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Traditional Pound Cake

Source of Recipe

From "The Southern Sympathy Cookbook" by Perre Coleman Magness


Recipe Introduction

"A simple pound cake is the most satisfying and comforting food gifts I know. Its appeal is broad and it offers scope, to be served plain or with ice cream, a sauce, or berries. It makes a dessert, a snack, and frankly, a very good breakfast. For most of my life, I honestly did not know that the name 'pound cake' comes from the original ingredients—a pound of each. As I got more interested in cooking and learning about recipes and where they came from, I had to give the traditional pound cake a try. This is a distillation of all my experiments over the years—tips from friends, and recipes old and new. So here is my breakdown on how to make a great pound cake. I have read some theories that the traditional pound cake recipe went out of fashion because it made too much cake (no such thing, in my opinion). I do scoff at that idea, because a well-wrapped pound cake keeps on the counter for days, even improves. Lightly toasting a slice brings a drying cake to life. And a cake wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and then foil freezes beautifully. The ingredients are so few and simple, so I really like to use the best I can—European style butter and farm fresh local eggs."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter (the best quality you can manage)
â—¦ 1 pound granulated sugar (about 2 cups)
â—¦ 1 pound eggs (about 8 medium or 7 large)
â—¦ 1 pound all-purpose flour (about 3 ¼ cups)
â—¦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)


Recipe

Let the butter and the eggs come to room temperature.

Butter two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. I like the Pyrex or tempered glass version, because you get a lighter crust and you can see what's going on. The wrappers that the butter softened in are a great tool for buttering the pans.

Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat it on medium for 1 minute until it starts to look lighter. Weigh the sugar in a bowl and pour it slowly into the butter with the mixer running. Beat the butter and sugar together at medium for 6 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. The butter will become super light and fluffy and almost white.

Break the eggs into a small bowl and whisk lightly. Weigh the flour in a small bowl (use the same one you used for the sugar). Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs and the flour alternately in three additions, beating well after each addition. Stop to scrape the bowl a few times. Add the vanilla or almond extract with the last addition of eggs, if using.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Smooth the batter to fill the pan, but don't worry about perfection. Place the pans on the middle rack of a cold oven, and turn it on to 275° F. Bake for 30 minutes, then rotate the pans and turn the temperature to 350° F. Bake an additional 15 to 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out with a few clinging crumbs. If the tops of the cakes are getting too brown, loosely place a piece of tinfoil over the pans. Cool the cakes on a wire rack in the pans for 15 minutes, then remove from the pans to the rack to finish cooling.

Makes 2 loaves