The month of May is right around the corner, signalling the season of celebrations: Mother’s Day, graduations, Memorial Day, family reunions, and all the summertime fun ahead. What better dessert to take to all those festive gatherings than a delicious and versatile pound cake? Pound cake travels well, stays moist for days, feeds a crowd, and the base recipe can be modified into numerous flavors. That’s what I’m showing you here: taking a basic Sour Cream Pound Cake base, which is honestly amazing by itself, and then how to play with the flavors to make your own masterpiece.
I prefer a traditional Bundt pan for making one large cake, but this recipe makes 2 loaf pans as well. Whatever pan you use, make sure to grease the pan with shortening and then flour it thoroughly. You can line the bottom of a loaf pan with parchment for an extra bit of insurance. I’ve also used narrow triangle strips of waxed paper in a Bundt pan on the wider sections, placing them after greasing the pan, greasing the tops of the waxed paper, and then flouring. Nothing is worse than having that delicious pound cake stick on the way out of the pan.
Sour Cream Pound Cake
For best results, ingredients should be at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan or 2 loaf pans. In a mixer, cream together
2 sticks unsalted room temperature butter
3 cups sugar
until light and fluffy. Add the flavorings:
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
2 teaspoons vanilla butter nut flavoring (can be hard to find, substitute 2 teaspoons butter flavor)
Add 6 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. To save time, I break all my eggs into a measuring cup and pour in one yolk at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon soda
Beginning and ending with the flour mixture, alternate adding the flour and 8 ounces (1 cup) of sour cream to the creamed ingredients in several portions. Spoon batter into your prepared pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes for a bundt pan, or about 50 minutes for loaf pans, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a rack to finish cooling.
The Variations
Chocolate Mocha Swirl
To the batter above, add 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips. Divide the batter in half, and to one half add 1/4 cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch cocoa), and 2 teaspoons of espresso powder dissolved in 2 teaspoons of vanilla. Once your chocolate batter is well blended, alternate big spoonfuls of the vanilla batter and chocolate batter into the pan. Take a table knife and run it around the pan both ways, then zig zag around the pan. Bake and cool as directed. Place cake on serving platter and drizzle with the following:
Shiny Chocolate Glaze
In a glass bowl, melt together in the microwave
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips (I prefer mini as they melt faster)
stir in
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons espresso powder or instant coffee
Separetly, mix together well
1/4 cup whole milk and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
and stir the milk/starch mixture into the chocolate mixture. Microwave on high until it starts to boil, and let it boil for 2 minutes. You may have to stop and start your microwave if the mixture bubbles up too high. Take it out of the microwave and stir in
1 teaspoon vanilla
Let it cool just enough so it starts to thicken, then drizzle it on the cooled cake slowly, allowing some to drip over the sides. If you take your time, it makes the most beautiful presentation.
Lemon Poppy Seed
To the base recipe, add 1 tablespoon lemon extract, the zest from one lemon (or more to taste), and 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds. Once the cake is baked, make this glaze: combine 1/3 cup lemon juice, 2/3 cup of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. While the cake is still warm, brush the cake surface with the glaze. It will soak into the cake and leave a light, sweet crust on the top.
Orange
To the base recipe, add the zest of one orange and a tablespoon of orange extract. You can also use an orange liqueur. Once baked, brush with a super simple syrup made 1/4 cup of sugar dissolved into 1/4 cup of triple sec. You can also find ready-made non-alcoholic triple sec simple syrup in the drink aisle.
Coconut Lime Rum
To the base recipe, add the zest of two limes, a tablespoon of lime extract or lime-flavored vodka, two teaspoons of coconut extract, a tablespoon of rum extract, and 1/2 cup shredded coconut. Brush on a lime simple syrup, either ready-made found in your grocery’s drink aisle, or by using 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup lime juice or lime liqueur. along with a splash of rum.
Are you seeing a theme here?
As you can imagine, the flavor possibilities are many. Have fun creating your mix of flavors by using different extracts. You can also use any liqueurs or liquors to add a punch of flavor to the batter or in a soaking syrup after. You can roughly use equal parts of sugar and either fresh juice or liqueur. And you don’t have to heat it up first like a regular simple syrup, because it’s just soaking into the cake.
And what you serve with your cake can really jazz it up: fresh fruit, whipped cream, any ice cream flavor, lemon curd, warm chocolate sauce….the list is endless. Enjoy!