Today's recipe is one that when I started searching for Southern cakes to try out it just stuck out at me. I initially thought this was a 150 year old recipe, but after reading the cookbook more closely, I realized my grandmother's Acadian Bi-Centennial cookbook was actually from 1955, making this recipe from the early 1800s.
It was honestly a lot of fun to make a traditional pound cake, although I subbed the requested brandy for vanilla. Who actually had that on hand? Not I.
The directions cracked me up with how to cook this in your coal burning stove, and then other suggestions in case you have ventured past coal burning.
Honestly my friends probably got sick of hearing me talk about this recipe the night I made it. I tend to get more excited about older things than other people do.
In case your wondering, my favorite time to eat this was steaming how straight from the oven when the crust was still crunchy. Jeremy said the flavor reminded him of shortbread.
200 Year Old Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients::
1 lb butter1 lb sugar
1 lb flour (all purpose)
10 eggs (large)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
wine glass of brandy
or skip the nutmeg and brandy and use a few teaspoons of good vanilla
Directions::
Beat butter and sugar until very creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, alternately with the flour. Each egg should be work in for at least 5 minutes (I found that I could get the same outcome in less time with a stand mixer... this was all done by hand in the recipe). Should there be any flour left, add it to the mixture. Add nutmeg and brandy (or vanilla). Put into a deep pan, lined on sides and bottom with greased paper. (I used a bundt pan because I didn't have a pound cake pan and just buttered the pan and dusted it with flour) Bake at 325 for 2 hours. (or on a small stand in the lower part of a moderately slow oven, if you use coal watch the fire carefully)
I baked mine for 1 1/2 hours, it was ever so slightly damp in the middle, not enough that others would know, but Mary Berry would call me out on it. Go for the full two hours. Even at 1 1/2 a toothpick came out clean, but it was clearly lying to me.
Another note, be sure to measure out all the ingredients with a scale, you can't always trust the bag or a measuring cup.
