October 7, 2007

Pound Cake (as plain as you want it!)


I have been homesick for Stock's pound cake- only found in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, so when we were invited to a dinner party, I thought I would try to make... you guessed it.... pound cake. My mother gave me the recipe a few years ago. Luckily, I made two and planned to take the prettiest one to the party- I mixed the ingredients one cake at a time instead of just doubling the recipe.

1 stick butter
2 sticks margarine
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour (Unbleached, pre-sifted all purpose flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 cup milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla, add baking powder to flour and then add that to the mixture- alternately with the milk. Start with flour and end with flour.



Put in a loaf pan (I sprayed Baker's Joy in the loaf pan). Bake at 350 degrees for an hour and then watch it. Should take approximately 1 1/2 hours. Mine took longer because I put a second one in 20 minutes later. You can tell when it's done when it browns nicely and the center isn't jiggly. Test with a toothpick. I know that doesn't sound scientific, but it works. Like I said, I made two. Exactly the same way. Here was the result:


When I saw this, I felt like a genius for making two but not much like a genius for not being able to figure out why the difference was so dramatic. The best looking one came out like this:


Trust me when I tell you that you don't want to see how the other one turned out! Both actually tasted great- and it isn't easy to find the perfect pound cake recipe. It was dense, moist and a little sweet- sort of tasted like a sugar cookie-cake. Just what I was looking for. We took it to the dinner party and it was the perfect end for a spicy meal of homemade guacamole, black bean salsa, shrimp ceviche and quesadillas! If you make it, I do suggest making two, unless you can figure out why identical recipes heated up in such different ways. Eat it plain, or dress it up with fruit- it's a success either way...and the eggs.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

it was awesome - best with whipped cream and fresh blueberries and strawberries

Anonymous said...

Well, the finished product, with the topping,looks fabulous. makes me want to make one!
(:

Anonymous said...

Were those glass pans? Usually you go down 25 degrees for glass.
(:

Arties32 said...

I didn't know that- I'll do it next time. That might have been the problem! Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Looks good but I would have loved to see the messed up one! That was so Muffin Face of you. Love you!

Anonymous said...

Stocks bakery in Philly bakes it with parchment paper on top, they say that is the "trick!" It was literally just on the news. They also use a basic buttercream icing on top which makes it! Butter and confectioner sugar. I'm trying this for thanksgiving 2011! THANK YOU!