About 16 servings
3 cups bleached all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry measure cup and level off)
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ pound (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
2 ¾ cups sugar
½ teaspoon lemon extract
½ teaspoon orange extract
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs
One 8-ounce container sour cream
One 12-cup tube or Bundt pan, buttered and floured
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F.
Stir together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, mixing well.
Place
the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and beat on
medium speed with the paddle attachment until very light, about 5
minutes. Beat in the extracts. Beat in the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
Reduce
the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture, then
half the sour cream, beating until smooth after each addition. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in another third of the flour, then, after the flour has been absorbed, the remaining sour cream. Scrape again and beat in the last of the flour.
Use the rubber spatula to give a final mix to the batter, then scrape it into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for a bout 1 ¼ to 1
½ hours, or until the cake is well risen, cracked on top, and well
colored and a toothpick inserted into the cake halfway between the side
of the pan and the central tube emerges dry.
Cool the cake in the pan for a few minutes, then unmold it onto a rack and turn right side up to finish cooling.
STORAGE: Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and then foil to ensue it doesn’t dry out. For longer storage, wrap and freeze. Defrost loosely covered at room temperature.
MY NOTE: (1) I usually omit the orange and lemon extracts. Instead, I use a tablespoon or so of Cognac, Amaretto, rum, Grand Marnier, or a berry schnapps. (2) I bake my cake for 1 ¼ hours. (3) Read pound cake hints.
From Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri.
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