Ingredients
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1½ cups (6 ounces) cake Flour
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1 teaspoon Baking Powder
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½ teaspoon Salt
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1¼ cups (8¾ ounces) Sugar
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4 large Egg
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1½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
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16 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
Directions
Classic pound cake recipes tend to be very particular, requiring ingredients at certain temperatures and finicky mixing methods to ensure a proper emulsion of the eggs into the batter. For a simpler, foolproof pound cake, we discovered that hot melted butter (rather than softened) and the food processor were key. The fast-moving blade of the processor plus the hot melted butter emulsified the liquid ingredients quickly before they had a chance to curdle. Sifting the dry ingredients over our emulsified egg mixture in three additions, and whisking after each addition, allowed us to incorporate the dry ingredients easily and ensured no pockets of flour marred our final cake. The test kitchen’s preferred loaf pan measures 8½ by 4½ inches; if you use a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan, start checking for doneness 5 minutes early.
Steps
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1
Done
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Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 8½ by 4½-inch loaf pan. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in bowl. |
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2
Done
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Process sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in food processor until combined, about 10 seconds. With processor running, add hot melted butter in steady stream until incorporated. Pour mixture into large bowl. |
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3
Done
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Sift flour mixture over egg mixture in 3 additions, whisking to combine after each addition until few streaks of flour remain. Continue to whisk batter gently until almost no lumps remain (do not overmix). |
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4
Done
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Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and gently tap pan on counter to settle batter. Bake cake until toothpick inserted in center comes out with few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. |
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5
Done
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Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes. Run paring knife around edge of cake to loosen. Gently turn cake out onto wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours. Serve. |
