Pound Cake Therapy

I love baking pound cakes.  I guess it has something to do with the steps that you go through to make it.  The routine is the same with almost every pound cake recipe I have.  It's kind of like therapy for me.  The routine of making the pound cake is somehow calming to me.  (So is eating it, but we'll talk about that later.)

Yesterday one of my neighbors ordered a pound cake for a luncheon tomorrow and I was happy to oblige.  So today I had my day planned out, which is unusual now that I am a stay-at-home mom (to a cat, a dog, and two fish).  Quick trip for lab work at the doc's office, tidy up the house a bit, bake the cake, work on my cookbook (yes, I am writing one), and later start working on the prep for supper - that was my agenda.  Nice, calm day....I am enjoying my time at home. 

As usual, Decca watches over me in the kitchen.  He is my constant companion these days.  He is always on the lookout for (and cleans up) whatever crumbs hit the floor. (I try to be very careful when using non-dog-friendly ingredients.) 




My little vacuum cleaner.

The requested cake, a five-flavor pound cake, is one that I have made too many times to count.  It was always a great seller at my restaurant, right along with my sour cream pound cake.  Both are big cakes, each with a nice crust and sink-your-teeth-in texture, and of course they are made even better with a little ice cream on top. 

Let me interject here to say that yes, I know it's a high fat, diet-busting, generally all around bad food to eat.  However, I think, as with most things, moderation is the key.  I have baked a lot of sweet stuff over the last ten years, but I don't eat it every day. On those occasions when I do, I don't eat a slab of cake, but rather a moderate slice, sometimes with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I enjoy it more when I eat it less.  (That doesn't mean I couldn't eat that slab, though....and a pint of that ice cream.  I feel the same way about doughnuts.  I have to exercise a little willpower at such times.)

Back to the baking.  I scanned the recipe, because it's been a few weeks since I made this cake, and assembled my ingredients and tools.  All went well, although in the back of my mind I thought that the recipe had yielded a little less batter and seemed a little thinner than usual.  Nevertheless, I went ahead and baked it, and it appeared to be fine when I took it out of the oven.

See?



So far, so good.

Looks pretty good fresh from the oven, right?  Nice and browned.  Crusty.  Smelled great.  Just like always.  This picture got lots of nice compliments and likes when I posted it on Facebook.

So I let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, like always, and then attempted to flip it onto a cake board.

And it stuck.  I lightly shook the pan.  Still stuck.  I shook it harder.  No luck.

It wouldn't come out.  The pan would not let it go.  It was like I had poured concrete in there.

I let it sit a little longer, letting it cool a bit more, and tried again.  And this is what happened.



Really?!?!?!

Nice, right?  Needless to say, I was highly annoyed.  My pound cakes are supposed to be perfect!!   There was no therapy to be had with this cake today!

After re-reading the recipe, I could only attribute this sticky sitch to a couple of things.  I had used 1% milk, which is what I normally drink, instead of whole milk.  Didn't think it would be a problem because I've used low-fat milk in other cake recipes, but in this case, I think it was a contributor.  The other possible, and most probable, primary culprit was the baking spray I used.  Although it is supposed to be "floured", it apparently was not floured enough.

(A note here about the floured spray...an alternative is to use a paper towel or pastry brush and coat the pan with shortening, then dust it with flour.  I prefer the spray due to the ridges in the fluted pan.  It's just easier.)

Obviously I couldn't sell this cake, so I had to start over, which meant going to the grocery store because I was out of flour.  I also decided to use whole milk, a different butter, and of course a different floured spray.

Round two.  Perfect.



Simply gaw-geous.

I guess the upside to all this is that I get to keep the damaged cake.  Nothing wrong with the taste.  It just isn't pretty. 

I've had a few cake fails, and one major fall, over the years....thankfully not too many.  But even those of us who (used to) bake "professionally" (and I use that term lightly) can still have flops. 

If you want to try this cake yourself, here's the recipe.

Five Flavor Pound Cake

Things you'll need

12 cup Bundt or fluted tube pan (10.5 x 10.5 x 4.5)
Electric mixer with large bowl
Glass measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Small whisk
Rubber spatula
Small bowls
Wire rack

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, beaten
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon EACH coconut, lemon, rum, butter, and vanilla extracts
Baking spray (I use Baker's Joy)

Prep

Preheat oven to 325F.
Spray Bundt pan lightly with floured baking spray.
Whisk eggs in small bowl; set aside.
Combine flour and baking powder in small bowl; set aside.
Combine milk and extracts in one-cup glass measuring cup; whisk and set aside.

Directions

In a large mixing bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and shortening until smooth.

Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides occasionally with rubber spatula.

Add eggs and beat until smooth.

Beat in flour alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, scraping sides of bowl with rubber spatula.  Use low speed when adding flour. 

Pour 7 cups batter into Bundt pan.  You will have some batter left over.  (If you use all of it, the batter may run over as the cake bakes and the batter rises.)

Bake at 325F for one hour or until cake tests done.

Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.

Remove from pan and cool cake on wire rack completely.



Enjoy, friends!