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Mar. 7th, 2006
Creamy goodness
Mar. 7th, 2006 09:33 amPound Cake is kind of overlooked at times. Partly because there is a lot of so-so cake out there peddling itself as being the ideal food. If you ignore the lousy pound cake in the world you are more likely to recall with fondness how you ate half a pound cake once at a tea party or how you like just a small slice now and then with a cup of well-made coffee. What I like about pound cake is the fact that is stands alone on its own quite nicely as a little something to have after dinner or for tea and it can be the starting point for a slightly more exotic dessert.
Pound Cake
5 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 sticks of butter (softened)
1 1/3 Cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 Cups sifted flour (it helps to sift it twice)
Preheat Oven to 325F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
First you will begin by whisking together in a medium bowl the eggs, extracts, zests and spice. You can whisk and whisk and it should become a speckly pale yellow color. Maybe it will make you think of Easter or scary organic eggs. Take your pick. Set that aside for a moment. In a large bowl you will cream the butter for about 30 seconds if you are using an electric mixer. You will then slowly add the sugar and salt. Scrape the sides on occasion and if you are using a stand mixer it is good to turn it off every so often and give it a whirl with your own spatula/whisk to make sure that even the stuff at the very bottom is combined. There is something about stand mixers -they miss the very very bottom stuff. Proof once again that as sexy as a machine may be -sometimes a human hand is needed. Once you are done contemplating the influence of machines upon man you will turn the mixer back on and slowly dribble in the egg/extract/spice mixture. Ideally you should do this about 1 Tablespoon at a time. It helps to build up a bit of air, You will create something rather fluffy. Once that is combined and is a beautiful creamy yellow color (probably the color I want to paint my living room walls) You will add the flour in 3 parts. There are a couple of ways to approach this. You can use the mixer and on a very low speed add the flour or you could just use a spatula and essentially fold in the flour. It keeps the air within the batter. Now you have a pretty batter that is quite thick and shouldn't be too heavy. Spoon that into the pan and spread evenly. Bake that baby anywhere from an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. This is where you see how wonky your stove is. It is amazing how many stoves are off temperature-wise. I have made pound cakes where it took an hour and a half to thoroughly cook. So there you go.
Once it is done baking (use the toothpick/knife test) you will let it cool for about ten minutes and then use a knife and slide it around the edges of the cake to make sure it is loosened. Remove the cake and continue to let it cool; Unless you are an impatient piggy like me and you have to take a small slice of the cake while it is still warm. If you bake the cake you can justify it by saying, "Well I am the chef I have to make sure it tastes alright. I don't want to poison anyone." I encourage all kinds of justifications for eating cake. "It is Tuesday I have to eat cake." "Oh it is the anniversary of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr -time to have make my way through that Sachertore." You get the idea.
Enjoy darlings.
Pound Cake
5 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 sticks of butter (softened)
1 1/3 Cups sugar
pinch of salt
2 Cups sifted flour (it helps to sift it twice)
Preheat Oven to 325F degrees. Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
First you will begin by whisking together in a medium bowl the eggs, extracts, zests and spice. You can whisk and whisk and it should become a speckly pale yellow color. Maybe it will make you think of Easter or scary organic eggs. Take your pick. Set that aside for a moment. In a large bowl you will cream the butter for about 30 seconds if you are using an electric mixer. You will then slowly add the sugar and salt. Scrape the sides on occasion and if you are using a stand mixer it is good to turn it off every so often and give it a whirl with your own spatula/whisk to make sure that even the stuff at the very bottom is combined. There is something about stand mixers -they miss the very very bottom stuff. Proof once again that as sexy as a machine may be -sometimes a human hand is needed. Once you are done contemplating the influence of machines upon man you will turn the mixer back on and slowly dribble in the egg/extract/spice mixture. Ideally you should do this about 1 Tablespoon at a time. It helps to build up a bit of air, You will create something rather fluffy. Once that is combined and is a beautiful creamy yellow color (probably the color I want to paint my living room walls) You will add the flour in 3 parts. There are a couple of ways to approach this. You can use the mixer and on a very low speed add the flour or you could just use a spatula and essentially fold in the flour. It keeps the air within the batter. Now you have a pretty batter that is quite thick and shouldn't be too heavy. Spoon that into the pan and spread evenly. Bake that baby anywhere from an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes. This is where you see how wonky your stove is. It is amazing how many stoves are off temperature-wise. I have made pound cakes where it took an hour and a half to thoroughly cook. So there you go.
Once it is done baking (use the toothpick/knife test) you will let it cool for about ten minutes and then use a knife and slide it around the edges of the cake to make sure it is loosened. Remove the cake and continue to let it cool; Unless you are an impatient piggy like me and you have to take a small slice of the cake while it is still warm. If you bake the cake you can justify it by saying, "Well I am the chef I have to make sure it tastes alright. I don't want to poison anyone." I encourage all kinds of justifications for eating cake. "It is Tuesday I have to eat cake." "Oh it is the anniversary of the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr -time to have make my way through that Sachertore." You get the idea.
Enjoy darlings.