it doesn't need any added acid the way baking soda does.

MelissaH

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[Becca Porter]

I thought I would finally post my latest pound cake. It was delicious.

Edited May 2, 2006 by Becca Porter (log)

[alanamoana]

quick question guys, the 1 cup whipping cream, i was wondering if i can use 1/2 whipping cream, and 1/2 sour cream. i'm thinking that if i add sourcream, it would act as an acid catalyst for the baking powder to react, and make the batter rise more and make the cake lighter.???? any comments about this theory? I'm planning on making the cake tonight, i'm making it the base cake for japanese plum wine cake.

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Baking powder already has the acid incorporated; it doesn't need any added acid the way baking soda does.

MelissaH

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this doesn't mean that you can't use sour cream. it just won't give you a lighter product (which is what you were looking for, right?). might make the cake a bit tangy and a little richer...probably delish!

(i could be wrong on this...anyone?!)

[whisks]

hi becca,

i can't wait to give your pound cake a go (and a few of the others on this thread as well). what i want to know is, if i sprinkle berries (blueberries, raspberries...that sort of thing) on the top of the batter, will the batter support the berries, or do you think there may be a tendency for the fruit to sink? i'm thinking to make friand size versions and small loaves of the cake, rather than one big one. thanks.

[Patrick S]

FWIW, I tried Amanda Hesser's vanilla bean loaves recently, which are kinda pound-cakish and similar to Becca's -- while I liked it, I much prefer Becca's. Both are sweet and have that good crust, but Becca's seemed much more moist.

[shaloop]

I also tried Becca's pound cake. I'd been searching for the perfect plain pound cake for about a year. I have great recipes for other flavors/ingredients (like sweet potato or cream cheese or sour cream.) I love the texture of cream cheese pound cake: very moist and tender. I'm also from the (deep) south USA and am used to rich, moist, melt-in-your mouth, tender, velvety pound cake. Yep, all that. I found Becca's pound cake to be a little dry also. I also made a half recipe with 3 whole eggs. I'm wondering if our findings indicate that the one extra egg white is making the difference. (as it does with chocolate chip cookies.) I felt that next time I would either use more butter or omit a whole egg or at least a white. Otherwise the cake was very good. (and it was all eaten at my house!)

Shalisha

[aznsailorboi]

oh my I totally forgot about this thread. well, I am a cold oven pound cake believer myself, Becca that recipe of yours rock!!!! actually i've been making that cake almost every week sometimes twice a week even, since I first made it a month and a half ago, its lifespan on the kitchen counter averages about three days, I think thats pretty amazing. although I've tweaked the recipe after the 7th cake... I felt guilty wasting that "1" eggwhite so I just added it in, and that one itself made a difference with the end product, the cake was moister, lighter and crumbier<=( is there such a word??? lol ). the taste is still the same, the only things different that I like in the original recipe that I miss is the crunchy almost candy shell type crust, a bit denser, and it can definitely hold its shape even when cut in thin slices, my tweaked recipe crumbles easily when you attempt to slice it thinly. But enough about my cake, this is Becca's highlighted moment

[Badiane]

I made the Elvis cake yesterday. Used just churned yesterday butter, fresh organic eggs, organic flour and a fat vanilla bean. It's fantastic. It's really hard to cream 3 cups of sugar with only 1 cup of butter, so I added one egg early in the process to help it along. I used 7 whole eggs in total, and let the mixer run for at least a minute in between eggs. When I was done mixing it was about 3/4 of a my kitchenaid bowl full. Got two gorgeous cakes, perfectly domed, candy crunchy tops and a good crust on the outside. Pretty darn near perfect. I am about to embark on a lemon version to see how that measures up.

[Ling]

I made the Elvis cake yesterday.  Used just churned yesterday butter, fresh organic eggs, organic flour and a fat vanilla bean.  It's fantastic. 

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No wonder it's fantastic!

[Kim Shook]

I baked a pound cake tonight from this recipe. Perfect texture and crumb and I think the taste is wonderful (I can't be sure because I was a bit rattled and forgot to add the extracts, but that is another story ). It rose up really high in the pan - just over the top. When it cooled in the pan for a few minutes, the crown fell and I ended up with a nice high crispy crust that was totally empty. Can anyone look at the recipe and see where it might be possible to go wrong? I followed the recipe exactly. Thanks!!

[RodneyCk]

I baked a pound cake tonight from this recipe.  Perfect texture and crumb and I think the taste is wonderful (I can't be sure because I was a bit rattled and forgot to add the extracts, but that is another story ).  It rose up really high in the pan - just over the top.  When it cooled in the pan for a few minutes, the crown fell and I ended up with a nice high crispy crust that was totally empty.  Can anyone look at the recipe and see where it might be possible to go wrong?  I followed the recipe exactly.  Thanks!!

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Well your recipe seems to be on par, all main ingredients roughly close to a 1lb, so that steers me to YOU and/or your oven.

When cakes have holes or tunneling there are usually three main reasons, so check all three in no particular order;

1.Oven temperature too high. Use an oven thermometer to check.

2. Undermixing or extreme overmixing (too much gluten.)

3. Too much leavening.