This is absolutely the best pound cake. I have tested recipes and this won by a landslide. It also has been loved by the egullet.com, a great food website. I hope you will try it.
Perfect Pound Cake
1 cup unsalted butter 1 teaspoon salt
3 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder
*5 large eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup whipping cream
(Sift 3 times before measuring)
Butter and flour 2 9by5 inch loaf pans.
Whisk salt and baking powder into presifted flour. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar together in an electric mixer until light, fluffy and almost white, 4 to 5 minutes, stopping mixer once or twice to scrape down sides. Add eggs one at a time slowly, beating well after each addition. Add one third of flour mixture into the mixer set at low speed. Add half the whipping cream. Continue alternating flour and cream, ending with flour. Add vanilla. With rubber spatula scrape down sides and bottom until completely mixed. Pour into loaf pans, up to 2/3 full.
**Start in a cold oven**.
Place pans on middle rack of oven. Turn oven to 325 degrees. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. (Note: It only took mine 55 minutes, so check early)
*You can also do a variation. You can add up to 7 eggs. I did 5 eggs and an extra yolk. Supposedly the 7 egg version is Elviss favorite pound cake.
***Also a note on cake flour. Presto would be a self-rising cake flour. You would never want to substitute it for cake flour in a recipe. Cake flour is usually found in boxes on the top or bottom shelves. It is very different than All-purpose as well. It is made from a soft wheat. It is also bleached, which changes the way the flour reacts in a recipe. If you need to substitute all-purpose, subtract 2 tablespoons of the ap per cup of flour.
My cake does include a little baking powder. This recipe is so good. Plus you get to keep one and give one away!
-Becca