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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Tish Boyle's Plainly Perfect Pound Cake

Pound Cake3

Pound Cake2

Pound Cake8

As you can see, I am continuing my celebration of simplicity. The inspiration to go back to Tish Boyle came about when one of the readers here tried out the Luxe Pound Cake recently and was raving about how good it was. I had baked it once and eaten it once. I remember I did a little dance when I took my first test bite.... the rest was a distant memory among the many recipes I had played with last year....  Going back to Tish Boyle's The Cake Book, I contemplated among a few different pound cake recipe. In the end, I decided to go with the most basic and the aptly named, Plainly Perfect Pound Cake. No one can have one too many basic pound cake recipe. A good pound cake is like the Vanilla ice cream of the butter cake world. Rich and buttery, this can become the basis of more lavish and tasty embellishments that take the partaking of it to new levels of savouring joy.

Pound Cake 1

I love the fine crumb texture of this cake and the fact that I can smell it from a mile away when I was baking it. Instead of the traditional pound cake mould, I had deliberately chosen to bake it in a slim rectangular baking tin so that I can cut them up in tiny slices to be nibbled on like a snack - a perfect presentation for the upcoming Chinese New Year where treats are best served in small finger food sizes. If you find the Kueh Lapis too challenging and time consuming to make for the coming festival, I suggest you consider this recipe as it is easy to whip up and is ... as the name claims, Plainly Perfect!
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Pound Cake2(250)

Plainly Perfect Pound Cake (From Tish Boyle's The Cake Book)Receipe :
200g/2 cups           Plain flour
1/4 tsp                    Baking powder
1/4 tsp                    Salt
227g/2 sticks          Unsalted butter (softened)
250g/ 1 1/4cup       Castor sugar (I reduced this to 200g)
4                             Large eggs
1 tsp                       finely grated lemon zest
1 tsp                       grated orange zest
1 tsp                       vanilla extract
80ml                      Heavy cream

Method :
1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. Cream butter in a mixer at medium high speed until creamy (about 2 mins). Add sugar gradually and continue beating for 4 mins until light and fluffy.
4. Reduce the mixing speed of the mixer to low and add eggs one at a time mixing until well mixed.
5. Add the citrus zest and vanilla extract.
6. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating it with cream (added in 2 additions).
7. Pour into 2 lined 3"x 7" pound cake mold and bake for 60-70 mins or until the cake turns brown and a testing skewer comes out clean. (Trish Boyle had baked this at 162C but I had to use a slightly higher oven temperature to ensure that the cake is cooked through without dense uncooked spots)

44 comments:

ICook4Fun said...

I can never say no to a good old pound cake. I like them light with fine crumbs just like the one you have here and perfectly brown too. I am bookmarking it to try out soon.

Torviewtoronto said...

delicious looking spongy cake to snack

gfs said...

delicious, I love a simple pound cake with a fresh berry compote and a little cream as the ultimate afternoon tea time treat!

Edith said...

Oh my, look at those lovely golden hue and that fine crumbs.

Bookmarked.

Ribbon and Circus said...

I was looking for a pound cake recipe and my oh my, Shirley, you're definitely my kitchen angle hehe I'll gv your TB plainly perfect pound cake a try. Tq for sharing Shirley!

Mrs Ergül said...

I can totally see the fine crumb texture from the photos! I'm making this the next time I open a pack of cream :)

Cass @ 揾到食 said...

好细幼的组织哦,看了就想咬一口。

Sherie @ Maameemoomoo said...

OMG. This butter cake looks perfect!

After looking through its ingredients, i think what sets it apart from the usual is the heavy cream. No wonder it looks almost cheese cake (souffle) like!

I wanna bake this for CNY! (if i've time that is. aihs)

Yummy Bakes said...

I love the texture of this cake. It looks so fine and good. Am book-marking this. Nice photos too.

Yummy Bakes said...

Shirley, what sort of heavy cream did you use?

Elin said...

Shirley...your pound cake looks delicious. Love the rich yellow color and the texture. I bet it taste yummy. Have bookmarked it too :) Great for the coming festive celebration :)

Min said...

I love pound cake too! Simple yet delicious. Love your baking tin too, so slim :)

Joanne said...

A good pound cake may be simple but it's also one of life's most delicious treasure. I am SO making this.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@YummyBakes- I just used normal fresh cream(pouring whipping cream). If you can get the plastic bottled heavy cream by Bulla, I think it will taste even more awesome.

kavis said...

I love pound cake, sure this is indeed the best of the best pound cake ever.

daphne said...

Funny enough, I am not a fan of pound cakes due to the buttery taste. However, I can see that the zesty flavours will go well! It will be perfect for a tea party or high tea with some friends.

jessica @ portuguesegirlcooks said...

This looks great! Thanks for sharing!

Passionate About Baking said...

Oh wow! I love the fine colour and the crumbs. How did you get a yellow bottom and not a brown botton? I would like to have that!

Yummy Bakes said...

Is it the Bulla thickened cream? I saw this at NTUC. Thanks, Shirley.

Carolyn said...

It looks delicious.

Happy New Year!

Carolyn

Jeannie said...

I would do a little dance if my buttercake can look like this! Going to try this soon!

scrumptious jenny said...

I love moist yet light crumbed cakes whether chiffon or pound. Would you recommend a recipe for a pound cake that is the closest to my liking? You have so many great recipes that it's hard for me to compare and choose. Thanks!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Jane : I lined the pan with baking paper and the temperature takes care of the rest, I guess.

Fern @ To Food With Love said...

I knew it looked perfect even before I read the title! Can't wait to try it!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Shirley, oh, you also has a slim pound cake tin huh, i like mine too. I love this kind of simple and plain butter cake. Your pound cake texture look so fine and neat, well done! I still have some leftover heavy cream, look like i can use to bake this cake.

Deb said...

This spectacular pound cake would be delightful with fresh berries and kiwi. What am enticing recipe!

Sandhya Hariharan said...

So moist , with just the perfect color... perfect pound cake !!!

Anh said...

Look at that crumbs! I am MAKING this!

Shumaila said...

The pound cake looks absolutely beautiful and your photographs make it look even more inviting. Pinning the recipe! Thanks for sharing!

Quay Po Cooks said...

Shirley your pound cake has lived up to it's name! Aren't you proud of yourself! :D

Rima said...

OMG!! Yes!! I hv 4 eggs left in my kitchen.. Will bake.. Must bake.. Die die must bake.. Hehe

Pound cake is my all time fav! Tks for sharing dear!

pigpigscorner said...

Wow, the crumbs are so fine!

Noob Cook said...

your pound cake looks light and fluffy :)

Anonymous said...

what a beautiful pound cake!! So simple yet so mouth-watering! :) gorgeous texture!

Ribbon and Circus said...

shirley,

Which brand of butter did you use eh? I used SCS and the texture are not fine as yours..envy ;p

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

RC: Wow, I can't quite remember what butter I used. I had a myriad of butter in my fridge.. I believe it was SCS at that time ...or Lurpak. I bought alot of Lurpak on sales recently. However, I don't think it is the butter that makes the difference. I think it is your creaming process. Make sure you cream for 2mins and 4 mins as I stated in the recipe....

kewpie said...

made it on the weekend. the texture is amazing! thank you for sharing the lovely pics and recipe...

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@kewpie: So happy to hear that you liked this :) Tish Boyle's recipes are very reliable.

Mel said...

Hi Shirley,
Do you think I can bake this Pound Cake using a Bundt pan instead of 3"x7" mould? I loves to use Bundt pan.

Anonymous said...

What is castor sugar? And we dont use grams in the US so what conversion would this be to cup etc.

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

@Anonymous : Hi. Castor sugar is actually very fine sugar. It is almost always used for baking. 1 cup of castor sugar would be about 225g. I am putting in the volumetric equivalent for your reference.

For the conversion, I like this site. http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/tools.measures/Measures.cfm

xinyuan said...

Hi shirley, i tried making the cake today. However, when i took the cake out of the pan, i was in shock! there was a pool of oil left behind, and the cake was dripping in oil. I used exactly 227g of butter after measuring in elec scale. Should i reduce the amount of butter? or is there something to do with the creaming process? i did exactly 2mins and 4 mins!

SOS!

Shirley @ Kokken69 said...

Xinyuan- this is most peculiar! Quite a few of my readers have tried this and did not have problem... I am guessing that you measured something wrongly.... How many blocks of butter did you use? It sounded like your butter has split and separated. I am wondering if you had over beaten the butter with sugar.... Please email me at kokken69blog@gmail.com

ewelajna Korniowska said...

This looks great!

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