As promised, there’s nothing remotely healthy about this recipe with its two sticks of butter! I made this to bring into work tomorrow. There are only a few ingredients in this recipe which is good, though it still takes a little while to come together because of the length of time everything needs to be mixed for. I had a small sliver of the cake when it came out of the oven and it’s delicious! The texture is really nice and as an added bonus the house smelled amazing the entire time it was cooking!
By Tracey
Pound Cake
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (or 2 1/4 cups cake flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 9-x-5 or 8 1/2-x-4 1/2 inch loaf pan. Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater and reduce the mixer speed to medium. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 to 2 minutes after each egg goes in. As you’re working, scrape down the bowl and beater often. Mix in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated – don’t overmix. In fact, you might want to fold in the last of the flour, or even all of it, by hand with a rubber spatula. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top.
Put the cake into the oven to bake, and check on it after about 45 minutes. If it’s browning too quickly, cover it loosely with a foil tent. If you’re using a 9-x-5 pan, you’ll need to bake the cake for 70 to 75 minutes; the smaller pan needs about 90 minutes. The cake is properly baked when a thin knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean.
Remove the cake from the oven, transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 30 minutes. Run a blunt knife between the cake and the sides of the pan and turn the cake out, then turn it right side up on the rack and cool to room temperature.
