Heirloom Recipe: Grandma's Old Fashioned Pound Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes a pound cake more dense? ›

"Gently" is key here; overmixing with a heavy hand will cause the batter to deflate, and all your hard work creaming will be reversed. The result will be a dense, tough cake. Use softened butter to grease the entire interior of your loaf pan.

Store brands of sugar are often more finely ground than name brands, yielding more sugar per cup, which can cause the cake to fall. Store brands of butter may contain more liquid fat, and flours more hard wheat, making the cake heavy.

Make sure the flour is fully incorporated too – because dry flour streaks can result in a gummy pound cake. Use cake flour instead of AP flour. Pound cake is SUPPOSED to be a little dense. But it's not supposed to feel heavy or dry.

The Oven. The main factor in managing the cooking time of your cake is the oven temperature. It's not unusual for an oven to run below temperature, often by at least 25 degrees, and some ovens run hot; if the sides of your cake brown before the center is set, you will need to lower the temperature.

Transfer pan to oven, reduce temperature to 325°, and bake until top is golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 5 minutes. (Starting at a higher temperature, then dropping down gives the cake a jump-start before allowing it to bake nice and slowly, so it doesn't get too dark.)

You need to incorporate as much air into the eggs as possible, as this is what levels the cake and will give you a light and fluffy sponge. Set a timer for 7 minutes and allow the electric mixer to do the work before adding any sugar. The eggs should triple in volume and look pale, thick and shiny.

Stirring the cake batter both incorporates your ingredients and activates the gluten protein, so when you mix it too much, the texture of your pound cake becomes doughy like bread.

Be careful not to overbeat the butter-sugar mixture, especially on a hot day — you could rupture the air cells and cause the batter to be heavy.

There are several possible causes for what is called a sad streak in a pound cake. One is that there wasn't enough stirring in the early stages of preparing the batter. The other is that the cake needs to 'set' the crumb when you first remove it from the oven.

Should you sift flour for a pound cake? ›

How To Make The BEST Pound Cake Recipe. Now that you're hip to the basic ingredients let's get right into the steps needed to prepare the BEST pound cake! In a large bowl add sifted flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk together well to make sure all of the dry ingredients are combined.

If you were to use exclusively oil, the cake would turn out much denser than you may have intended. If you're unsure, it's safest to use a 50/50 combination of butter and oil instead of replacing the butter completely.

Starting your pound cake in a cold oven also impacts the texture of the cake. A longer bake time and lower temperature allows the leavening more time to work before the cake sets, resulting in a taller, fluffier cake.

Simple Syrup: Brush the cake with a simple syrup made from equal parts water and sugar. This can add moisture and sweetness to the cake. You can infuse the syrup with flavors like citrus zest or vanilla for an extra touch.

When you remove your cake from the oven, don't flip it out of the pan right away! Instead, let the cake cool for ten minutes in the pan. Then, placing the wire rack over the base of the cake, invert the pan. Peek under the wire rack and see if the cake has dropped out.

On their own, boxed cake mixes have a structure that's loose and airy. But if you add ¼ cup flour or half a box of instant pudding mix, the texture of the cake becomes denser and tighter, ideal for a pound-cake-like consistency that will hold the shape of a Bundt pan.

Room Temperature Ingredients: Ensure your butter, eggs, and any other dairy ingredients are at room temperature. This helps to achieve a smoother batter and a more even bake. Sifting Dry Ingredients: Sift flour and leavening agents to create a lighter cake.

One of the first reasons why your cake may be too dense is if you use too much liquid, sugar, baking soda, or baking powder. Unlike cooking, baking is an exact science, and if you round up the measurement of your ingredients, you can add too much and get a dense cake.