Pound cake perfect for serving summer's fruit bounty
Summer fruit season is here! After you have added that fresh goodness to quick breads, pies, cobblers and ice cream, it’s time to return to the iconic pound cake. It goes with every fruit and gives it a topping as fluid as the changing calendar. It’s easy to take along to any picnic or gathering and is a crowd pleaser that has stood the test of time.
The name comes from the ingredients, and it was extremely popular in the 1700s. Originally, it contained a pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. However, if you have ever had one made with those amounts, you will quickly see that this is not a light, fluffy cake. It is heavy, and I can certainly see why it was a rival at one time to fruit cake.
Change, in this case, is very good. It was at first a loaf cake but now bakers may use a myriad of different cake pans from small to plain to loads of designs. And newer recipes now have leavening ingredients of either baking soda or baking powder that give it a better rise when baking.
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Extracts can change the flavor dramatically. You can include hints of everything from brandy to citrus to coconut but the classic vanilla is what I still like to use. The recipe now yields a fine-textured cake that is beautifully golden brown.
I continue to use a loaf pan for pound cake and even though frosting doesn’t happen, I do love a glaze. I use the poke method of making holes in the top of the cake with a toothpick as soon as it comes out of the pan. With a piece of waxed paper underneath the cooling rack to catch any dribbles, the cake is brushed with the prepared glaze then allowed to cool to room temperature.
You asked for it
Gary writes, “I have a handwritten recipe of my grandmother’s that calls for a heaping cup of mange-tout. She was French and I know this means “eat it all” but am perplexed as to why this is included with an amount in the recipe.”
Gary,
I love this question! Believe it or not, that is another name for snow peas.
Tammy Algood is the author of five cookbooks and can be seen on “Volunteer Gardener” on PBS stations in Tennessee. Follow her at www.hauteflavor.com
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Pound cake the perfect base for serving summer's fruit bounty
