Pound Cake / history and recipes

I've seen a number of recipes for Pound Cake on other blogs. I thought Id' look into the history and post it.

1700s - The Pound Cake is a British creation that dates back to the early 1700s.

1796 - In the 1796 cookbook American Cookery: or, The Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Puff-pastes, Pies, Tarts, Puddings, Custards and Preserves, and all kinds of Cakes, from the Imperial Plumb to plain Cake by Amelia Simmons, she includes two recipes. This was the first cookbook authored by an American and published in the United States.

POUND CAKE - One pound fugar, one pound butter, one pound flour, ten eggs, rofe water one gill, spices to our tafte; watch it well, it will bake in a flow oven in 15 minutes.

Another (called) POUND CAKE - Work three quarters of a pound butter, one pound of good fugar, till very white, whip ten whites to a foam, add the yolks and beat together, add one fpoon rofe water, two of brandy, and put the whole to one and a quarter of a pound flour, if yet to foft add flour and bake flowly.

1800s - By the mid 1800's pound cake recipes began to deviate slightly from the original formula to make a lighter cake.

1881 - The Pound Cake has traditionally been a popular dessert in the southern states. The first known cookbook written an African-American, Abby Fisher, calledWhat Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking. Mrs. Fisher, born a slave, somehow found her way to San Francisco soon after the Civil War and created a life and business there manufacturing and selling "pickles, preserves, brandies, fruits, etc. Mrs. Fisher could not read or write. It is said that her friends wrote down her recipes and helped her publish her cookbook. Her cookbook includes two Pound Cake recipes.

1900s - Artificial leaveners (baking powder/soda) were added. Today, pound cakes use different proportions of the same ingredients as the original formula to produce a lighter cake.

In the original recipe, no leaveners were used,other than the air whipped into the batter.

The original recipe consisted of 1 pound of Butter, 1 pound of Sugar, 1 pound of Flour and 1 pound of Eggs.
In times when many people couldn't read, this made it simple to remember the recipe.
The recipe changed over the years but the name didn't.

Here are the equivalent measurements for 1 pound:

Butter = 2C
Sugar = 2 C
Flour = 4 C
Eggs = 12


Here's the closest recipe I could find to an original Pound Cake:

Grease 3 8x4 loaf pans with butter ( today, I use my Pan Release recipe)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2 C Butter
2 C Sugar
4 C Flour
1 dozen Eggs
2/3 C Milk ( this is the only change that I found in my research) some recipes called for lemon juice and zest, but I know that lemons in the 1700's would have been scarce so I chose the recipe with milk. Otherwise you can omit the milk and add 1/4 C lemon juice and 1 TBS lemon zest.

The preparation is quite basic:

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, it would have originally been done by hand
Beat in eggs, one at a time
Beat in flour alternately with milk
( I like the addition of 2 spoons of Brandy from the history recipe above)

Pour into pans
Bake 70 minutes at 350 degrees
remove from oven
loosen edges with a knife
cool in pans for 10 minutes
remove cakes to a wire rack and cool completely



1700's British Pound Cake:

1lb. (2 C) sugar
1 lb. (2 C) butter, room temperature
1 lb. (4 C) flour
1 dozen eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
1 TBS fresh lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

1- Tube Pan greased with my Pan Release Mix ( equal parts of flour, Crisco, vegetable oil, mix well and store in a jar in the refrigerator) I start with 1 C of each, I always have some available in the refrigerator.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment :
sugar
butter
Beat until light and creamy

Add each egg, one at a time, mixing well.
Gradually add flour, 1/4 C at a time.
Add lemon juice and zest.
Pour batter into the pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 to 1 hour and 30 minutes,
A toothpick in the center should come out clean.

Cool on the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.
Release the cake and cool completely on a cooling rack.


Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!


Deep Chocolate Pound Cake:

Deep, is that deeper than Dark, I don't know, but I like a Deep Dark Chocolate Pound Cake.
I did a Blog about Pound Cake, the History and recipes.
I wanted to post this one separately and I'll add it to my Pound Cake post too.

Here's what you'll need:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
1 Loaf Pan, I think the regular size is approximately 9" X 5", brushed well with Pan Release Mix. (Equal parts of Crisco, Vegetable Oil and Flour) I start with 1 C of each , mixed well and refrigerated in a jar. I always have it available for all of my baking needs.


1 1/2 C Cake Flour, this is not regular Flour so make sure it's Cake Flour.
1/4 TBS Salt
1/4 C Dutch Processed Cocoa Powder, this is important too, don't use a Natural Cocoa Powder.
2 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate, roughly chopped.
2 TBS Medaglia d'Oro Instant Espresso Coffee
1/4 C Boiling Water
1/2 C Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla
16 TBS (2 sticks) Butter, room temperature
1 C granulated Sugar
3 Egg Yolks, room temperature
1 C Hershey's Dark Chocolate Chips

In a small bowl:
1 C of the Chocolate Chips
1 tsp of the  Flour
Stir to coat the Chips and set aside.

In a small bowl:
Flour
Salt
Whisk and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl:
Cocoa
Chopped Chocolate
Espresso
Boiling Water
Whisk well and set aside.

In a small bowl:
Buttermilk
Vanilla
Whisk and set aside.

In a Stand Mixer with a Paddle Attachment:
Butter
Sugar
Beat 5 minutes.

Add:
Egg Yolks, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each one.

Add:
Cocoa mixture
Mix just until combined.

Add:
Flour alternating with Buttermilk.

Add:
Chocolate Chips and mix just until mixed in.

Pour batter into the pan.
Bake 1 hour.
Check after 55 minutes. A toothpick in the center should come out clean.

Remove the pan to a rack and cool for 10 minutes.

Invert the cake right side up on a Parchment Paper lined race and cool completely.
Slice and serve with Whipped Cream.

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!


This is a Dump Cake version of Pound Cake. It's easy and delicious. It can be enjoyed plain or with garnishes that I've recommended at the end of the recipe.

Dump Cakes are very American. I have several recipes for the Iconic Dump Cake on my Blog.

Make sure all of the ingredients are at room temperature before making the cake. And then...... dump all of the ingredients in the bowl of a Stand Mixer with a paddle attachment. It's easy.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

1 - Bundt Pan brushed well with Pan Release Mix. (equal parts of Crisco, Vegetable Oil and Flour) 

I start with 1 C of each, mix well and refrigerate in a jar.

I always have it available for all of my baking needs.

It's the only mix I use for cake release. It works with all intricate Bundt Pan designs.

4 C Flour

3 C Granulated Sugar

1 Pound  (4 sticks) Butter, room temperature

3/4 C Whole Milk, room temperature

6 Large Eggs, room temperature

3 tsp Vanilla

In a Stand Mixer with a Paddle Attachment, on low speed:

Flour

Sugar

Butter

Milk

Eggs

Vanilla

Beat on low speed for 1 minute.

Increase speed for an additional 2 minutes.

Pour the batter into the pan.

Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes.

Remove the pan to a rack and cool for 10 minutes.

Invert the cake onto a Parchment Paper lined rack and cool completely.

Serve with these garnish options:

Dust with Confectioner's Sugar

Lemon or Vanilla Glaze

Rum or Bourbon Sauce

Raspberry Jam

Whipped Cream

Vanilla Ice Cream

Enjoy!

Peace in the Kitchen!

I like the simplicity of Pound Cake and this recipe sounds good to me.
I did a story on the blog called Pound Cake / history and recipes. 
You can search for it on the Blog, it's interesting.

Honey Pound Cake:

1/4 C honey

1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 1/3 C sugar

5 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 C flour, sifted

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt
Confectioner's Sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
Grease a Loaf Pan with my Pan Release Mix (equal parts of flour, vegetable oil and flour, I start with a cup of each and keep it in a jar in the refrigerator) I always have it available for all of by baking needs.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment:
Butter
Sugar
Honey
Beat until creamy at least 3 minutes
Beat in eggs one at a time
Add vanilla
Add flour, baking powder and salt
Beat until smooth 

Pour batter into the pan
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean
Cool in the pan on a cooling rack for at least 15 minutes
Invert onto a serving platter
Optional: Dust with Confectioner's Sugar

Enjoy!
Peace in the Kitchen!