Two things occurred to me when I made this cake:
1) This is the best pound cake I have ever made
2) I really need to start baking from something other than “The Cake Book.”
In fact, I think I really need to break from my “comfort zone” of baking books and websites (ie davidlebovitz.com and leitesculinaria.com) in order to pursue new inspiration. Every now and then I look to the lesser-perused volumes of my cookbook collection, but i’m starting to realize that several of them are, for lack of a better word, terrible.
I find it hard to admit that I dislike a cookbook. I understand (or at least hope) that a book is the product of someone’s time, labor, and love. Since I am not producing glorious cookbooks for everyone to consume, who am I to shoot them down? That said, plenty of cookbooks are fraught with typos or untested recipes. There are also otherwise great cookbooks with one or two dud recipes. Some people turn to cookbooks for inspiration, but I often look to them for the promise of a product- a recipe that, when executed with care and precision, will yield something I will want to eat and share with others.
I have high hopes for some newer titles i’ve requested through interlibrary loan. I’m hoping to find something unexpectedly brilliant that lifts me out of this rut of familiar authors and cookbooks with the word “best” in the title.
…anyway, this is a really great pound cake! I even preferred it to Dorie Greenspan’s wonderful Rum Soaked Pound Cakes.
Pound Cake
adapted from Tish Boyle’s “The Cake Book”
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp table salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (250g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup finely chopped candied ginger
1/3 cup diced candied orange peel1.Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan and line it with parchment paper (or skip the grease and line it with foil).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar at high speed until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes). Ad the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla extract. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour in 3 additions, alternating it with the heavy cream in 2 additions. Mix until the flour is just incorporated. Fold in the candied orange and ginger. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
4. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 20 minutes, then unmold the cake and let cool completely before slicing.
