Pound Cake
1h 30m
12 servings
NYT Cooking's video about this recipe and the story behind it appeared in my YouTube feed a few weeks ago and I had this intense urge to try it for myself ever since. The original recipe can be found on NYT Cooking's page, if you're curious. The version I describe below is an adaptation though.
Firstly, I've reduced the size of the cake, as even with going only to 2/3 or the original, this pound cake was fairly close to overflowing my 25 cm Bundt pan.
Secondly, while I absolutely appreciate that this is a classic recipe which is famous for a reason, I personally found it to be way too sweet (which I knew was going to be the case just by looking at the ingredients list even before making it). A typical pound cake consists of the same amounts of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, but this version had pretty much twice as much sugar as one would traditionally use. So I personally decided to go with something closer to the standard pound cake ratios.
But with these two modifications and double the amount of glaze, I think this is one of the best pound cakes I've ever tasted. It is light, sweet, a little bit sour and a perfect accompaniment to tea or coffee.
Ingredients
- 250 g butter (softened, room temperature)
- 250 g sugar
- 150 g cream cheese (softened, room temperature)
- 4 eggs (room temperature)
- 15 ml vanilla essence
- 15 ml lemon essence
- 250 g flour
- 8 g starch
- 8 g baking powder
- 3 g salt
Glaze
- 60 g cream cheese
- 30 g butter
- 20 g sugar
- lemon juice
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 180°C and butter your 25 cm Bundt pan well.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer add the butter, sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and lemon essence. Beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed until well aerated, about 3 minutes.
- In another bowl add all of the eggs, then beat on high speed with the whisk attachment until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Transfer the eggs to the bowl with the butter mixture, then mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until just combined.
- In a third bowl combine the flour, starch, baking powder and salt.
- While the mixer is running on low, start adding the dry mixture incrementally to the wet. Once no more streaks of flour can be seen, turn the mixer to high and let mix for about 5 minutes, until a compact but airy dough forms.
- Spoon the dough into the pan, use a spatula to flatten the top and hit the pan on the counter a few times, to make sure no large air bubbles remain at the bottom.
- Bake for 45 - 60 minutes, but keep an eye on your cake starting at the 15 minute mark. The top of my cake was very brown around 20 minutes, if that happens to you as well, simply tent it with some aluminium foil for the remainder of the bake. The cake is baked when a skewer comes out clean and the internal temperature reaches 99°C.
- While the cake is baking, you can prepare the glaze. Add the butter, cream cheese and sugar to a pot and start heating it on a low setting.
- Once everything has melted, the sugar has dissolved and you have a homogenous mix take it off the heat and start adding the lemon juice, one spoonful at a time, until you reach the desired thickness. The glaze should be liquid, but still think enough to slowly pool down the cake.
- Once the cake is baked, unmold it onto a serving plate immediately and cover it with the glaze.
Notes
I don't have much to say with this one, it really is a fantastic recipe that deserves the fame it has and should make Detroit proud to have its name on it.
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