Tomorrow is National Pound Cake Day!
The basic pound cake recipe is a simple one – a pound of sugar, a pound of flour, a pound of butter, and a pound of eggs. Hence the name!
The basic recipe was meant to make lots of cakes … so once you have mastered the 1:1:1:1 ratio you can adjust it to serve how many you like.
A basic pound cake is hard to beat but I love ones with a twist.
Judy Douglass of Judy Pound Cakes makes some of the best in town.
Her original batter recipe was given to her mother by a family friend when she was in junior high. She started making it way back then and over the years has improved upon the recipe to make some amazing cakes.
“I took that same batter recipe and decided to make modifications with it. And now I make seven or eight flavors. There is Apricot-Almond and Peach-Cinnamon and Plain Old Pound Cake just to name a few.”
“If you take the basic pound cake recipe you can add fruit preserves to it to make any flavor you want. Just make sure you keep the preserves from the side of the pan.”
Keeping the preserves from touching the sides as well as spraying the pan with a non-stick spray made for baking will keep your pound cake from sticking and make it easy to remove from the pan.
Judy also shared another tip for adding flavor to pound cakes.
“Another way to change the flavor is to change the extract. If you want to make a lemon pound cake, use lemon extract.”
Vanilla, almond, and lemon extracts are her favorites.
If you want to add nuts, I recommend dusting them in flour before adding them to the batter. This simple step prevents them from sinking to the bottom.
Happy Baking!
For more information about Judy Pound Cakes, visit judypoundcakes.com.
Judy Pound Cakes are available in Memphis at:
High Point Grocery
Super Lo
Miss Cordelia’s
Curbside Casserole
Pugh’s Flowers
Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
My good friend Kristen Keegan won “Best in Show” at the Mid-South Fair with this cake. Moist and delicious, it has just the perfect amount of lemony flavor. Serve it on its own or with freshly whipped cream and fresh berries.
For the cake:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, softened, plus extra to grease the loaf pan
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra to flour the loaf pan
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup butter flavor all-vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
For the Lemon Glaze:
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9- X 5-inch loaf pan.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, shortening, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix until well combined. Add the reserved flour mixture and mix until well blended. Add the milk, vanilla extract, lemon extract, and lemon zest and stir to blend. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 to 70 minutes. While it is still in the pan, pierce several holes in the cake with a knife or skewer. Prepare the glaze and top before the cake is completely cooled or removed from the pan.
To make the glaze: In a small bowl combine the melted butter, sugar, lemon juice, and water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the glaze over the cake and let the cake sit in the pan until the glaze is fully absorbed, about 20 minutes.
Remove from the pan and transfer to a serving plate. Serve at room temperature.
Serves 8.
Cooking Tip: Cooking for a crowd? You can easily double this recipe and bake it in a bundt pan.
For 1 tablespoon of freshly grated lemon zest, you will need 1 large (or 2 small) lemons. For no waste, first zest your lemons and then juice them.
Reprinted with permission from “Simply Suppers” by Jennifer Chandler
