Tuesday Tastings {Like Butter}

Last weekend, I had a sudden case of the baking bug…you know, when you want to whip up something sweet & comforting that makes the whole house smell sublime? Since I absolutely did not want to make a grocery store run, I looked through the pantry to formulate what I could make with ingredients on hand, which ended up being the bare basics: butter, sugar, eggs, flour, & lots of lemons. I immediately thought of my mother’s rich buttery pound cake (which takes its name from the original ingredients: a pound each of flour, sugar, butter, & eggs), and decided to track down the very best recipe of this classic. After checking out tons of versions online & in cookbooks, I landed upon a luscious  recipe in my always-reliable Baking Illustrated. A & I spent the rest of the weekend devouring this cake with whipped cream & berries on Saturday night…with a cup of tea on Sunday afternoon…and okay, I had a bit toasted with butter for breakfast on Monday morning. You know you’ve done it too! Follow the jump for recipe…

Citrus Poundcake

Serves 8 – 10

Ingredients

• 16 tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks, at room temp
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange (I used clementines.)
• 1 1/2 cups plain cake flour

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325. Grease 9×5″ loaf pan. Line with parchment paper if desired.
2. Beat butter in bowl of standing mixer at med-high speed until smooth & shiny, about 15 seconds. With machine still on, sprinkle sugar slowly, taking about 30 seconds. Beat mixture until light, fluffy, and almost white, 4 – 5 minutes, stopping mixer once or twice to scrape down sides of bowl w/ spatula.
3. Stir together eggs, yolks, vanilla, & water in 2-cup liquid measuring cup. With mixer running at med-high, add egg mixture to butter and sugar in very slow, thin stream. Beat in the salt, lemon, & orange zest.
4. Place 1/2 cup flour in sieve and sift it over batter. Fold gently with rubber spatula, scraping up from bottom of bowl until incorporated. Repeat twice more, adding flour in 1/2-cup increments.
5. Scrape batter into prepared pan, smoothing top w/ spatula or wooden spoon. Bake until toothipck inserted into top comes out clean, 70 – 80 minutes. Let cake rest in pan for 5 min, then invert onto wire rack. Place second wire rack on cake botom, then turn cake top-side up. Cool to room temp & serve. If not serving immediately, wrap cake in plastic, then foil. Store at room temp.