pound cakes Archives - The Midnight Baker

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 10 May 2022 23:00:31 +0000

Cold oven pound cake starts in…you guessed it…a cold oven.

Is Cold Oven Pound Cake Better?

I set out to find out ever since I saw this cold oven pound cake touted in Epicurious.

Starting things in a cold oven is hardly a new concept. Most recently I’ve heard it suggested for using a certain ceramic brand of bakeware. It does make sense from a theoretical standpoint, especially with the ceramic ware. But, is it better? I’m sure that there are many people who can tell you one way or another–especially about that bakeware. However, is this cake better than the more standard versions? That answer is that for me I see no real advantage. Therefore, I will leave you to decide for yourself.

By the way, this cake is extremely delicious. I don’t want to infer that the cake itself is a waste of time; it isn’t. It’s very dense and rich and has a lovely flavor,

Suggested Cake Pans

First of all, at least 10 cups is necessary and I’d even suggest a 12 cup pan. There’s a lot of batter and it filled my 10 cup brilliance pan right to the brim. The pan produces a stunning cake, but you might want to use the more conventional Bundt pan that has less nooks and crannies. This is an expensive cake to make so you’d want no failures when it’s released from the pan. A straight-sided tube pan would be your safest bet. I had no real issues releasing the cake, but I did spray it up really well with baking spray.

One thing I noticed was my cake was rather light but that was my error. I placed the cake pan on a baking sheet since the pan was full to capacity not realizing that there has to be air flow around the central tube. That was just a matter of aesthetics; the cake baked fine. This is why I suggested a larger-capacity pan. Equally, you can bake any excess batter in a smaller pan.

Very Rich

This cake has a lot of butter and a lot of eggs making it a very rich and delicious cake. Because of this, I’d save this one for special occasions as it’s not an every-day sort of dessert. Mainly that it’s pretty costly–not the calories as cake is hardly a diet item anyway.

The Recipe

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Cold Oven Pound Cake

Start this one in a cold oven

Prep Time20

Cook Time1 10

Cooling20

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cold oven pound cake, fancy bundt cakes, rich pound cakes

Servings: 12

Calories: 581kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter 3 sticks
3 cups sugar
6 eggs at room temperature
Confectioners icing sugar for dusting, optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Grease a 10-inch bundt pan and dust with flour making sure to get into the nooks and crannies of the pan. Non-stick baking spray is good as well.
Mis the flour baking powder and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
Mix the milk and vanilla in a large measuring cup.
Cream the butter on medium speed, using a sturdy stand mixer, until it's light and fluffy.
Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the sugar. Continue beating for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is very light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition
Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the batter is evenly mixed.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly using a spatula.
Place the pan on the middle rack and set the oven temperature to 325F/160C.
Bake 60-70 minutes or until the cake is golden brown on the topped a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool the cake on a rack for 20 minutes then invert on a serving plate. Once the cake is entirely cool, dust with confectioners sugar if desired.

Nutrition

The post Cold Oven Pound Cake appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Seed Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 23:00:25 +0000

Seed cake is one of those traditional British cakes that never goes out of style.

Seed Cake Is Very British

Here’s another “food of my people” recipe! While lemon drizzle cake is a perennial favorite, seed cake isn’t too far behind.

OK now it’s dressed up and some other things are added to make the recipe more modern, but nothing beats the simplest version.

My mom was pretty old school and this was the seed cake she grew up with. I remember the first time she made it. I was prepared not to like it because I wasn’t fond of caraway seeds. Since she always insisted that. you try a food before arbitrarily dismissing it, I had no choice in the matter. And you know, there’s just something about a nice pound cake with caraway seeds in it. I really loved it and it’s been a favorite ever since.

Cake Isn’t Huge

This is a cake that will disappear with no leftovers. The fact that it is delicious is one of those things, but it’s a relatively small cake.

It was originally made in a 7-inch cake tin (affiliate link) which is a popular size in the UK. I have one of them and you can purchase them here but they are generally springform pans.

I chose to use a small, but standard size, loaf pan. That pan is 8 x 4-inches. This size will produce smaller, shorter slices. But at any rate, the cake is not a huge one. It doesn’t rise much either so if you make it, don’t think that it’s a failure–it’s not.

If You Love Caraway…

Then feel free to add more than the suggested amount.

My mom used to add more because her’s was loaded with them. I kept to a lower amount because it added great flavor but was not overwhelming.

The Recipe

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Seed Cake

A British tradition

Prep Time15

Cook Time50

Course: Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: caraway seed in cake, seed cake, traditional british cakes

Servings: 8

Calories: 247kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

6 oz flour 1 1/3 cups
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 cup butter room temperature
2 eggs
1-2 tbs milk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Spray a small loaf pan (8 x 4 inch) or a 7-inch/18 cm round cake pan with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 400F/299C.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together and add the caraway seed; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar until mixture is pale, then add the eggs, one at a time, until well blended.
Stir in the flour mixture and add enough milk to get a dropping consistency (batter will be stiff, much like a pound cake).
Spread in prepared pan and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the enter comes out clean.

Nutrition

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Milk Chocolate Pound Cake

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 12 Jun 2021 23:00:20 +0000

Treat Dad to this milk chocolate pound cake on Father’s Day!

Pound Cake Is A Favorite

If you ask people what their favorite cake is, I bet pound cake is in the top ten. Number one on that list is chocolate cake . So when you combine those two, you know you have a winner!

Milk chocolate pound cake is a bit different than other fudge, devil’s food or chocolate cake since it uses milk chocolate. The others listed will use either dark chocolate or cocoa. Using milk chocolate will make this cake a tad sweeter and that makes it an excellent dessert cake.

Chocolate Choices

Since I’ve never seen milk chocolate sold in baking bars–not saying it doesn’t exist just that I’ve never seen it–I used milk chocolate morsels in this cake. You can also use candy bars. For me, the morsels were more convenient and easier to measure. Just an aside, and where I can’t speak for other states (or countries), in New York you pay tax on chocolate bought in the candy aisle where it’s tax exempt in the baking aisle.

Another curious thing about the chocolate is the original recipe called for adding water to it. By and large, this is a no-no with chocolate as water makes it seize and seize it did, but funny enough, it worked so don’t let it scare you.

Makes A Lot Of Batter

You’ll definitely need to use a 10-cup Bundt pan for this but you may not have to use the entire batter. As you can see from the photos, the batter rose a bit over the rim of the pan. While this isn’t a drastic thing, you’ll want to fill the pan a tad lower than where the fluting ends. Otherwise you’ll get a “slice with a handle” the same as I got.

The Recipe

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Milk Chocolate Pound Cake

For chocolate lovers!

Prep Time25

Cook Time1 30

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy pound cake recipes, milk chocolate pound cake

Servings: 12

Calories: 257kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz milk chocolate morsels
2 tbs water
1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
2 cups sugar
4 eggs room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups cake flour sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Spray a 10-cup tube pan with non-stick spray.
In a saucepan, melt chocolate with water over low heat. Mixture will begin to harden.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in vanilla and the chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, salt and soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 1-1/2 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Video

Nutrition

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Buttermilk Donut Cake

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 23:00:34 +0000

Craving donuts? Make this great donut cake instead of going out!

For The Love Of Donuts

Donuts are one of the world’s best-loved snacks. While they may be called something different in different lands, donuts are all basically the same; deep fried spice cake!

Donuts are a snack (or breakfast) that most tend to limit because they are deep fried. Delicious though they may be, the fat is not good on a regular basis.

Well, what if I told you that you can get the same great donut taste with much less fat? Well, here it is in cake form! I’m really not saying that this cake, or any other, should be looked upon as a health food, but you can eliminate the deep frying and have a little less fat.

The Key Is Spice

I may have mentioned this before but I used to make donuts when I did a stint as a professional baker in a local store after my late husband’s heart surgery. My specialty was actually the apple cider donuts, but I digress.

While at the store, I learned what made donuts taste special and would put my own stamp on the standard commercial mix.

My secret for “regular” cake-style donuts was replacing the water the mix called for with part buttermilk. The mix also needed its ante upped with a whisper of mace.

Just so you know, mace is the ingredient that makes all donuts taste like “donuts.” Along with mace goes nutmeg. Mace is related to nutmeg, being it’s the outer layer of the seed. However, you must be very conservative with mace since it’s strong and will overpower anything it’s in. Less is more in this case.

Make Sure To Glaze

The crowning glory on this cake is the glaze.

There’s nothing really special about it as it’s just a confectioner’s sugar and water mixture, but it does tie everything together that makes this cake taste like an actual donut.

The Recipe

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Buttermilk Donut Cake

If you love cake donuts, you’ll love this cake

Prep Time20

Cook Time50

Course: Breakfast, cakes, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttermilk donuts, donut cake recipe, spice pound cake recipe

Servings: 12

Calories: 441kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter softened
4 eggs at room temp
2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp mace optional
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk see notes

Glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s icing sugar
2 tbs water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Spray a large (at least 10 cups) fluted tube pan with non-stick spray.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, mace and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Using a heavy-duty stand mixer (batter is thick and may be too much for a hand-held) cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until it’s pale and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. Add the vanilla, just until it’s incorporated.
With mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix until just combined.
Spoon batter into prepared pan. Tap the pan a few times on the counter to release any air bubbles.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes then remove the cake from the pan and invert it so the rough, cracked side is facing upward. Cool completely.
Mix the confectioner’s sugar and water until smooth. Spoon over top of the cake.

Video

Nutrition

The post Buttermilk Donut Cake appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Buttermilk Pound Cake

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 00:00:11 +0000

Serve up some of this buttermilk pound cake for dessert and the family will ask for more.

Buttermilk Pound Cake: From Scratch

I admit I don’t do too much baking from scratch anymore, especially cakes. I have come to actually like doctoring mixes and such. Nowadays, cake mixes taste very good and almost like homemade.

However, when I find a cake that’s just as easy, if not easier, to make from scratch, that’s something I consider a real boon.

This buttermilk pound cake uses very simple ingredients. I also bet you have all of them on hand. What’s better than that?

Got Buttermilk?

If you’re like me, you buy a quart of buttermilk and use maybe a cup. What do you do with the rest?

Yep, it keeps pretty well but still. I always mean to find a recipe that uses it so it doesn’t go to waste. I also mean to remind myself to have a glass of it. Strangely, I love the stuff and it’s the only milk I will drink. However, I forget to do this.

So, if you’ve got that opened quart sitting on the fridge shelf, this is a good way to use it. And if you don’t have any sitting and waiting to be used, 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice topped up with regular milk to measure a cup is the old standby.

A Real Sweet

This pound cake is a bit on the sweet side. I’ve given the recipe as it was originally.

Since I find this cake made to recipe a bit sweet for my taste, I reduce the sugar to only 2 cups–and they’re scant cups. But I do advise making it the way it’s written the first time you make it. Tastes differ and I’m not into anything very sweet. If you’re like me, then just go ahead and reduce the sugar as I do. If you’re not sure, then try it the original way.

The Recipe

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Buttermilk Pound Cake

An easy and delicious pound cake

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 10

Course: cakes, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: buttermilk pound cake recipe, easy from scratch cakes, pound cake recipe, using buttermilk

Servings: 12

Calories: 429kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 cup butter softened
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
confectioners/icing sugar for dusting optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325F/160C. Spray a 10-cup/2.4L bundt pan with non-stick spray.
Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Now beat in the vanilla.
Combine flour and soda; mix well. Add alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Mix well.
Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 60-70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Dust with the confectioners sugar when completely cool if desired.

Video

Nutrition

The post Buttermilk Pound Cake appeared first on The Midnight Baker.