Pound Cake Recipe
July 24th, 2009 | Baking Recipes | 18 Comments
I am a bad passenger, airlines don’t like me.
I am a magazine hog who snatches every in-flight magazine, pile them up in my seat, never return them back to the rack, and then I rip off interesting pages on these magazines. (Oops, did I just confess my dirty secrets?!)
Yes, I am one of those passengers that flight attendants and fellow passengers sneer at, especially when they hear the suspicious noise as I tear off pages. I really can’t help it. I am addicted to magazines; I can’t sleep on planes; and I absolutely CANNOT resist mouthwatering food and recipes on magazines. They whisper “tear me tear me” in my ears, I swear…
This pound cake is the result of the above shameful acts. It’s a classic pound cake recipe on Better Homes and Garden, May 2009 issue. The pound cake photos look velvety, deliciously dense, moist, and just perfect. I had to tear the pages off and try the pound cake recipe at home.
My pound cake turned out quite good except one flaw–I used coarse organic cane sugar and didn’t cream the butter and sugar long enough to break the sugar. It was a good pound cake nonetheless.
Here is my adapted pound cake recipe. Happy baking!
Adapted from Better Homes and Garden, May 2009 issue
Prep: 20 min. Bake: 1 1/4 hour; Oven: 300 degree F
Makes two loaves or four mini-loaves or one 10-inch tube cake
Ingredients:
6 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup unsalted butter (8 oz.), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
8 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 1/2 cups fine sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons pure vanilla (I love the vanilla from I Heart Vanilla)
3 cups sifted cake flour or 2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Method:
Butter and lightly flour your 8×4x2 inch loaf pans or one 10-inch tube pan. (I used a mini loaf pan and makes 4 loaves.)
Beat the butter on low speed for 2 minutes and add cream cheese. Beat on low speed for 3 minutes until well-blended. While beating, add sugar, salt, and vanilla and turn the speed to medium speed for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Then, add eggs one at a time and continue beating.
Turn the speed to low before adding the flour. Beat the batter until well blended and smooth. Transfer batter into the pan. Shake pan gently to distribute the batter. Run a spatula in zigzag pattern through the batter and then top with sliced almonds.
Place on the pan in the center rack of a cold oven and bake at 300 degree F for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a cake tester comes out dry. If you are using a tube pan, bake for 1 hour 45 minutes. Transfer the pound cake to a cooling rack for about 10 minutes before removing from pans and serving.
Cook’s Note:
Proper creaming is critical for a perfect pound cake. Creaming is the process of blending the butter and sugar together to incorporate air and it usually takes about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. So, don’t cheat like I did.*wink*
Subscribe to RASA MALAYSIA by RSS
Follow RASA MALAYSIA on Twitter
Join RASA MALAYSIA on Facebook
Btw, I am going to give that pound cake with real vanilla to try ;) It looks delicious! Thanks for mentioning I Heart Vanilla on the blog, Bee. Oh, so how long do you suggest creaming the butter and sugar?
Hey Elaine, cream for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. I am not much a baker, this is what the recipe says. ;)
From now on, if I get magazines with food pages torn off, I may count myself lucky to possibly have crossed path with you. I see more people tearing off the sudoku or crossword puzzles than any other pages on airline magazines. Wonderful looking poundcake pictures. Like everyone else, I could bite off my monitor screen right now. If anything, looking at these pictures just made my instant coffee taste better!
I neglected to cream the butter/sugar enough once too. After that, I always powder the sugar first to make it easy and smooth :) But I found that I did like the sweet crunch that comes from that bit of sugar in the bottom of the cake. Looks good :)
Yes, I know what you mean. I need to use fine or powdered sugar the next time. I don’t have much patience when it comes to baking. ;)
I’m guilty of piling up magazines at my seat too, if only there were that many for me…hahaha! Food and recipe magazines can absolutely calm me down for long-haul flights cos I can’t sleep well too. Please leave some pages for me….leh! ;p
Aiyo, I am very ashamed to have spill my dirty secrets, but I don’t do it every time. Just once in a while! ;)
Ah yo…it took so long to bake this cake! Must be very tasty! Btw, looking forward to the launching of your new food blog. ;)
Yeah lah, very slow I cannot wait and keep checking. Whahaha.
This cake looks delicious! Love the sweet simplicity of pound cake! :) You can have my share of magazines in the long haul flights…airplane engine acts as a sleeping pill for me! I am that irritating passenger that falls asleep on the shoulders of strangers!
Joey – you are so lucky, I wish I can sleep in the plane so I don’t tear off magazine pages. It’s a sin!! :P
difficult to measure 1 cup of butter or 1 cup flour. can u pls let me know in GRAMS or OZS. This would be more accurate. thanks
It’s in the recipe, 1 cup butter means 8 oz. Not sure about the flour, it’s best you buy a measuring cup as different flour weights differently.
hi hi, love your blog and have been following for a few mths now. a friend of mine knows i love recipes, too, but instead of ripping up pages or sections off magazines, she takes ictures of the recipes with her cell phone – oh, i forgot, you can’t have your cell phone turned on while flying (bummer!), and then sends them to me via email. at least i get coloured pictures of the recipes, too :-)
The cake looks yummy!!! i love pound cakes!!
wanted to try yr blueberry poundcake but again everything in cups measurement. not so accurate. would prefer if in future you give your recipe in ozs or grams. Because if we pour the flour in cups, do we have to shake the cup to make the flour level or heapful. this is the problem. Also how to measure butter in cups. It is solid. thanks
I don’t have the recipe in oz or grams, I got the recipe from a magazine. As I mentioned in the recipe, 1 cup of butter is 8 oz. If you bake, you should get a cup, this is the most convenient and accessible method as not everyone has a scale at home. 1 cup means level, not heapful. Hope this helps.
i take the magazine home with me directly when it’s cool! :-)