How can I keep cherries (and other fruit) from sinking to the bottom of a sour cream pound cake?
— Wanda Newell,
Wyandotte, Mich.
If the batter is thin, the cherries (or other fruit) will sink. Thicker batters will hold them in place better.
One way to prevent fruit or other ingredients like chocolate chips and nuts from sinking is to gently fold them into the batter at the last moment, just before baking. Another option is adding alternate layers of batter and fruit to the pan, starting with batter. Tossing the fruit or other add-ins in a small amount of flour before adding them to the batter also helps.
You can also the fruit to the dry ingredients just before combining them with the wet ingredients.
Another option is to use frozen fruit, such as the dried cherries and berries. Blueberries work best and I’ve had much success using them straight from the freezer in many batters. You still can toss them in a little flour to ensure they don’t sink.
Today’s recipe for Original Cream Cheese Pound Cake makes good use of blueberries, though they are optional.
Original Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Makes: 24 slices
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Total time: 3 hours, plus cooling time
Ingredients:
Finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
1 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 cup blueberries tossed in flour, optional
Directions:
Generously grease a large tube pan or angel food cake pan and sprinkle it with nuts if desired.
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
In a very large mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sour cream and vanilla and blend thoroughly.
Add the flour, salt and baking soda and beat until thoroughly mixed. If using, fold in the blueberries.
Turn the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 2 1/2 hours or until a wooden pick inserted comes out clean.
If the top of the cake becomes too dark, loosely cover it with aluminum foil during the last part of baking.
Remove the cake from the oven and cool it in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a long thin knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a large serving plate. Carefully remove the pan and let the cake cool completely. Wrap it in plastic wrap to store.
From the Free Press Trade-off column, June 29, 1983. Tested by Susan Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen.
Nutritional analysis: 333 calories (48% from fat), 18 grams fat (8 grams sat. fat), 39 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams protein, 177 mg sodium, 78 mg cholesterol, 32 mg calcium, 0 grams fiber.
What made the top of my pound cake crack on top?
— Annie Marshall,
Farmington Hills, Mich.
Cracking isn’t unusual with pound cakes. In fact, author Sarah Phillips writes in “Baking 9-1-1” (Fireside, $14) that she has “never seen a pound cake NOT crack.” And even “Martha Stewart’s Cakes” (Clarkson Potter, $24.99) shows plenty of loaf-style pound cakes with cracks on top. Cakes can crack for several reasons: overbeating, overbaking, incorrect oven temperature or using darker pans without decreasing the oven temperature. Here’s what I recommend: First, make sure your ingredients are at room temperature before starting. (The ingredients you mentioned, 6 eggs, 3 cups sugar, 3 cups cake flour-sifted, 3 sticks butter and 8 ounces cream cheese are common in many cream cheese pound cake recipes.) Be sure to fully grease the pan, especially bundt pans that have a lot of crevices. And make sure the oven is fully preheated.
Next, beat together the butter, cream cheese and sugar for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. This incorporates air. Then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add in your cake flour and mix until just combined. If you overmix when you add the flour, too much gluten will develop and this will cause the cake to crack.
Be sure to check your oven temperature. Invest in an oven thermometer to make sure the temperature is correct.
Finally, when you use darker pans, it’s a good idea to reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. You also need to adjust the time; it could take a tad longer. Darker pans heat up faster and the cake generally bakes faster. But sometimes, when using the dark pans, the top of the cake will get done faster than the inside. Be sure to use a wooden skewer or cake tester to test the cake for doneness.
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