Pound Cake

A few months ago, I had a craving for pound cakes. Initially I bought cake by the slice at the bakery section in our supermarket, but after a week, I thought that it would be far more economical to bake a cake at home. I baked two batches in one week, and after two weeks of eating pound cake, I was finally over the pound cake craving. I decided to take photos for the blog only on the second batch, which I'd split into a bunch of cupcake-sized portions and a small heart-shape pan that I gifted to a friend who celebrated her birthday that week. I used my favourite baking website joyofbaking.com to find a pound cake recipe, and I settled on this particular recipe because I was curious about the 'one bowl' or 'quick method' (also known as a 'dump' cake) employed in the recipe. This means all the dry ingredients are first put into a mixing bowl and then room temperature butter, along with the liquid ingredients, are beaten into the batter. Apparently this method reduces the gluten formation in the flour which results in a cake with softer, more tender texture. Clearly this wasn't a recipe to use for my kids' birthday cakes which needed a more durable cake for carving, but this tasted real good, perfectly satisfying my craving for a buttery and soft cake. When the cake is more than a day old, it tastes superb warmed with a scoop of ice cream (but don't tell anyone I said that). I used the recipe to the letter, which is reposted here.

Moist and tender crumb:

My friend whom I gifted this heart-shaped cake to said she and her husband loved the cake:

Pound Cake

Notes:
-All the ingredients must be at room temperature.
-I baked at 170degC in my fan-forced (convection) oven for 50 minutes. The cupcake-sized portions were done within 15 to 20 minutes, and the heart-shaped pan at 30 minutes.

Ingredients

3 large eggs, room temperature
3 tablespoons milk, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (150 grams) sifted plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
13 tablespoons (1/2 cup + 1/3 cup) (185 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

Method

1. Preheat oven to 177 degrees C and place rack in centre of the oven. Butter a 23 x 13 x 8 cm loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter or spray the paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.

3. In the bowl of your electric mixer, with the paddle attachment (or with a hand mixer), place the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar) and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds or until blended. Add the butter and half of the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about one minute to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture, in 2 additions, beating about 30 seconds after each addition to incorporate the egg and strengthen the cake's structure.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 55 to 65 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. If you find the cake browning too much as it bakes, cover with a piece of lightly buttered aluminum foil after about 30 minutes.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely on a lightly buttered wire rack.

6. The Pound Cake can be covered and stored for several days at room temperature, for one week when refrigerated, or it can be frozen for two months.