How to Bake Classic Pound Cake - I did it!

Classic vanilla pound cake is the quintessential Southern dessert ~ and this version from my mother-in-law is pure Southern perfection.

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I finally did it!  I baked my first pound cake!!  Can you believe I had never made a pound cake before this?  

In my defense, pound cake is decidedly a southern thing.  Growing up in Vermont, we just didn't bake pound cakes.  The only pound cake I had been exposed to prior to moving south was the Sara Lee loaf kind you buy in the freezer section at the grocery store.  

Now that I live in North Carolina, classic pound cake is everywhere, and in so many wonderful flavors. Oh, homemade is sooooo much better than that frozen stuff!

I'll admit I was very nervous, possibly even a little bit scared, to make my first pound cake.  

As I said before, I have absolutely zero background in baking this kind of cake.  Add to that the fact that my mother-in-law is pretty much a pound cake baking goddess.  You can be almost guaranteed that when you walk into her house, there's a pound cake in the cake cupboard.  Yep, she makes it so much there's a cake cupboard where it's kept.  Now if that's not intimidating, I don't know what is.

And there you have it - fear.  Fear of the pound cake.  But I desperately wanted to overcome this fear.

So, after eight years of knowing my husband and eating his mother's wonderfully amazing pound cake, I decided to give her recipe a whirl myself.  

Trying to recall all the tips and tricks she told me, I set out on my journey.  Doubts still ran through my head - What if I don't get the batter mixed just right?  What if it gets a sad streak in it? (I've learned that this is when it doesn't bake evenly, creating basically an unbaked "streak" through the cake.)  What if ... and apparently this is one of the worst and most frequent pound cake mishaps ... it won't come out of the pan?  What if it bakes up ugly??  But I pressed on ... 

After combining all my ingredients and beating them for the full 15 minutes called for in the recipe, I poured my beautiful pale yellow, smooth, creamy batter into my pan.  I'm a sucker for batter, so of course I tasted it at this point.  Already yummy!

But when my pound cake came out of the oven, one of my fears had come to be - the top of the cake baked up ugly, and one part of it was slumped down a little.

Fortunately, the pound cake settled down a tiny bit as it cooled - but it still certainly wasn't the prettiest cake around.  This made me very worried to cut into it.

When it finally came time to cut, Mark and I did it together.

After all, he grew up with this pound cake and would for-sure know if it was up-to-snuff!  Because of the slumped side, he was positive there was going to be a sad streak in it.

When we cut, I was extremely glad and relieved to find no streak!

Now came the ultimate test ... the Mark taste-test.  I'm happy to report that my pound cake passed with flying colors, ugly top and all!

The Mark quote:  "I think you've done it."

That's very high praise from my particular husband of few words.

As I do with most of my baked goods, I gave the majority of the cake away.  As I was packaging up my little pound cake care packages, I asked Mark if he wanted me to save him a few slices.  He said no - so I asked, "Are you sure?"  He said, "Yes, I'm sure."

I admit, I was surprised.  So, I decided to save just one slice for me to have the next day.

Here it is - all by itself on the cake plate:

Here's what the cake plate looked like the next morning when I came down for breakfast:

Guess what Mark had for breakfast...

Compliments of my mother-in-law, here is the recipe for this classic pound cake.  Eat it plain, or with berries or whipped cream (or both!) on top.

Even if it bakes up ugly or with a sad streak, rest assured it will still taste delicious.

Check out these other super-tasty cake recipes:

• Hawaiian Dream Cake
• Hummingbird Sheet Cake with Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
• Carrot Cake Sheet Cake
• White Chocolate Birthday Cake
• Old-Fashioned Apple Cake
• Tres Leches Cake
• Coconut Pound Cake
• More dessert & cake recipes

Thank you for stopping by The Kitchen is My Playground. We'd love to have you back soon!

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Desserts

Yield: 12-16 servings

Author: Tracey | The Kitchen is My Playground

Classic Pound Cake

Classic vanilla pound cake is the quintessential Southern dessert. And this version is true Southern perfection.

prep time: 25 Mcook time: 1 H & 30 Mtotal time: 1 H & 55 M

ingredients:

• 3 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 lb. (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 T. Crisco shortening
• 6 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 c. milk (my mother-in-law and I use 2% milk)

instructions:

How to cook Classic Pound Cake

1. Cream the sugar, butter, and Crisco with an electric mixer, about 3-4 minutes.
2. Add eggs and vanilla; beat with an electric mixer about 10-15 minutes. Be sure to beat for the full time.
3. Combine the flour and baking powder. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture and milk, alternately, to the creamed sugar and eggs mixture. Mix after each addition until just combined.
4. Pour batter into a tube pan that has been generously sprayed with non-stick baking spray {or buttered & floured}. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until a toothpick inserted in the top comes out clean.
5. Cool about a 1/2 an hour in the pan; remove cake from pan.

https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2011/03/classic-pound-cake-i-did-it.html

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You might also enjoy these other tasty cake recipes:

Pink Funfetti Pound Cake

Coconut-Dark Chocolate Pound Cake

White Chocolate Birthday {or Easter} Cake

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