Pound for Pound, Worth the Pounds

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: Brown Sugar Sour Cream Pound Cake.

1 cup / 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (I used caramel sugar)
2 large eggses (I used duck)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 cups white flour
1 cup sour cream (I used creme fraiche)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Heat the oven to 350 and grease a 9 or 10-cup bundt pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggses one at a time, beating for a minute or two between additions. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat to incorporate. Add in the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Gently beat half the flour into the batter.

Gently mix in the sour cream and vanilla, then add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix just until blended. Scoop the batter into the pan and bake 55-60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out on a rack. Cool completely before slicing.

What worked: $deity, this was good. Especially with fresh strawberries and a bit of vanilla ice cream. Pretty, too - I sifted a small amount of powdered sugar over to highlight the bundt striations. I posted a picture on Facebook but I don't think I can here.

Most standard pound cakes leave me "meh" because there tends not to be much flavor beyond sweet. This had lots more flavor, plus because it uses whole eggses it didn't have the weird bouncy compressible texture of a standard pound cake. I know that's part of the appeal of them, but it's never worked for me.

What didn't: It domed a bit, so when turned rightside up it wasn't sitting completely flat. That's kind of a nitpick though; we were pretty happy with it.

Will I make it again? Yes.

Comments

[desperance]

Hunh. I might try this with molasses sugar, because I can. (I have a boxful.) What is caramel sugar, and where do I get it?

[madbaker]

...you were the one who posted the story about cooking white sugar to get a caramel flavor.

[desperance]

Oh - yes, I was. I remember. Thank you!

[kareina]

I am confused by the whole eggs comment, the I have never seen a pound cake the doesn't use whole eggs. I normally use the *pound* cake recipe: 1 lb butter, 1 lb sugar, 1 lb eggs, 1 lb flour. Nothing else. (though, to be fair, I don't always use exactly 1 lb, instead I measure how heavy a whole number of un-cracked eggs are that is kinda close to a pound, whatever number that turns out to be, use that much of everything else. Or, if you want a smaller cake, do a half pound...

[madbaker]

I thought part of the bouncy compressible pound cake was because it used the whites rather than whole eggses. I don't make them, though, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out I'm wrong.

[kareina]

Are you thinking of Angel Food cake? That uses only the whites, no butter, and is really white, soft, terribly sweet, and kinda weird in texture.

Pound cake tends to be moist, rich, flavorful, and dense. Give my recipe a try, in small scale (use only one egg, and the same mass each of butter and sugar (creamed together before adding the egg), and that much again of flour--no baking powder, nothing else) and see if it has the texture you are complaining about.