Pound Cake

I love to make homemade jams.  I find it to be a great way to preserve the season and enjoy the flavors of the summer in the cold winter months.  The trick is to find a way to enjoy the jam where you can really taste the flavors of the jam.  This pound cake is a perfect accompaniment to a sweet jam.  It is not too dense, the way pound cakes can be and it is full of flavor, yet it does not overwhelm whatever it served with it.  This is Ina Garten's recipe.  I changed the recipe from a large cake to six small cakes so that I can give a jar of jam and a pound cake away as a gift to several people. If you make smaller loaves, reduce the cooking time to one hour.  I hope you enjoy it.


Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar, divided

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Here's how:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans or 6 small loaf pans. You can use cooking spray with flour instead of greasing and flouring the pans.

Cream the butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.

Butter and sugar, ready to cream

With the mixer on medium speed, beat in the eggs, 1 at a time.

Eggs added

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

You can use a whisk to sift the ingredients together

In another bowl, combine the buttermilk and vanilla.

Buttermilk and vanilla

Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.

After the first addition of dry ingredients



After the buttermilk is added



After the second time the buttermilk is added



After the final dry ingredient batch is added



Pans are ready and sprayed with cooking spray with flour

Batter added to the pans.  Ready for the oven

Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.


When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes. Take them out of the pans, place them on a baking rack and allow them to cool completely. Wrap well, and store in the refrigerator.

Here is how Ina's looked when done