I have never been a huge fan of pound cakes.  Give me chocolate or a cupcake with frosting any day.  But sometimes simplicity is what is needed.  This is why I make sure to have a fabulous classic shortbread cookie recipe, and this pound cake recipe.

I doubled the recipe to make 1 loaf for my sister and one for a certain someone in my life that I know likes pound cake.  You can easily double this and freeze one for an impromptu visitor.

This recipe calls for strict use of cake flour.  In case you don’t know, cake flour is flour that has a lower protein content than regular flour, and also a finer grind. Learn more about cake flour here and one of my favorite food bloggers explains how to make it at home if you’re in a bind.

However, my mom had just plain all-purpose flour at home and used that.  I liked it when she made it, it was definitely denser than my 1/2 all-purpose 1/2 cake flour loaves.

Also, make sure to save the egg whites from the yolks because later on this week we’re making mini chocolate chip meringues!  You can also save it for egg white breakfasts, but seriously, where’s the fun in that?

I made sure my butter was as whipped as they ask when I poured in my wet ingredients.  And yes, when using cake flour I sift.

Finishing it off by hand reduces the production of gluten, which makes cakes denser and more like bread.  As a rule, once you add in your dry ingredients you want to handle it as little as possible to keep gluten formation at a minimum.  That makes for a cake that’s “light in the loafers”.  Get it?  Ok, i’m done.

Classic Pound Cake

Adapted from one of my mom’s cookbooks I can’t remember the name.  Something about Best of Food.

Ingredients:

  • 16 Tbsp butter (2 sticks)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 eggs (at room temp)
  • 3 egg yolks (at room temp)
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ tsp water
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 ½ cups cake flour (I used ½ all-purpose ½ cake flour)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 325
  2. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan
  3. Put in sheets of parchment paper to the loaf pan so you can lift it out easily
  4. Beat the butter in the bowl of standing mixer until smooth and shiny, about 15 seconds.  With machine still on, sprinkle the sugar in slowly, taking about 30 seconds.  Beat the mixture until light, fluffy, and almost white, 4-5 minutes, stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  5. Stir together the eggs, yolks, vanilla and water in a larger measuring cup.  With the mixer running, add the egg mixture to the butter very slowly.  Finally, beat in the salt.
  6. Place ½ cup of the flour in a sieve and sift over batter.  Fold gently with a spatula.  Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl.  Repeat with each ½ cup of flour.
  7. Scrape batter into prepared pans.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 60-80 minutes.
  8. Let cool completely to room temperature.  Serve immediately or wrap in plastic and foil.  Cake will last a few days.