Home > Saving Southern Food Recipes > Rae Simpson's Poundcake
DEL.ICIO.USRae Simpson’s Poundcake
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Makes one 9-inch round poundcake,
about 20 slices
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours
What more can you say about plain old poundcake? A lot, free-lance writer and baking expert Maggie Glezer discovered when she set out to learn the secrets for making “the best poundcake I have ever eaten.� Even though Dunwoody resident Rae Simpson insisted that she bakes the recipe passed down from her great-great-grandmother “by gosh, by golly,� Glezer observed her technique carefully, and then worked up this detailed recipe for readers.
Ingredients
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3 cups cake flour (Mrs. Simpson uses White Lily “Plain� Flour)
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tablespoon best-quality pure vanilla extract (Mrs. Simpson uses Nielsen-Massey, available at Whole Foods Market)
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
Set an oven rack in the middle position and reposition the remaining rack below it. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Generously butter a 9-inch removable-bottom tube pan. Pour the cream into a microwavable container, add the salt and stir it in to dissolve. Microwave the mixture on high for 15 to 30 seconds, or just long enough to bring the cream up to room temperature (or heat it in a saucepan on a low flame just until lukewarm).
Sift the flour into a bowl or onto a sheet of waxed paper through a strainer or flour sifter. Spoon the sifted flour into a 1-cup measure, then sweep off the excess flour with a knife. Measure all 3 cups of flour this way, pouring the flour into a bowl. Whip the butter on high speed until creamy; add the vanilla and whip until well-blended. Gradually add the sugar, then whip the butter and sugar on high speed for several minutes, or until the mixture is airy and turns whitish. Reduce the speed to slow and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly between additions. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides after every other egg. Now stop mixing. Remove the mixing bowl from the stand (if you are using one) and sift about one-quarter of the flour into the mixture through a strainer or sifter. Replace the bowl and thoroughly mix the flour into the batter on low speed. Drizzle in about one third of cream, mixing until thoroughly incorporated. Continue to alternate, sifting in flour and drizzling in cream, ending with the flour. When the last of the flour has been added, scrape down the mixture and beat for a few more seconds just to make sure that everything is well-incorporated.
Remove the bowl from the stand and scrape the batter into the prepared tube pan. Run a knife through the batter to break up any air pockets, and then smooth the top of the batter.
Bake the cake on the middle rack for 1 1/2 hours, turning it from front to back after about one hour for even browning. The cake should be well-browned, with a golden, crackling top, when fully baked. Stick a toothpick in the cake, if desired, to test it; the toothpick should come out clean if the cake is fully baked. Let the cake cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan, running a knife around the edges if it sticks, and let it cool upside down on a cooling rack. Store the cake on a covered cake plate. If well-covered, the cake will keep for at least three weeks.
Per serving: 328 calories, 4 grams protein, 16 grams fat (percent calories from fat, 44), 42 grams carbohydrates, 137 milligrams cholesterol, 94milligrams sodium, trace fiber.
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