Showing posts with label pound cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pound cake. Show all posts
Thursday, June 15, 2017
Birthday Cake #3
Birthday cake number three was made back home, ready for my return from my trip, by my loving parents. They always try to make me a different kind of birthday cake every year, if I am actually home anytime near my birthday or I don't insist on making my own cake. This year they made me a chocolate pound cake with a simple chocolate frosting from one of my favorite cookbooks, "Chocolate Everything". Despite being a pound cake, the cakes is not too heavy or rich, but moist and chocolaty!!
Thursday, June 05, 2014
Chocolate Pound Cake
Chocolate Pound Cake
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated (white) sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
Preheat oven to 325◦F. Grease and flour a 10-inch (3 liter) Bundt pan.
In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla.
In a separate medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture in three additions, alternately with milk in two additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat well after each addition. Beat additionally for two minutes at medium speed.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
This is the recipe my parents used to make my birthday cake from yesterday's post. Although this is considered a pound cake, it is by no means heavy, but fluffy. It is a bit on the dense and dark side, and not too moist and difficult to frost. I have never actually had chocolate pound cake before this, though I have had plain, vanilla, and brown sugar pound cake before. Fresh, real ingredients such as butter, vanilla, eggs, and cocoa are a necessity for great flavor.
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated (white) sugar
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk
Preheat oven to 325◦F. Grease and flour a 10-inch (3 liter) Bundt pan.
In a large bowl using a handheld electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla.
In a separate medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture in three additions, alternately with milk in two additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat well after each addition. Beat additionally for two minutes at medium speed.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Shortcakes
Later today I will be assembling strawberry shortcake. Believe it or not, I have never made an actual strawberry shortcake, and I don't think I have eaten a traditional strawberry shortcake either. I figured it was time to try, especially since it is strawberry season and there are plenty of fresh local strawberries around. This strawberry shortcake uses the cakes I made on Friday, because they require 48 hours of refrigeration time before serving. I will make some homemade Creme Fraiche, wash and sweeten some strawberries, and make a fancy strawberry shortcake. Here is the cake recipe. Depending on how good and moist it is, it may become my go-to cake recipe for white birthday and celebration cakes, since I still have not yet found the perfect white cake recipe (a chocolate recipe was so much easier to find).
Pound Plus Cake
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
2 cups granulated (white) sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or unflavored yogurt (yogurt will make for a lighter cake, but for best results, do not use fat-free yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups cake flour (no need to sift)
Preheat oven to 325◦F.Generously butter (do NOT use shortening or non-stick spray) and flour two eight or nine inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together well using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until fluffy. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, and baking powder. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and beat until batter is smooth and has no lumps.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, and the tops are golden. Cool cakes in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then turn them out to cool completely.
Once cooled completely, wrap cakes in plastic wrap, foil, and seal them well in a plastic bag. Refrigerate (do not freeze) for about 48 hours before decorating and serving. Remove cakes from the fridge an hour or so before serving for best flavor and texture.
Fluke, Joanne. "Strawberry Shortcake Swensen." Recipe. Strawberry Shortcake Murder, New York: Kensington, 2001. 21-24.
Pound Plus Cake
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
2 cups granulated (white) sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or unflavored yogurt (yogurt will make for a lighter cake, but for best results, do not use fat-free yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups cake flour (no need to sift)
Preheat oven to 325◦F.Generously butter (do NOT use shortening or non-stick spray) and flour two eight or nine inch round cake pans.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together well using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition until fluffy. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla, and baking powder. Add the flour, one cup at a time, and beat until batter is smooth and has no lumps.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean, and the tops are golden. Cool cakes in pans on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Then turn them out to cool completely.
Once cooled completely, wrap cakes in plastic wrap, foil, and seal them well in a plastic bag. Refrigerate (do not freeze) for about 48 hours before decorating and serving. Remove cakes from the fridge an hour or so before serving for best flavor and texture.
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