Looking for something sweet? Here’s a delicious two-tone pound cake perfect for homemade cake lovers. It’s super soft and moist inside with a deliciously crunchy crust on top. Ideal for completing a good breakfast, but also perfect at the end of a meal.
Other pound cakes you might be interested in:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 35 Minutes
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients for the Two-Tone Pound Cake
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 10 tbsp butter
- 3 eggs (medium)
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 5 oz ricotta cheese
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/3 tbsp milk
- 1 packet baking powder (16 g)
- sugar crystals (for decoration)
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- Electric beaters
- 1 Sieve fine-mesh
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Loaf tin 10 x 4.5 inches
Preparation of the Two-Tone Pound Cake
First, put the butter in pieces into a bowl and let it soften at room temperature. Alternatively, you can microwave it for a few seconds being careful not to melt it; it should just soften slightly.
Line a 10 x 4.5 inch loaf tin with parchment paper. To do this best, you can follow the procedure I described HERE.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt.
Add to the now-softened butter the sugar, ricotta, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix with electric beaters.
Once the ingredients have somewhat blended, begin incorporating one egg yolk at a time, collecting the egg whites in another bowl.
At this point, gradually add the dry ingredients, sifting them through a fine-mesh sieve and alternating them with the beaten egg whites. Mix gently from bottom to top with a spatula to avoid deflating the mixture.
When the batter is ready, pour more than half of it into the prepared loaf tin and level it out.
Add the unsweetened cocoa powder to the remaining batter, sifting it through the sieve, and mix with the spatula softening the mixture with the milk.
Transfer this dark batter on top of the already spread light one and give a slight stir with a stick or skewer.
Finally, sprinkle the surface of the two-tone pound cake with sugar crystals.
Bake the two-tone pound cake in a preheated static oven at 347°F for 50/60 minutes. Perform the toothpick test after the first 50 minutes to check if it’s fully cooked: inserted in the center of the cake, it should come out clean; otherwise, extend the baking time by a few minutes. Remove from the oven and let it slightly cool before transferring it to the serving plate and cutting it into slices. Enjoy! Paola
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