Old-Fashioned Pound Cake

This is a formula rather than a method: Mrs. Wilson gives the four classic pound-cake weights and trusts the cook to know what to do with them. A few notes on translating the proportions and supplying the missing technique.

• The method is assumed, not writtenCream the butter until light, beat in the sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, and fold in the sifted flour last. There is no chemical leavening here at all, so every bit of rise comes from air whipped into the butter and eggs. Rushing the creaming gives a dense, greasy cake.
• Flour by weight, not by that cup countMrs. Wilson equates 1 lb flour with 4 1/2 cups, a ratio that points to a softer, loosely scooped flour than we buy now. Modern all-purpose flour runs about 4 1/4 oz to the cup, so 1 lb is closer to 3 3/4 cups. Weigh the pound and ignore the cup figure.
• Butter and sugar in modern terms3/4 lb butter is three sticks (12 oz, 340 g); 2 cups granulated sugar is about 14 oz. Use unsalted butter and add 1/2 teaspoon salt if you like; the recipe lists none, and butter of the period was often salted.
• Nine eggsNine large eggs weigh roughly 1 lb out of the shell, which is what makes this a true pound cake despite the reduced sugar. They must be at room temperature or the creamed butter will curdle when they go in.
• Oven temperatureA cake this rich and this large needs a slow to moderate oven, 325F. Higher and the outside sets and cracks badly before the centre is cooked.
• Pan and timingBake in a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or in two 9x5-inch loaf pans for 55 to 65 minutes. Test with a skewer in the thickest part; the crumb should be moist but the skewer clean.
• Vanilla quantity"Flavor with vanilla" means about 2 teaspoons of extract for a batter this size. Rosewater and mace are long-standing pound-cake flavourings and either would suit the plainness of the cake.
• Yield and keepingRoughly 16 to 20 slices. Pound cake improves after a day wrapped tightly, and it freezes well; it is meant to be sliced thin and served plain or with fruit.