Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe

This stuff didn't last long around here.

Since we’re moving within the next month, we’re currently trying to clean out our cabinets.  The only thing worse than moving food is throwing it away.  I recently came into a large quantity of eggs (two and a half dozen!) from my grandmother, so I’ve been trying to use them up before they go bad.  One of my favorite things to make that uses a ton of eggs is pound cake.  We don’t have a variety of ingredients, so I picked out this simple Vanilla Pound Cake recipe from Buttered Up, and still ended up having to substitute a few things.  Despite the substitutions, we were really happy with the way this turned out.

To make this, you’ll need:

  • 1 stick of unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar (I used half white sugar and half brown sugar because it’s all we had)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups of cake flour (I only had 1 C cake flour, so I used all purpose for the remainder)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Don’t preheat the oven. In one bowl, whisk flour and salt together. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar until they’re light and fluffy. To the sugar mixture, add the eggs one at a time, stirring well between additions. Add the vanilla with the third egg and mix well. To the sugar mixture, alternate adding the flour mixture and the cream, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix for 5 minutes until thick and smooth. Pour the batter into a greased pan and then bang it a few times on the counter to remove air bubbles. Turn the oven to 345° and bake for an hour, or until the crust is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Related Posts:

Meyer Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

I’ve been struggling to figure out what to do with those beautiful Meyer lemons I picked up at Johnny Becnel’s while in New Orleans last weekend. I wanted to make something that didn’t require too much work (we made Chickpea Cutlets from Veganomicon for dinner last night, which are fairly time-consuming by themselves) that would still be delicious and good with coffee for breakfast today, so I chose pound cake.

Meyer Lemons from Johny Becnel's Farm Fresh Produce in Belle Chasse, LA

Meyer Lemons from Johny Becnel's Farm Fresh Produce in Belle Chasse, LA

There are several reasons I love pound cake more than bread or cake. First of all, I’m not a big fan of icing pound cake has none. Secondly, pound cake is more moist than either bread or cake. And finally, pound cake is really rich but not too sweet–meaning I can eat it for breakfast without feeling queasy all day.

Meyer Lemon Pound Cake, shortly before being devoured for breakfast this morning

I used this Meyer Lemon Pound Cake recipe found at My Husband Cooks.  I was forced to make a few alterations because I don’t have a stand mixer and I didn’t feel like going to the store.  Still, I am very pleased with how it turned out (as are my friends, who ate over half the cake last night).  I may use the lemons I have left to make a couple more to freeze for special occasions.  The recipe calls for:

  • 2 C  all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 C sugar
  • 1 C  butter (2 sticks; I used Smart Balance because I didn’t feel like going to the store and that was all we had, but I’ll probably use butter next time)
  • 3   large eggs
  • 3   egg yolks
  • 2   meyer lemons (zest and juice; I do not have a zester, so I just used the juice and the end result was still very lemony)
  • 2 t  vanilla extract
  • 1 t   baking powder
  • 1/2 t  salt

Preheat oven to 325° and grease and flour a 9 x 5 loaf pan.  Cream together softened butter and sugar.  When the butter and sugar have been mixed thoroughly, add the eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing after each addition.  Add the lemon zest and juice (or just juice if you’re me), and mix thoroughly. Add the vanilla, baking powder and salt, and mix thoroughly. Add the flour in 1/2 C increments, slowly mixing until it’s just completely integrated–do not over mix. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in the oven for 75-80 min. When the cake is done, a toothpick will pull clean from the center.  Allow 15 minutes for cooling, then serve!

Related Posts: