Recipe: Perfect Pound Cake (like Sara Lee Pound Cake)

You might have to tweak the recipe to make it "light and free."

PERFECT POUND CAKE
Source: The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum and Dean G Bornstein
Servings: 8

This cake not only has a silky-smooth dissolving texture similar to famous Sara Lee pound cake but also the incomparable moist, buttery flavor of a home-baked cake. Its excellent keeping qualities make it ideal for slicing ahead and bringing on picnics.

ingredients at room temperature
3 tablespoons milk (1.5 ounces/45 grams )
3 large eggs (weighed without shells scant 5 fluid 5.25 ounces/150 grams)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (6 grams)
1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (5.25 ounces/150 grams)
1/4 cup sugar (5.25 ounces/150 grams)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder (3.7 grams)
1/4 teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons unsalted butter (must be softened) (6.5 ounces 184 grams)

One 8-inch by 4-inch by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan (4 cups)most attractive size-or any 6-cup loaf or fluted tube pan, greased and floured. If using a loaf pan, grease it, line the bottom with parchment or wax paper, and then grease again and flour.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a medium bowl lightly combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla.

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 (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the cake's structure.

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.

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

Bake 55 to 65 minutes (35 to 45 minutes in a fluted tube pan) 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.

To get an attractive split down the middle of the crust, wait until the natural split is about to develop (about 20 minutes) and then with a lightly greased sharp knife or single-edged razor blade make a shallow mark about 6 inches long down the middle of the cake. This must be done quickly so that the oven door does not remain open very long or the cake will fall. When cake splits, it will open along the mark.

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.

Understanding
In creating this recipe I started out with the classic pound cake proportions: equal weights of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter and no leavening. But I soon discovered that the traditional balance of ingredients benefits from a few minor alterations: A small amount of milk adds marvelous moisture and also strengthens the cake's structure by gelatinizing the flour and joining the gluten-forming proteins enough to be able to hold some extra butter. More butter adds flavor and tenderizes the crumb, producing that "melt-in-the-mouth" quality. A very small amount of baking powder opens the crumb slightly, contributing more tenderness and less of that heavy chewiness characteristic of the original pound cake.

Over forty trials have led me to believe that there is no way to get this melting texture in a pound cake that is larger so it is best to keep the cake small. If you happen to prefer a denser, chewier cake, however, replace the regular sugar with equal weight powdered sugar (1 1/4 cups unsifted) and reduce the butter to 10 1/2 tablespoons (5.25 ounces/150 grams) and the baking powder to 1/2 teaspoon. (The smooth grains of the powdered sugar do not trap air the way the sharp-edged grains of granulated sugar do. The cornstarch added to powdered sugar to prevent lumping also increases the chewy quality of the cake.)

Finished Height:
In a 4-cup loaf: 2 1/4 inches at the sides and 3 1/2 inches in the middle. In a 6-cup loaf: 1 3/4 inches at the sides and 2 1/2 inches in the middle. In a 6-cup fluted tube: 2 1/4 inches in the middle.

Store:
Airtight: 3 days room temperature, 1 week refrigerated, 2 months frozen. Texture is most evenly moist when prepared at least 8 hours ahead of serving.

Complementary Adornment:
A simple dusting of powdered sugar.

Serve: Room temperature.

Pointers For Success:
Be sure to use a wooden toothpick to test for doneness. The cake will spring back when pressed lightly in the center even before it is done. If the cake is underbaked, it will have tough, gummy spots instead of a fine, tender crumb.