Golden Vanilla Pound Cake
Golden Vanilla Pound Cake
(49)
|
rate this recipe » |
| Hands-on time: | |
|---|---|
| Baking time: | |
| Yield: | 9" loaf cake, 18 servings. |
Ingredients
Cake
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
- 3/4 teaspoon salt (1/2 teaspoon if you use salted butter)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons King Arthur Cake Enhancer, optional
- 1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Topping
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon water
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" x 2 3/4" loaf pan, or a 12" x 4" x 4" tea loaf pan. To avoid overflow, be SURE to use the correct size pan!
2) In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter, cream cheese, salt, sugar, baking powder, vanilla extract, and almond extract until well combined.
3) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; the mixture may look slightly curdled/grainy. After you've added the final egg, beat at high speed for 3 minutes. Once all the eggs are added, stir in the milk.
4) Add the cake enhancer, then sprinkle in the flour gradually, with the mixer going at low speed. Mix just until combined. The batter will be smooth and thick, but still pourable. Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5) To make the topping, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water. Stir until the mixture is syrupy. At first it'll seem very stiff, but will become "drizzlable" as you stir. Set the topping aside.
6) Set the cake on a baking sheet, for easiest handling and as a precaution against potential overflow (which shouldn't happen if you use the correct size pan). Bake it for 55 minutes (for either size pan).
7) Remove the cake from the oven, and brush/drizzle with the sugar mixture. Return the cake to the oven for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack. Insert a toothpick into the center; it should come out clean. If you use an instant-read thermometer, the center should register about 200°F to 205°F. The very top, right under the crust, will still be kind of soggy; don't worry about it.
8) After 5 minutes loosen the cake's edges and turn it out of the pan to cool completely on a rack.
Reviews
05/21/2012- This pound cake was delicious! At first I was a little worried because I mixed everything according to directions but my oven bakes a little hot. I made the appropriate adjustments and when I pulled it out at 55 minutes, I was a little worried because it seemed a little wobbly but I brushed on the topping and put it back in. At 13 minutes I pulled it out and the toothpick was completely clean with none of the moisture on/around the top like you said there might be. I was worried that I had baked a brick! I did have a little problem getting it out of the pan (I would suggest greasing AND flouring it, I just buttered the pan) so I had to cut the ends off and pull them out and use a scraper to pry the cake. Let me tell you, eating this cake was no sacrifice! It was delicious! I used the Fiori di Sicilia flavoring as suggested and my mother loved it! It was a huge hit. Will definitely be my go-to pound cake recipe from now on!
Kudos to you for your pound cake success! Irene@KAF
05/18/2012- I didn't like the cake it was to dry
Sorry to hear of the difficulty. Over baking is the usual culprit here. We'd be happy to assist with advice. Just give us a call, 800-827-6836. Frank @ KAF.
04/06/2012- Back to give a rating on the finished product... in my prior post i indicated that i used sour cream instead of cream cheese, which yielded a looser batter. i used the pan required for the recipe, baked it for 55 mins and brushed on the sugar glaze. the cake was pretty much done when i went to brush on the glaze so i only baked for 8 mins more. it was perfectly done. golden in color and very appetizing looking. the fragrance was very light vanilla. once i got it out of the pan it was a very nice, solid looking pound cake. one i tasted it though, it was another story. it was disappointing in that the cake was too "eggy" and spongy. it didn't have the mouth feel of a pound cake, this tasted more like an eggy sponge cake. i must agree with a previous poster who stated that it was spongy. i found the texture and consistency to be off-putting. as for flavor... i used brand new madagascar vanilla extract and a new almond extract and could barely, barely taste anything. really. not much flavor at all. overall, it was bland and spongy and eggy. i brought it to work this morning and i asked everyone to let me know what they thought as it was a new recipe - i usually bring baked goods in to work - and two of my coworkers came in and asked what kind of "bread" it was because "it looked just like a pound cake but didn't taste like one." (their exact words) So... i say all that to say this... it wasn't awful, it wasn't horrible, it just wasn't pound cake. i really think there are too many eggs for this recipe and not enough flour, but that is just my opinion. i followed the recipe EXACTLY - except for the sour cream substitution - and i really think the spongy eggy texture is the issue. it LOOKS like one thing you would expect but tastes/feels like another thing entirely.
Sour cream and cream cheese are totally different. Give the cake another try following the recipe exactly. The cream cheese should alleviate the spongy texture.
- 04/05/2012
- I have just finished putting the pan in the oven. I used sour cream instead of cream cheese but the same 3 oz. Is that alright? Also, the batter was not stiff or spoonable. I poured it into the prepared pan. I will let you know how it comes out. I weighed all the ingredients instead of using volume. I hope it's good as it smelled wonderful with the vanilla and almond extracts.
The use of sour cream in place of the cream cheese yielded a loose batter. ~Amy
- 03/27/2012
- This is hands down the worst pound cake I have ever made. I followed the recipe to the letter, and it is beyond "dense"...it is like a sponge...not sponge cake, a sponge. No flavor, whatsoever. I am an experienced baker, have always made a sour cream pound cake with rave reviews and results. I don't know what this is supposed to be...but it is not any kind of pound cake I have ever had! I apologize for your disappointment. I hope you will check in with us on the baker's hotline so we can help. ~Amy
02/05/2012- I absolutely love pound cake. I made this today and while it was good, I was hoping it would be better. I always use x-large eggs in my baking and I think that the egg amount made the cake too dense. Any help would be appreciated. I absolutely love all King Arthur recipes and products!
- 01/12/2012
- I am not a big fan of pound cake in general, so I've never made one before. Boy am I glad I tried this. It is a wonderful cake, dense and soft at the same time with complex flavors of vanilla and almond. The sugar crust gives it the perfect crunch. My family already asked for more. I highly recommend this.
- 01/10/2012
- This pound cake is absolutely delicious. It's dense but very tender with a light flavor. I served it with limoncello macerated strawberries and whipped cream. Everyone asked for seconds. Made it in an angel food cake pan since I didn't have the size pans indicated in the recipe and it still came out wonderful!
- 01/08/2012
- This cake was wonderful, dense but moist. I liked the almond flavor in it as well as the crunchy topping.
- 12/29/2011
- I made my pound cake in the 9" x 5" x 2 3/4" pan and it was delicious. I especially love the crumbly top! However, my edges and bottom of the cake were a bit dried out. The pan I used is a dark metal pan and perhaps I should've used a glass or light metal pan? After the 55 minutes of baking (pre-glazing the top) the center was still undercooked but I removed it to glaze the top anyways. After glazing the top and an additional 13 minutes in the oven the center of the cake appeared to be done, while the top remained a little moist (crumbs stuck to the toothpick). I will definitely make this pound cake again but maybe try a different pan next time!
You're right, perhaps the dark pan was the culprit. We'd love to hear your results once you use the light metal pan - tenting if it bakes too fast. Irene @ KAF
