Traditional pound cake gets its name for one simple reason: It uses four simple ingredients, each of which weighs a pound. With equal weights of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, the recipe below delivers a super-rich cake that's the ideal base for strawberry shortcake, and it's just as tasty all on its own.
The fifth ingredient in this particular recipe is one that brings out the best flavor in many baked goods: vanilla. A hint of this subtle perfume really kicks the cake up a notch and makes it extra special. Of course, you could also flavor this cake with other extracts for a different, but no less delicious, experience.
5-ingredient pound cake
12
10 minutes
1 hour 30 minutes
1 hour 40 minutes
1 pound (about 9) eggs
1 pound (about 2 cups) salted butter, room temperature
1 pound (about 2 cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound (about 3 ⅓ cups) flour
Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease a 10-cup loaf pan and set aside.
Separate the eggs. In a standing mixer or bowl with an electric beater, whisk the whites to stiff peaks. Set aside.
In a standing mixer or a bowl with an electric beater, combine the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one by one, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, and use a rubber spatula to carefully fold in the egg whites, followed by the flour.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 80 to 90 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool 2 hours in the pan before inverting and slicing.
