Perfect Pound Cake
In this week’s question, Nazia’s dilemma is about pound cake.
“I have tried making a pound cake, the flavour of the cake is fine but the texture is too moist. It looks as if the cake has not been baked fully (everything clamped together). Is it because the butter and sugar have not been creamed properly or the butter quantity in the recipe is too much”
I think Nazia’s problem probably comes from her method, not the ingredients she is using. For great pound cake, make sure you are creaming the butter and sugar until they are very light and fluffy. Also the butter must be softened, don’t try to use hard butter the batter will not incorporate properly. Add the eggs one at a time and thoroughly beat in each egg. Add the dry ingredients and other liquid as your recipe requires (sometimes it says alternately, sometimes all at once) you need to develop the structure of the cake at this point so continue to blend for at least 2 minutes. Some pound cake recipes call for a leavener and some do not; the leavener (baking powder or soda) helps to give the cake a lighter structure. Also make sure that the cake is cooked through, a skewer inserted and comes out clean will indicate if the cake is done, it is a possibility that Nazia’s cake is not fully baked and this could be the problem with the overly moist interior.
Here is a link to a classic pound cake recipe that will be great if you want to try out my tips.
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/vanilla_pound_cake.php
Disagree with my advice? Want to write in and try to stump me? Leave a comment and I’ll get back to you next Monday.
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