Pound cake: do you miss it?

When I was a very young kid, I remember a HUGE variety of small cakes that you used to be able to get for snacking. Not just twinkies and yodels, and things like that, but little cinnamon crumb cakes, and "snow balls " (my favorites): big dark chocolate cupcakes with creme filling and a pink marshmallow cover, with coconut on top, yankee doodles, and a whole lot of other kinds. But to me, the pinnacle of sophistication were the single slices of pound cake. They always looked so, well, "special" and grown up. They were ecru colored, with very pale crust, cut in long, rectangular slices.

And there was also a frozen pound cake, made by Mrs. Paul. I remember the ad campaign. A wife, in her shirtwaist, smiling at her husband and saying "LOOK Paul! A POUND of poundcake," because the Mrs. Paul variety came in a one pound size.

Recently I read the label on the frozen pound cake (the slices have long disappeared).

Oh, good heavens. Is there anything in there that doesn't properly belong in a chemistry lab?

When I was learning how to cook, pound cake was one of the first things I learned how to make. I was taught that it was called "pound cake" because, traditionally, the cake contained a pound of each ingredient: butter, flour, eggs, and sugar. That made two loaves of pound cake, but of course, you couldn't call them "HALF pound cakes " (especially since they were really TWO pound cakes if you added everything up and divided. I know, I know, I was an obnoxious child). What I DO remember is that in the days when everyone was turning to margarine, no less than the Joy of Cooking advised "NO SUBSTITUTES FOR THE BUTTER.'

That tells you where we were in terms of cooking in the 60s and 70s. If you could substitute margarine for the "less healthy" butter, you did it.

How many bad dishes were made in the name of good health? And we were wrong. But pound cake retained its pristine dignity and its high cholesterol count.

I CAN lay it on thick, can't I? But pound cake is something you should know how to make. If you have a mixer, it's very easy to do, it lasts forever, and honestly, it is so darn good, and it lets you do just about anything you want to it. I made one for our road trip that I anointed with lemon and peach syrup, and it was really good. The other one I make has rose geranium leaves in it. That one is a bit "fey" for most of us, even for me, but I make it anyway. Start with a plain one and look at some of the options below, and try them. I think you'll agree that this is a worthy addition to your repertoire.

At its simplest, you need 2.5 sticks of softened, unsalted butter, 1 1/3 cups of sugar, a big tablespoon of vanilla (my style), 2 2/3 cups of cake flour 6 eggs, a half teaspoon of salt, and a half teaspoon of cream of tartar.

This is "minimalist" pound cake. Classic ones call for mace, which almost no one has at home, other flavorings, like brandy or cognac, rose water, and so forth. Try it "straight up." When you use other flavorings IN the cake, you might cut back on the vanilla.

You will also notice cake flour. Yup, cake flour. For this recipe, you need it . This is a thick, heavy cake, leavened only by the eggs, and a teensy weensy bit of cream of tartar. Regular flour will give you pound BREAD. Trust me on this.

Preheat your oven to a low 325 degree oven. Then butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan. Normally, I don't bother with flouring pans, but for this, you should. Now you're ready to start getting the cake together.

Beat the butter in a strong mixer for longer than you think you need. A good 7 minutes is not too much time. Look for it to aerate and get nice and white. When that happens, lower the power on the mixer, and add the sugar. You will want to get this light and fluffy again, and it will happen, but be patient. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.


What you do next with the dry ingredients is up to you. I like to fold them in by hand, with a big spoon. That takes time and eventually, some muscle. The mixer will do a good job too. Do it in four portions. Put the salt and cream of tartar in with the first one, and then add the others. Mix it until you dont have lose flour around.

You will have a very heavy, stiff batter. Spoon it in to your prepared pan, and do your best to smooth out the top. Then put the whole thing in the oven and bake for at least an hour. You will want to check the center, with a knife, to see if it's dry. If it is not, bake it for fifteen minutes more.

If you want, when it comes out of the oven, start spreading some kind of sweet syrup over the top of it. You can use something as "simple" as a simple sugar syrup, or maple syrup, or a lemon syrup or anything like that. While the cake is hot, it will suck up lots of the syrup so have plenty ready.

If you prefer a more internal flavor, when you're mixing up the batter, add some lemon peel, or some lime peel, or the aforementioned mace and/or cinnamon, or nutmeg, or almond flavoring or rose water...

My "fey" rose geranium cake takes a bunch of rose geranium leaves and puts them on the bottom of the pan, and then bakes it away. The leaves add a floral and grassy flavor to the cake, and impart an interesting pattern to the bottom of the cake. If you are so inclined, and I am sometimes, by all means do it.

But again, I stress the suggestion of trying a nice, simple, serious vanilla cake. Slice some fruit alongside of it, or put some chocolate syrup on it, and VOILA. You're a serious adult again, even if you really would like a snowball or a twinkie