Home Cooking Chronicles: Pound cake
BY BRIAN MEDFORD
I could talk for days about baking leav-
ening agents: chemical leavening, biological
leavening, mechanical leavening. It thrills
me — which is perhaps why I’m not invited
to parties all that frequently. The other
guests think, “What in the world is he bab-
bling about?” as they slowly slink away.
When I teach baking, I observe a stu-
dent’s biggest barrier to baking excellence
is fear. I believe the best way to reduce bak-
ing fear is to increase baking knowledge.
Understanding leavening can help. Think
of it as preparation for the “Technical Chal-
lenge” to impress Paul Hollywood.
Leavening is air or gas that causes a
baked item to rise in the oven. Chemi-
cal leaveners are baking soda and baking
powder.
Baking soda is a base and requires an
acidic ingredient like buttermilk or cocoa
powder to activate. This reaction happens
quickly — think of your 4th grade volcano
science project.
Baking powder is composed of bak-
ing soda plus an acidic component in pow-
der form. It’s a less immediate reaction than
baking soda and is usually double acting.
It activates both when moistened and again
when it’s heated.
Don’t exchange baking powder for bak-
ing soda, or vice versa — it won’t work out.
You’ll be sad and hungry.
Yeast is a biological single-celled organ-
ism that ferments by eating sugar to produce
carbon dioxide gas, which creates leavening
(and beer and wine … well done, yeast).
Mechanical leavening is my favorite
because I sound like an engineer, which I
am not. The only thing I can build is a layer
cake. Mechanical leavening is air or water
that is trapped in a dough that expands or
turns to steam when in a hot oven.
Leaveners can also be responsible for the
color and texture of a baked good. Invite me
to a party and we can talk about it in person
… for hours.
The real reason I want to write about
leavening? It’s an excuse to make a pound
cake — not that I ever need an excuse.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake (Slightly
adapted from Grandbaby Cakes)
This pound cake is leavened by creaming
butter and sugar. Creaming works by sugar
granules ripping through butter to create air
pockets. These air pockets expand in a hot
oven giving lift to the pound cake. Don’t
skimp on the creaming process. This Grand-
baby Cakes pound cake is a favorite.
10 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Brian Medford
This Grandbaby Cakes pound cake is a favorite of author Brian Medford.
Ingredients
• 12 ounces unsalted butter, at room
temperature
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room
temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• Six large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 cups sifted cake flour (measure after
sifting)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahr-
enheit. Liberally spray a 12-cup bundt pan
with baking spray or grease well with butter
and add a light dusting of flour. Be meticu-
lous so your cake will come out of the pan.
In a stand mixer bowl using the paddle
attachment mix the butter and cream cheese
at medium-high speed for 1 to 2 minutes
until they are combined.
Slowly add in the sugar and beat on high
speed for 5 to 6 minutes until the mixture is
pale yellow and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, combining
well after each addition. Scrape down the
sides as needed.
Slowly add the flour and the salt to the
batter. Mix until just combined. Scrape the
sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract
and mix until just combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and
bake for 75 to 80 minutes, or until a tooth-
pick inserted in the center of the cake comes
out clean.
Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20
minutes, then invert the cake on a serving
plate. Cool before cutting and serving.
This pound cake is mechanically leav-
ened and is perfect plain or served with sea-
sonal berries.
Brian Medford is the owner of Idlewild
Biscuits and Bakes in Astoria. He teaches
cooking classes at The Pantry in Seattle.
Contact him at blmedford@gmail.com.