Pound Cake

Cooking to Perfection's Note:

This pound cake is lighter and slightly sweeter than the traditional pound cake. This recipe makes a flavorful, moist cake-- wins all votes for flavor, texture, appearance, and general delectability. (Recipe from The Perfect Cake by Susan Purdy) **Can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temp. for a week, or refrigerated for several weeks**

• Total Time: 1 hrs 50 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 2 cups unsifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325* (F).
2. Spread solid shortening on bottom and sides of 9x5x3 inch loaf pan, or 9-inch tube pan.
3. Dust evenly with flour; tap out excess.
4. Set prepared pan aside.
5. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder.
6. In a mixing bowl, beat butter until soft and fluffy.
7. Gradually add sugar and beat until very light and creamy.
8. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
9. Beat in vanilla.
10. By hand or on low speed, gradually stir in flour mixture-- blend well.
11. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes for loaf pan (40-45 mins. for tube pan), or until toothpick comes out clean.
12. Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.
13. Slide a knife around the edges to loosen the cake from pan.
14. Remove cake from pan, flip up-right, and cool completely on wire rack.

Reviews

[Robin W]

This cake is exactly like it said "lighter and slightly sweeter". My DH wanted a pound care like Sara Lees. This fit the bill. Thanks so much for the recipe. This is a keeper.

[Feisty Redhead]

LOVE this recipe! I wanted to make a pound cake without needing to use a ridiculous amount of ingredients like with most other pound cake recipes (budget is extra tight right now, need to cut back wherever possible) and this just might become my favorite pound cake recipe! It is significantly sweeter than a traditional pound cake, but that means it's perfect to snack on just as it is without adding anything at all to it. I made some petit fours with it and it's a bit too sweet for that, I think, once paired up with the sweetness of the frosting. But plain this is fabulous! It's nice and moist, not as dense as a typical pound cake which I happen to light a lot. I didn't have a "crust" on top like another reviewer did - I think maybe the cake was a bit over baked for that to happen. This has been added to my list of recipes I loved, and I will definitely be making it again!

[Kayla in Montreal]

This pound cake was alright but not great. The flavor was satisfactory. The texture was lacking, I didn't like the texture of the top, it was like a crust. I followed the recipe to the letter, I won't make it again.