PERFECT SOUTHERN PECAN POUND CAKE

TOP REVIEWS:

Everyone loves this cake when I make it. If your looking for that pound cake with the crunchy crust, look no further. This cake is really heavy, but moist. For you nut lovers, try adding pecans to the batter also. Very good! I would try less sugar next time. Maybe 2 1/2 cups instead of 3. It’s a little sweet for my taste. I also increased the vanilla to 1/2 tbsp for more flavor.

Just what I was looking for. Only made 2 changes, didn’t use the pecans (my husband is allergic, but can’t wait to try making it with the pecans for my dad and myself)and added one ingredient to the recipe-added 1 tsp. of almond extract (along with the 1 tsp. of vanilla extract) My favorite pound cake is the Tastefully Simple Absolutely Almond Pound Cake and this is pretty close. My kids prefer this over chocolate chip cookies! LOVED IT!

This is a classic recipe for pound cake but this is the first time I’ve made it with cake flour rather than all purpose. I’ve decided either can be used with perfect results. Moist, dense, buttery and delicious, just as a good pound cake should be – so long as you cream the butter and sugar well, don’t overmix once the flour mixture is added, and don’t overbake! I skipped the pecans and threw in maybe 1-1/2 cups of blueberries. To finish, I topped the cake with a glaze of powdered sugar and lemon juice. I used a specialty Bundt cake pan and between it and the polka dots of blueberries it made for a beautiful presentation!

This is the perfect pound cake. My benchmark for pound cake is “Sara Lee”…this one is even better. Perfect texture, crumb and flavor! I usually do this without the pecans and bake in loaf pans. Half of the recipe makes one large loaf pan or three small. I also vary the flavoring depending on how I’ll be serving this. Some of my favorites include, coconut, rum and almond flavorings instead of the vanilla. Try this…cut a slice of pound cake, place on a sheet of foil. Butter cake slice and top with a slice of pinapple, place a marachino cherry in the center of the pineapple, sprinkle with about a tsp. of brown sugar. Wrap in the foil; place on the grill and grill until nice and hot; about 10 min. Delicious!

This was made for a friend’s husband that only likes Sour Cream Pound Cakes from Publix’s…. I omitted the nuts as I am allergic to them and can’t cook with them, but everything else was the same. Her husband now only wants me to bake his pound cakes! This was a very moist cake. Will make again! I used a bundt pan to bake it in.

My first ever pound cake attempt was a HUGE success with this recipe. My boyfriend advise a cake this good deserved a marriage proposal. Moist several days later with a great taste.

INGREDIENTS :

Batter:
1 cup pecan halves
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1⅓ cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup sour cream
Tip: Use standard measuring cups and spoons or scales for accurate measuring.
Topping:
¼ cup pecan halves
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS :

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Prepare one 10 inch Angel Food cake pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour.

Batter:
By hand, break the pecans for both the batter and the topping into ¼ inch pieces. Toast nuts, cool, and then toss with 1 tablespoon flour. Set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt; sift or whisk together to mix. Set aside.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Tip: To cream, start by placing the butter in the bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed begin by beating the butter about 1 minute until it is smooth and light in color. With the mixer still on medium speed, slowly add the sugar to the butter, either one tablespoon at a time, or in a very slow steady stream, taking from 4 to 8 minutes to add all of the sugar, and beating until the butter and sugar are fully incorporated and the mixture is a light, or pale yellow color, with a fluffy texture. While adding the sugar, stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.
Add eggs one at a time, beating until thoroughly mixed. Add the vanilla along with the last egg. Tip: For each egg, crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk with a fork to thoroughly break up the egg before adding to the creamed mixture. Start with the mixer on low speed so the liquid from the egg doesn’t splatter, once the egg is partially mixed increase the speed to medium. Each egg should be fully incorporated into the mixture before adding the next egg, taking about one minute to blend in each egg.
With the mixer on low speed, add about ½ of the flour mixture, mix just until the flour is almost completely blended. Scrape the bowl down, and add the sour cream, blending just until mixed. Scrape the bowl down again and then add the remaining ½ flour mixture, mix just until blended, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed.
Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold 1 cup toasted pecans into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon.

Topping:
Sprinkle ¼ cup toasted pecans over the top of the batter, and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
Bake: Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pan and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

From: allrecipes.com