Cold-Oven Pound Cake
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS This thrifty pound cake, which was designed to save on gas by not requiring a preheated
oven, is an especially tall cake and boasts a crisp crust. To create a light crumb,
we used leaner whole milk instead of the heavy cream called for in most recipes. Swapping
out all-purpose flour for cake flour yielded an even finer, more delicate crumb for
our pound cake. We also used baking powder, which produced carbon dioxide bubbles
that gave our cake its rise. Putting the pound cake into a cold oven, as is tradition,
gave the carbon dioxide more time to produce greater rise. See the sidebars that follow the recipe.
SERVES 12
You’ll need a 16-cup tube pan for this recipe; if not using a nonstick pan, make sure to thoroughly grease a traditional pan. In step 2, don’t worry if the batter looks slightly separated.
|
3 |
cups (12 ounces) cake flour |
|
½ |
teaspoon baking powder |
|
1 |
teaspoon salt |
|
1 |
cup whole milk |
|
2 |
teaspoons vanilla extract |
|
20 |
tablespoons (2½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened |
|
2½ |
cups (17½ ounces) sugar |
|
6 |
large eggs |
1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position. Grease and flour 16-cup tube pan. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Whisk milk and vanilla in measuring cup.
2. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture in 2 additions, scraping down bowl as needed. Mix on low until smooth, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Place cake in cold oven. Adjust oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake, without opening oven door, until cake is golden brown and skewer inserted in center comes out clean, 1 hour, 5 minutes to 1 hour, 20 minutes.
4. Let cake cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack about 2 hours. Serve. (Cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 2 days.)