Take Me to Pound Cake Town

I told myself I wouldn't turn my oven on at all during July, but today I had an itch to bake. I wanted to make something smallish, maybe a 9" pan of brownies or my chocolate cookie recipe (stay tuned because I have plans to make those for the latest 20sb Cooking Challenge!). But somehow I got drawn towards making a massive pound cake.

I found the recipe at least a year ago but haven't tried it yet. We're on this ride together, folks.

 

There's also milk

3 eggs, separated. Let the whites rest at room temp for about 30 minutes
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) softened
1 cup sugar
zest from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
3 Tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Beat together butter and sugar. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating in thoroughly between each yolk.

2. Stir in the extracts, then zest the lemon right over the bowl for maximum flavor.

3. Sift together the flour and baking powder. It really makes a difference in the texture of the final product- less stirring to get out lumps makes for a nice mellow batter. Add the salt and toss it around (salt is generally too big to go through a sifter/mesh strainer)

First you sift the flour, then you get the money

4. Add the flour mix to the butter mix in parts, alternating with Tablespoons of milk and mostly combining everything each time. You should end up with a great-smelling smooth batter.

5. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Tbh I think I overdid mine a little, but only because I was really getting into it.

6. Fold the egg whites into the batter, then pour into a greased and floured 10" loaf pan (or I suppose any size loaf pan, just watch the time)

7. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Mine took about 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

8. Leave the dishes for some other sucker to wash.