How our grannies, or awesome grannies, made this cake with 0 electrical appliances – in among wringing out the sheets, feeding the hens, and elevating youngsters – never ceases to amaze me. This unassuming farmhouse deal frequently elicits extra praise than other greater flamboyant cake creations within the cookery college. Its plainness is its sheer splendor, owning an element of returned-to-basics honesty in an international long gone loopy on bling.
Often disregarded as old-fashioned, dry, and dull, pound cake is a recipe that each baker needs to preserve in their repertoire. The original technique concerned blending a pound weight of butter, sugar, eggs, and undeniable flour (why aren’t all recipes so easy to don’t forget?).
It always produces amazing consequences. It is the perfect cake for a newbie as it is easy to play around with by adding special flavors and marbling results. Its firm, dense texture means that you could stuff a loaf into your rucksack on a hike (or for a picnic). On a recent mountain hike in Wicklow, I found it changed into the proper select me up whilst everybody wanted a lift on the summit. No cake containers, no sticky arms, and tissues littering the nation-state.
Although I have transformed and rounded the pound weights to metric grams in the recipe, it’s nonetheless a pound cake. Using plain flour with none introduced elevating dealers would appear to defy ingredients’ natural order for a well-risen loaf. However, with plenty of eggs, this traditional pound cake recipe rises properly, whilst the yolks also add an attractive yellow color.
This recipe can be made in a spherical cake tin. However, this someway ruins its allure. Befitting our inexperienced agenda – why waste strength on one cake whilst you could bake two at the same time (and slice and freeze one)?
Ingredients
450g butter, at room temperature
450g caster sugar
450g eggs (about eight large)
Zest of two lemons
450g plain flour
Pinch salt
Icing sugar to dust on the pinnacle
Method
1 Preheat oven to one hundred eighty stages, fan, or equal. Line 2 x 2lb loaf tins with baking parchment.
2 In a massive blending bowl and an electric mixer, first in short beat the butter to melt it, then add the sugar. Continue whisking the butter and sugar together to create a mild and fluffy consistency (it’s going to take approximately 3 minutes, so scrape down the perimeters of the bowl on occasion to ensure all of the aggregates are creamed).
3 On a gradual velocity putting, add the eggs one after the other, beating nicely after each egg and until all are all included.
4 Add within the lemon zest.
5 Sieve the flour and salt right into a separate bowl. In three batches, use a huge spatula to fold the flour into the batter, ensuring each batch of flour is fully integrated earlier than including the following. Stop mixing once all of the flour is jumbled in with no flour pockets final.
6 Divide the batter flippantly between the prepared loaf tins (there may be no need to smooth the pinnacle. However, you may if you like). Bake both loaves at the center shelf of the preheated oven for one hour. The cake is cooked whilst it appears well risen and golden; the top has to spring lower back whilst gently touched with a fingertip (as soon as cooked, a skewer inserted into the center of the cake ought to pop out smooth).
7 When both cakes are carried out, let the desserts take a seat in the tins for 10 minutes, then switch to a wine rack to cool absolutely.
8 Dust with icing sugar and serve cut into man or woman slices. They may be saved for three to 4 days if wrapped tightly in clingfilm and left at room temperature.
Variation: Create different variations with the addition of spices, vanilla, cocoa powder, espresso essence, lime zest, nuts, and chocolate chips.
