Sour Cream Pound Cake July 23
Pound cakes have been around for a long time and began with one pound each of flour, butter, sugar and eggs, hence the name. A cake made from the original recipe is going to be plain, dense and a little on the dry side.
I have never heard anyone request a plain, dense, dry cake.
Modern pound cake is lighter, but still very dense and quite moist. Its simplicity makes it a popular target for flavors like vanilla, almond and lemon, though some people will prefer the subtlety of the natual butter and egg. Any flavor will be featured beatifully in a cake like this. Sour cream is a particularly popular addition to pound cake because it adds a slightly tangy richness and a lot of moisture to the cake.Pound cake, because if its simplicity, is commonly used as a vehicle for fresh fruits and whipped cream. Instead of relegating it to a sideline dish, I like to make it the star.
In this recipe, I reduced the number of whole eggs and increased the number of whites, both for health and to whiten the color of the final cake. This particular cake is very moist and vanilla-y. It is wonderfully dense with a tight crumb, without being heavy at all. Covered, it keeps for several days. I topped it with a lemon glaze, but I really prefer it plain. This cake is outstanding on its own.
Sour Cream Pound Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
4 egg whites
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
10 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups sugar
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10-12 cup bundt pan.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs and egg whites together.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and smooth, 2-3 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, gradually pour in eggs until well mixed. Stir in 1/3 of flour mixture until blended, followed by 1/2 cup of sour cream. Repeat with another addition of flour, followed by remaining sour cream. Stir in the rest of the flour until batter is just smooth.
Don’t worry if the batter looks curdled at any point, just keep going and it will smooth out.
Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan and tap it on the counter to eliminate any bubbles. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when gently pressed.
Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Serves 12-16
Cathy Jul 23
Yum - I love a moist heavy cake. Yours is beautiful - in fact, with that lovely sheen it looks as though it slid right out of the pan!
J Jul 23
hi, that looks so perfect and beautiful. and last but not least, utterly delicious…cheers,j
latifa Jul 24
The perfect pound cake
Ana Jul 24
Beautiful cake Nic and I loved the information about pound cakes.
Clare Eats Jul 24
Oooh
I hope my stove is fixed soon, it is driving me crazy!
Zarah Maria Jul 24
Oh my, that looks fantastic Nic - at the moment I have a nice banana-blueberry tea loaf on my counter, but I’m sure it wouldn’t mind some company from this one…
Amy Jul 24
I’ve never been a huge fan of pound cake for the reasons you mention, but I’ve never tried substituting some whites only for the eggs, either. Sounds delicious!
Fanny Jul 24
This cake seems to be perfect a a basic plain cake.
Thanx for th recipe
Love
Fanny
Nic Jul 24
Cathy - It actually did slide right out of the pan (thankfully!) and right before I took that shot!
Zarah - Banana blueberry sounds tempting. Maybe I’ll do that next!
Amy - This one was definately moist. I wonder if too many egg yolks will dry out the cake…
Kristi Jul 25
mmm… this looks delicious. I love pound cake, and your modifications sound perfect.
On an unrelated note, I used your Easy French Bread recipe for my first foray into bread making this weekend. Thanks for posting it!