Perfect Pound Cake

This golden, statuesque pound cake is tender and moist. The crisp, caramellized crust hides a fine grained cake with a slightly firm texture that results from the use of cake flour. Delicious plain or served with lemon curd. It also freezes extremely well and takes well to flavoring with different extracts and lemon or orange zest. The recipe is from the classic book by Rose Levy Berenbaum - The Cake Bible. It is not as heavy on the eggs and butter as many other pound cake recipes yet just as delicious. The recipe below is for a loaf cake but I doubled the recipe and baked it in a tube pan.



Perfect Pound Cake
8 x 5" loaf | The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum

13 tbsp butter
3 tablespoons milk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons, softened

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl lightly combine the butter, milk, eggs and vanilla.

2. In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and half the egg mixture. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the cake’s structure.

3. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the remaining egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. The batter will be almost a 1/2" from the top of a 4-cup loaf pan. (If pan is smaller, use excess batter for cupcakes.)

5. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cover loosely with buttered foil after 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning. The cake should start to shrink from the sides of the pan only after removal from the oven. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes and invert it onto a greased wire rack. If baked in a loaf pan, to keep the bottom from splitting, reinvert so that the top is up and cool completely before wrapping airtight.