by DIANA RATTRAY, The Spruce
This classic buttermilk pound cake can be baked in a tube cake pan or Bundt pan. The cake makes a delicious base for fresh berries or a dessert sauce.
Buttermilk gives the cake its amazing moist and tender texture, and it adds to the leavening. To make a perfect pound cake, see the expert tips below the recipe.
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What You'll Need
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter or shortening, softened
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 cups all-purpose flour, 13 1/2 ounces
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
How to Make It
Heat the oven to 325 F.
Generously butter and flour a 10-inch tube cake pan or Bundt cake pan.
[post_ads]In a mixing bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, blending just until smooth after each addition. Blend in vanilla and almond extracts.
In a bowl combine the flour with the salt and soda; blend thoroughly.
To the first mixture, add flour alternately with buttermilk , blending well after each addition.
Spoon batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for about 85 to 90 minutes, or until cake tests done. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean, and the cake will pull away from the sides of the pan when done.
Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes; carefully invert it on a cooling rack to cool completely.
Sift confectioners' sugar over the top of the cooled cake or serve it with fruit or lemon sauce.
Expert Tips
- Why buttermilk? Because of its mild acidity, buttermilk helps break down the gluten in flour, which helps make cakes, pancakes, and other pastries more tender and moist. Baking soda, when added along with buttermilk, produces carbon dioxide gas, which aids leavening along with air and other leavening agents.
- Before you begin, bring the eggs and butter to room temperature. To hasten the process, put the eggs in a bowl and cover with hot tap water; let them stand for 5 minutes. Cut butter into small pieces so it will come to room temperature quickly.
- Cream the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes. The mixture should be fluffy and white. The air pockets created by thoroughly creaming the sugar and butter expand during the baking process.
- Add the flour and liquid in stages and mix gently. Don't overmix; your air pockets might deflate.
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