Origin of pound cake:
The pound cake’s origins can be traced back to the 18th century in Northern Europe. The cake weighed a total of four pounds. It was made using four ingredients- flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. Each of these was taken one pound for the recipe. Hence, the name pound cake comes from the ingredients.
Earlier no leaveners such as baking soda or baking powder were used. In this recipe, we used baking powder. Back in that time, the cake would rise based on the fluffiness of the beaten eggs. There was also no use of any artificial flavors such as vanilla extract, lemon extract, etc. This recipe also uses a little amount of vanilla essence.
Read more about its history over here.
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What equipment do I need?
Set of teaspoons and tablespoons
Ingredients for the pound cake:
Although as we got to know it uses only four ingredients, to make the perfect pound cake, you are going to need few more ingredients. As you can understand, taking a pound of each ingredient will give you a huge cake. Therefore, now people simply take the ratio of 1:1:1:1 to make smaller batches of cakes.
Make sure that the butter you use is in room temperature so that it softens up and can be beaten easily. This allows the butter to become fluffy when beaten. The butter adds richness and flavor to the cake.
The eggs that you will use need to be at room temperature as well. Usually in India, eggs are 50-55 grams in weight. The eggs provide leavening and the structure to the cake.
For flour, you can use all purpose flour or maida or cake flour. There are no substitutes of any of the ingredients here, as that will not give you a pound cake.
You have to use icing sugar for this recipe as it is easier to incorporate it with butter. It also makes the cake sweet and fluffy.
How to make vanilla pound cake:
- Sieve the flour and baking powder and keep aside. Sieving is important to remove any lumps or impurities.
- Preheat the oven at 180 degree centigrade or 356 Fahrenheit. Do it before you start with the cake batter so that by the time your cake batter is done, your oven is already heated up.
- Grease a cake mold and sprinkle some flour to coat/ use a cooking spray to grease it/ simply grease using oil or fat and line with butter paper. Either way, just ensure you are generous while greasing, so that the cake doesn’t get stuck to the mold.
- In a bowl take butter at room temperature and beat it using a hand beater with the sugar till creamy and a little fluffy. If you want to you can beat using a whisk but it will be quite some work and will also take longer. But definitely possible.
- Add the eggs one at a time and keep beating till it is incorporated. Do not add all the eggs at one go as your cake batter won’t be able to incorporate that amount of egg all together.
- Add the flour and baking powder to it. Beat for some time. Add the milk and vanilla essence. Beat to mix it in. Be careful and mix it well so that the flour is mixed well. However be careful to not overmix as you will end up with a dense cake. Just mix till the flour is incorporated and stop once it’s done.
- Pour the batter into the cake mold and bake for 40 minutes at 180 degree centigrade or 356 Fahrenheit. I used a heart shaped mold for my pound cake because I had bought hat recently. Usually pound cakes are baked in loaf tins or circular tins.
- Check after 30 minutes if the cake is done or not. If you want a browned top, set the oven at 200 degree centigrade or 392 degree Fahrenheit for 7 minutes in the end. I love those browned cake top and sides , this browning step is optional and you can choose t skip it.
- Temperature and time may vary slightly from oven to oven. Every oven is different therefore I always recommend keeping a check at least ten to fifteen minutes prior of your total baking time.
- Serve plain/ dust with icing sugar/ with frosting on top. I absolutely love this cake and do not need anything I prefer having it plain with some tea. If you are a fan of lemon curd frosting, you can try this recipe.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How to store pound cake?
If you want to consume it immediately, let it cool down and place in an air-tight container. If you ant to freeze the cake, wrap it tightly in cling film and place in an air- tight container.
How to thaw pound cake?
Take it out of the freezer at least an hour before you want to serve it or have it. Place at room temperature. After an hour, re-heat it in a microwave at highest for 30 seconds or 2 minutes in the same oven setting at the baking temperature.
1 pound is how many grams?
454 grams (rounded off)
Can I use oil to make pound cake?
No because the process will be different. I cannot recommend because you cannot add oil to the recipe in a way similar to butter. The end result will also be different.
Can I use pound cake to make layer cakes?
Absolutely yes. Pound cakes are great to layer cakes. You can also use this recipe to make layered cakes.
Is pound cake vegan?
No it is not.
Can I substitute any ingredients?
No, because then it is not going to be your classic vanilla pound cake.
Bonus tips:
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Place cake mold on a rack while baking.
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To check for doneness, poke using a skewer or a knife at the center of the cake.
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It is called a pound cake as all the ingredients weigh a pound. I kept the concept same and reduced the portion.
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You can choose to add nuts.
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You can replace vanilla essence with any other essence for other flavor. (suggested flavor: lemon)
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Use a hand whisk if you do not have a hand beater.
Perfect Vanilla Pound cake recipe
Vanilla pound cake recipe that us buttery and soft and turns out perfect every time!
Ingredients
- 1. Flour- 100 gm
- 2. Egg- 100 gm or 2 nos
- 3. Icing sugar or powdered sugar- 100 gm
- 4. Butter- 100 gm
- 5. Baking powder- 1 tsp
- 6. Milk- 3 tbsp
- 7. Vanilla essence- 2 tsp
Directions
- Step 1 1. Sieve the flour and baking powder and keep aside.
- Step 2 2. Preheat the oven at 180 degree centigrade or 356 Fahrenheit.
- Step 3 3. Grease a cake mold and sprinkle some flour to coat/ use a cooking spray to grease it/ simply grease using oil or fat and line with butter paper.
- Step 4 4. In a bowl take butter at room temperature and beat it using a hand beater with the sugar till creamy and a little fluffy.
- Step 5 5. Add the eggs one at a time and keep beating till it is incorporated.
- Step 6 6. Add the flour and baking powder to it. Beat for some time. Add the milk and vanilla essence. Beat to mix it in.
- Step 7 7. Pour the batter into the cake mold and bake for 40 minutes at 180 degree centigrade or 356 Fahrenheit.
- Step 8 8. Check after 30 minutes if the cake is done or not. If you want a browned top, set the oven at 200 degree centigrade or 392 degree Fahrenheit for 7 minutes in the end.
- Step 9 9. Temperature and time may vary slightly from oven to oven.
- Step 10 10. Serve plain/ dust with icing sugar/ with frosting on top.
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