Pound Cake

A bare ingredient list of the oldest kind: the proportions are the recipe, and the method is assumed. Everything depends on how much air you beat into the butter, sugar and eggs, since there is no chemical leavening here at all.

• The hinge: air is the only leaveningWith no baking powder or soda, the rise comes entirely from creaming. Beat the butter and sugar until pale and visibly lighter, then add the eggs a little at a time so the batter never breaks; a curdled batter loses its air and bakes dense and greasy.
• What the weights come toOne pound of flour is roughly 3 1/2 to 4 cups sifted, one pound of sugar about 2 1/4 cups, and three-quarters pound of butter is three sticks. Nine large eggs weigh close to a pound, which is the classic pound-for-pound scheme with the butter slightly reduced.
• Flour has changedPeriod all-purpose flour was generally softer and lower in protein than much modern all-purpose, though it varied by region and mill. Weigh rather than scoop, and use a plain all-purpose or a blend with a little cake flour if you want a fine, close crumb.
• Butter and saltNineteenth-century butter was usually salted, often heavily. Modern unsalted butter needs about 3/4 teaspoon of salt added to the flour, or the cake tastes flat.
• Nutmeg"A little" can reasonably be taken as about half a whole nutmeg, freshly grated, roughly a teaspoon. Nutmeg was among the commonest cake spices in American kitchens before vanilla extract was cheap.
• OvenThe recipe gives no oven guidance. For this quantity a slow-to-moderate oven, around 325F, suits; too hot an oven sets the crust before the center has finished rising.
• Pan and timeThe full batch is large: two 9x5-inch loaf pans or a 10-inch tube pan, greased and floured. Expect 60 to 80 minutes; a skewer should come out clean and the cake should have pulled slightly from the sides.
• Yield and keepingAbout 24 slices. Pound cake is often better on the second day, and it slices cleanly once fully cool — served plain or with fruit.