Pound Cake (the light & airy kind)

Recently, I encountered such handy-woman-man road blocks in a recent attempt to fix some broken items around my house.  When I had to face the sad reality that many of my revitalizing efforts were in vain, I did the only thing I knew to do.  I baked.

Specifically, I baked pound cake.

No, not to quell the sad, “why can’t I do this myself?” anxiety that comes over independent women, but to bait friends with tool kits to my house.  What do you know? This pound cake worked.

So, if you’re looking for a sure fire way to get an hour of handy man time at your residence, ladies, this pound cake is for you.  It’s light, fluffy, and makes the house smell great when your handyman comes in to fix that wobbly chair, or what have you.

AH, and I’m forgetting the most important thing: many thanks to Patrick for helping tighten my broken elliptical track, and thank you Kris for your hard work stabilizing my outdoor canopy! Enjoy the Pound Cake!

Pound Cake (the light & airy kind)

This recipe comes from Deb over at Smitten Kitchen and can be found here.  Deb’s variation is adapted form James Beard’s Beard on Food.  This version of pound cake is great because even though you get that distinct, sweet pound cake flavor, it’s bouncier and lighter (more like an angel food cake).  I follow Deb’s variation closely, but instead of cognac and lemon zest, I substitute vanilla extract and orange zest.  I’ve also added cream of tartar to help with the peaking process of the egg whites.

Ingredients:

* 1/2 pound butter (2 sticks), room temperature

* 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

* 4 large eggs, separated (or 5 small)

* 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar

* 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

* 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest

* 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1.) Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a loaf pan or bundt pan.  Sprinkle with flour to prevent sticking.

2.) Meanwhile, separate your eggs and sift your flour with the 1/2 teaspoon baking powder.  Separate measured 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (remove 6 tablespoons sugar and set aside).

3.) In a standing electric mixer, attach your whisk attachment.  Add egg whites along with 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and mix on high speed until soft (almost stiff) peaks form.

4.) Slowly add the sugar (minus 6 tablespoons from above) and mix into peaks.  Transfer whites to a bowl.

5.) Add room temperature butter to standing mixer and replace whisk head with paddle attachment.  Mix butter until light and fluffy.  Cream butter with sugar by adding 1 tablespoon of sugar at a time.  Then, add the egg yolks until the mixture is a light lemon color.  Add orange zest and vanilla and mix to integrate fully.

6.) Now, you have your egg whites mixture and your egg yolks mixture.  Add egg yolks batter to the same bowl as the egg whites.

7.) Fold whites into batter until smooth.  Transfer to bundt pan or loaf pan.

8.) Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top of the cake is golden brown.

9.) Remove from oven, turn oven off, and allow cake to rest in pan for ten minutes.  Plate cake and serve.

Enjoy! Makes 12 servings.

–Helana Brigman

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