Pound cake is a type of cake traditionally made with a pound each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs and sugar.. Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a Bundt mold. They are sometimes served either dusted with powdered sugar, lightly glazed, or with a coat of icing. There are some who like them soaked in alcohol.
It is believed that the pound cake is of northern European origin that dates back to the early 1700s. A recipe for pound cake is in the first U.S. cookbook, American Cookery which was published in 1796. Over time the ingredients for pound cake changed. Eliza Leslie, who wrote the 1851 edition of Direction for Cookery, used 10 eggs, beat them as lightly as possible, mixed them with a pound of flour, then added the juice of two lemons or three large oranges. This changed the flavor and texture of the cake. In the 2008 issue of Saveur, James Villas wrote that cake flour would not work in place of all-purpose flour because it lacks the strength to support the heavy batter. It was also report that with all the ingredients, this cake would feed several families. So whether you like yours with coffee, topped with ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream, just the mention of the words pound cakes will bring back pleasant memories. Listed below is a recipe for a Lemon Pound cake.
Cake:
- 2 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of butter, softened
- 4 eggs
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup buttermilk
- (If you don’t have any buttermilk, use regular milk with 3 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar, let sit for five minutes and stir)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ( For an extra kick, squeeze enough lemons for one cup of lemon juice)
Glaze:
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- Step 1
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a fluted tube pan (such as Bundt®).
- Step 2
- Beat white sugar and 1 1/2 cups butter together in a bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, thoroughly beating each egg into the butter mixture before adding the next.
- Step 3
- Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together in a bowl. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture; mix well. Pour in 1/2 the buttermilk and beat until combined. Repeat adding the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk, beating well after each addition and ending with the flour mixture. Stir lemon extract into batter. Pour batter into prepared tube pan.
- Step 4
- Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
- Step 5
- Bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 60 to 75 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing it to a cake platter or plate
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