EATLIVEWEARWANTLIFEREAD

8/16/2011

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake



If you are from the south, then pound cake was or might still be a weekly staple for you. My grandmother made it all the time when I was a child. I will openly admit here- I have never really liked it. I just always thought it was flavorless! 

Well a few weeks ago, I saw Ina Garten make this Honey Vanilla Pound Cake on her show. I love honey and vanilla- well the smell of it is just amazing. It also has a bit of lemon zest. All of that = great flavor, so I thought I would give this recipe a whirl. Here is what you need and what to do:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
1 1/4 cups of sugar
4 eggs, at room temp
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons grated lemon zest (3 = more flavor)
2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use the wrappers of the butter to grease the bottom of the loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, then grease and flour the entire pan. 

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 4 minutes. This is a critical stage, so cream them the entire 4 minutes. While those are creaming, add the eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and vanilla into a glass measuring cup. Do not mix them! With the mixer on low, add egg mixture, one egg at a time. Scrape down the bowl after each egg. 

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture slowly until just combined. Be super careful not to overmix the batter. Do a final mix of the batter with a rubber spatula, pour it into the loaf pan and smooth the top.

Now baking time. This is important. The recipe says the cake should be done in 50-60 minutes. Not true according to my oven. It took about 1 hr and 10 minutes. I recommend checking the cake with a toothpick at 50 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until the toothpick comes out clean. My point here is that it is REALLY easy to overcook this cake. 


This is what it should look like after it comes out of the oven. Use oven mitts to remove it from the pan and onto a cooling rack.


Once it has cooled a bit, slice it and drizzle it with honey. A side of ice cream might be twice as nice...

Linking up with The Lady Behind The Curtain for Cast Party Wednesday!
xo,


Images by me

P.S. Today I am over at Shelli's blog, A' la mode, sharing pics of my living room and participating in her 3 Secrets of Design series! So stop by!


Pin It

13 comments:

  1. Sounds delicious! We are always looking for non-chocolate recipes as Kate can't have it. Will have to give this a try. I love pound cake.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just saw your post over at A La Mode and I have to say how refreshing it is to find another blogger who LOOOOOVES neutral rooms! Don't get me wrong - I love the trendy blues, chevrons and all white kitchens - but my personal style mimics yours - classic, timeless and neutral. I am your newest follower :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Tiffany! Loved your gorgeous home on Shelli's blog today. And that pound cake looks amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That looks delicious! I am not a huge baker, but I do make baked goods where I can use a loaf pan. This one I will be doing soon. Great post on ala modes blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I saw this episode too and have been wanting to make this cake! Looks so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yum. This looks amazing. I love pound cake, but I agree that sometimes it just doesn't have much flavor. This one looks like the exception, and I can't wait to make it. I linked to you from Tasty Tuesday. Thanks for a great recipe that I will be making soon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A great recipe. For those of us in metric what is the equivalent to two sticks of butter?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ooooo this look delicious! Loving the lemon zest, will try this over the weekend, or maybe tomorrow ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Nice looking bread! I'd love it if you came over to Cast Party Wednesday tomorrow and shared this recipe with us!
    Thanks,
    I hope to see you there!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Can you please fed ex me a loaf if this awesomeness?

    ReplyDelete
  11. I do love a good pound cake, this looks yummy. I'll serve it with sliced peaches and whipped cream. Yummy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow...this looks, sounds, and I'm sure TASTES amazing! Must try asap!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wow, What a Excellent post. I really found this to much informatics. It is what i was searching for.I would like to suggest you that please keep sharing such type of info.Thanks دواء لقوة الانتصاب

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...