Did you know that the pound cake was so named because some of the early recipes required a pound each of flour, butter, sugar and eggs. The recipe originated in the 1700's in good ole England. The original recipe called for no leavening, just the air incorporated by the countless stokes of the whisk. In the days when many people couldn't read, this simple method made it simple to remember the recipe.
Being such an easy recipe to remember; I had to try it myself. So I opted to make a 'Half Pound Cake' using the same principal of the pound cake. First beat the half a pound butter to soften. Then beat in half a pound of sugar till light and fluffy. Incorporate half a pound of eggs a small portion at a time maintain the volume of air. Then finally add half a pound of flour till combined.
It produced an perfectly acceptable, albeit dense cake, but it was too dense and dry for my liking. So I present this non-historically traditional pound cake. It's a is a lighter moist cake with a softer crumb. The extra-lightness is aided by baking soda.
You can make a variation on this cake by swapping the lime zest and juice for orange or even grapefruit for a zingy winter lifter!
Lime & Cream Cheese Pound Cake
250g flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
125g unsalted butter
140g cream cheese
325g sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbs. fresh lime juice
Finely grated zest of 2 limes
Directions:
Have all the ingredients at room temperature.
Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 165°C (325°F Gas Mark 3). Butter and flour a loaf pan; tap out excess flour.
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Cream the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. This should take about 5 minutes. You should stop the mixing process occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Next beat in the eggs one at a time. It's important to beat the eggs in after each addition to ensure a great textured cake. After the eggs beat in the vanilla and the lime juice.
Reduce the speed on the hand mixer to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, beating each addition until just incorporated and stopping the process to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl. When the flour is incorporated fold in the lime zest with a rubber spatula.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake is golden and a bamboo skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Start checking after an hour. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cake cool upright in the pan for 15 minutes. Then remove from the pan and serve.
