Hello to all my bakers out there! How are you all holding up in the era of social distancing and home quarantine? I hope you’re safe and healthy and maintaining your sanity while the world works through this new and strange time for all of us. Have you been able to find the supplies you need without getting up at 3am to hit Walmart for toilet paper? It’s hard to keep your purchases rational when it feels like everyone is buying everything in sight, isn’t it? I bought a few too many eggs and other things that I worried I wouldn’t have a chance to use before they expired and had to visit my old hard copy recipe book for something that would use a bunch of them- and realized that pound cake would absolutely fit the bill! Let’s bake ourselves a bit happier today, yeah?
If you’re looking at a bit of an overstocked pantry, you’re probably not alone. I had perishable things I needed to put to good use- and what better use than baking up something sweet and sharing it with your household? Everyone could use a little brightening up while we shelter in place! In a traditional pound cake, there’s a lot of butter (1 pound), flour (1 pound) and sugar (1 pound). Are you seeing a pattern here? Today we learned why a pound cake is called a pound cake- it doesn’t just mean that you’ll add five pounds onto the scale the next time you step onto it! My recipe alters the ingredients just a bit, but remains a very simple six ingredient treat!
There’s a few simple things that you can do to help yourself out when you bake this cake. The first is to take care preparing your pan. You’ll want to use two regular 5″x9″ loaf pans (these are my favorite!) for this recipe.
TIP: If you only have one, that’s fine- you can fill it a little more, to about 2/3 full and increase your bake time by about 20 minutes. You’ll have some batter left over but not too much.
Spray down your pan(s) with baking spray- the kind that has flour in it. Then lay a sheet of parchment paper in the pan, so that the edges drape over the sides of the pan. This will help you remove your cake without crushing the nice sugary crust on the top of it after baking.
The second thing you should do is take a bit of time mixing in your eggs. Make sure to mix well after each egg is added to the bowl, because after eggs you’ll start adding the flour and milk and mixing just enough to combine those ingredients into the batter. Taking care to combine the eggs when you add them will eliminate any uneven baking issues later.
And a good final tip is to be patient when you bake this cake. It doesn’t bake up in 20 minutes, this is a full hour bake (2 pans) or even an hour and a half if you’re only using one pan. Keep checking your cake by inserting a toothpick into the top and adding five minutes at a time to the timer until the toothpick comes out clean. Don’t worry about poking ugly holes into the top of the cake because you’re going to cover the entire top in powdered sugar after it cools, and it’ll hide your test holes without any issues.
Let’s get baking!
Overstocked Pantry Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar granulated
- 2 cups butter salted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 eggs large
- â…” cups milk whole or 2%
- 4 cups flour all purpose
- ¼ cup powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°. Grease 5"x9" loaf pans and then line the pans with parchment paper, cutting the parchment a bit long so that the edges drape over the sides of the pans.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Alternate adding in the milk and the flour, mixing with a silicone spatula until just combined.
- Spread the batter into the two pans (if using one pan, it's okay to fill it about â…” of the way full, you will have some batter left over).
- Bake for 1 hour (or about 1 hour 20 minutes if using one fuller pan) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove cake(s) from oven and allow to cool in pan for about 15 minutes. Use parchment paper edges to lift the cakes out of the loaf pans, then peel paper down and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once cakes are cool, dust with powdered sugar, then cut and serve.
Well, how did your pound cake turn out? I hope you had fun and it took up some of that time you’ve gotta spend cooped up in the house. Make sure to let me know what you think and to ask me any questions you have in the comments below. Until next time, stay safe, stay positive, and happy baking!
