Pound Cake

Yesterday when I opened our snack box, it was almost empty. Cake was something that had not been at our home for some time now. So I revisited the bake section in my to-bake list. The pound cake - yes, it had been something that I wanted to try for a while, being the most simplest cake ever and our favourite too. These remind me of the tea cakes that we used to get at Tom & Jerry Bakery in Bangalore. Hmm...I loved it.

Traditionally pound cakes were named so, because most of the ingredients that go into it were measured in pounds. But these days people don't usually go by that measure as the cakes get heavier. To make it light and spongy, some alteration needs to be made in the proportion of ingredients.

So here it is, the recipe to spongy pound cake, which remained in our snack box for only a little while.

Ingredients

1. 3 large eggs @ room temperature
2. 3 tbsp of milk @ room temperature
3. 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
4. 1 1/2 cup of sifted all purpose flour
5. 1 tsp of baking powder
6. 1/4 tsp of salt
7. 3/4 cup of granulated white sugar
8. 170 gms of unsalted butter @ room temperature

Method

• Beat the eggs in a bowl. 
• Add the milk and vanilla extract into it and mix it well.
• In another bowl, take the dry ingredients - all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and mix it. 
• Add the butter in to the dry ingredients and mix it well, till it gets incorporated well.
• Add the egg mixture into it and mix it thoroughly. 
• Grease a baking pan with butter and pour the mixture into it.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
• Place the baking pan in it.
• Bake for about 50-55 minutes or untill a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Remove it from the oven and let it stay for 5 minutes.
• Invert it on to a wired rack and let it cool.
• Once cooled, store it in a air tight container.

Tips

1. Beating the mixture well, is the secret tip for making it spongy. 
2. Half way through baking, the surface of the cake might get darker in colour. If it does, do cover it with a greased aluminium foil after 30 minutes of baking. This would help maintain the golden brown crust, which is indeed the characteristic of a pound cake. 

Recipe courtesy : Joy of Baking