Pound Cake

Pound Cake and Chocolate Banana Bread

Copyright 2012 LtDan’sKitchen blogs

I've been making pound cakes for the last few years either to eat for breakfast or to make a triffle cake, which I have not done in a while actually. Pound cakes are popular back home and are sold sliced and packaged individually for snacks with your afternoon tea of coffee. I have been thinking of making them for some time now and I just needed a good enough reason to actually make them. I finally found it when I decided to bake something for my friends as a gift. I thought a breakfast packet of sweet treats will do the trick so I made my pound cake as part of the gift basket together with slices of Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and several Custard Tarts. I have made several versions of them over the years but I figured I'll go basic with this one and to try and make a signature version that I can truly call my own. Ina Garten has a version where she douses the warm cake with a lemon glaze and that is divine as well but for now, I'd like to keep it simple. The cake is usually made with cake flour but if you don't have it in your pantry, what do you use? Well, this version answers that question and does away with the cake flour by using a combination of flour and corn starch. Despite the somewhat unusual ingredients, you still get the same texture and wonderful flavor of the simple yet wonderful pound cake.

Pound Cake

1 1/2 cup flour
4 tbsp corn starch
4 eggs
1/2 lb unsalted butter, 2 sticks softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp rum
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup half and half

1.  In a bowl, sift the flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
     Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. Tap the excess
     flour out.

2. In your mixer bowl, beat the butter at medium speed using the paddle
    attachment. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light
    and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Decrease
    the speed to low.

4. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk starting and
    ending with the dry ingredients.

5. Add the zest, vanilla and rum and beat just to mix. Pour the batter into
    the prepared pan and bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick
    inserted comes out clean.

6. Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Run a sharp knife on the sides
    and tap the cake out of the pan. Let cool on a wire rack until ready to
    serve.