Need help with a pound cake

[deelam]

I have to make a pound cake for a picnic at my son's school. I got a recipe, but it just doesn't look right. There is no baking powder or baking soda in this recipe. Could that be correct? Here is the recipe:

4 cups cake flour
2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
10 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

How does this recipe look?

 

[Katy Belle]

I think its right. Pound cake is generally a heavy, dense cake. So it makes sense that there would be no soda or baking powder. Here's one from allrecies.com and it omits those too.

NGREDIENTS:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.
Add eggs two at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour all at once and mix in. Add vanilla.
Pour into a 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (160 degrees C) for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check for doneness at 1 hour. A toothpick inserted into center of cake will come out clean.


Good luck!
Katy

 

[polly p]

It looks right because soda and powder help with rising which pound cake doesn't need. But it sounds like a lot of batter, maybe it will make 2.

 

[deelam]

I have a couple of questions about the flour.

What is cake flour-Is this just regular flour?

Can I just buy presifted flour and not sift.

 

[cryssi]

cake flour is finer:

Cake or pastry flour is a fine-textured, soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It makes particularly tender cakes and pastries.

(from the food network)

I know 2 brands are Swan's Down and Wondra. They come in boxes.

good luck!

 

[Twigs]

Whenever I see a recipe for cake flour I use Presto Cake Flour. It is self rising as the baking powder is already in it. The pound cake recipes that I have call for baking powder unless they list cake flour as an ingredient.

 

[deelam]

Whenever I see a recipe for cake flour I use Presto Cake Flour. It is self rising as the baking powder is already in it. The pound cake recipes that I have call for baking powder unless they list cake flour as an ingredient.

Thanks for the info. That explains allot.

 

[deelam]

I made the pound cake recipe with the 1lb of butter, 1lb of sugar & 10 eggs. It wasn't great. The cake smelled like eggs. I trashed it. I could never get a bunch of 10 year olds to eat it.

So I made a Paula Dean cake

6 eggs
3 cups sugar
3 cups flour (I used cake flour)
2 sticks of butter
8 oz sour cream

Unfortunately, the cake collapsed! I opened the oven door a few times and it collapsed! So now I have to make another one tonight so I can bring it into school tomorrow. The collapsed cake was still really good. The crust of the cake is very sugary.

 

[porterbl1]

This is absolutely the best pound cake. I have tested recipes and this won by a landslide. It also has been loved by the egullet.com, a great food website. I hope you will try it.

Perfect Pound Cake

1 cup unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt
3 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder
*5 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whipping cream
(Sift 3 times before measuring)

Butter and flour 2 9by5 inch loaf pans.

Whisk salt and baking powder into presifted flour. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until light, fluffy and almost white, 4 to 5 minutes, stopping mixer once or twice to scrape down sides. Add eggs one at a time slowly, beating well after each addition. Add one third of flour mixture into the mixer set at low speed. Add half the whipping cream. Continue alternating flour and cream, ending with flour. Add vanilla. With rubber spatula scrape down sides and bottom until completely mixed. Pour into loaf pans, up to 2/3 full.

**Start in a cold oven**.
Place pans on middle rack of oven. Turn oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (Note: It only took mine 55 minutes, so check early)

*You can also do a variation. You can add up to 7 eggs. I did 5 eggs and an extra yolk. Supposedly the 7 egg version is Elvis’s favorite pound cake.



***Also a note on cake flour. Presto would be a self-rising cake flour. You would never want to substitute it for cake flour in a recipe. Cake flour is usually found in boxes on the top or bottom shelves. It is very different than All-purpose as well. It is made from a soft wheat. It is also bleached, which changes the way the flour reacts in a recipe. If you need to substitute all-purpose, subtract 2 tablespoons of the ap per cup of flour.

My cake does include a little baking powder. This recipe is so good. Plus you get to keep one and give one away!
-Becca

 

[deelam]

Your cake sounds good. I'm going to try and make it.

I never realized that cake flour shouldn't be subbed for all purpose flour. My cake still came out very good, Except it collapsed!