This Sunday I was specifically asked to bake a classic lemon pound cake. Fragrant and soft, I couldn’t help but share it with you.
Now I’ll tell you the curious story of the pound cake, do you want to hear it?
I wondered why pound cake translates to plum cake when there are no plums in the pound cake. In English-speaking countries, what we call plum cake is called pound cake because the original recipe uses the same weight of flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and dried fruit. In fact, ‘pound’ refers to a unit of measurement.
So why do we call it plum cake instead of pound cake? Because it is said that initially the pound cake was filled with pieces of plums which were later replaced by raisins.
The same cake in France is called gateaux Quatre-Quarts because it uses four ingredients, each one being 1/4 of the weight of the cake: flour, eggs, butter, sugar. Over the years, the cake has been lightened, with fewer eggs, less butter, less sugar, so there are many varieties of pound cake you can make. Check these out, you might find them interesting:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Economical
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for Classic Lemon Pound Cake
- 2 cups type 2 flour
- 2 eggs (organic)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup almond milk
- 5 oz ricotta
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil (delicate)
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 packet baking powder (with cream of tartar)
Tools
- 1 Loaf Pan
Steps for Classic Lemon Pound Cake
In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the ricotta, milk, then mix in the flour with the baking powder, salt, lemon juice, and zest.
Line the loaf pan with parchment paper, pour the soft batter in, it should reach three-quarters full.
Bake at 356°F (180°C) for about 50 minutes, do the toothpick test to see if it’s done, remove from oven, take out of the pan, and let cool on a rack.
Serve in slices for breakfast or snack.
Tips from Timo and Lentils
Keep your pound cake well sealed from the air, and it will remain soft and good for several days. If you want to make your pound cake vegan, replace the ricotta with soy yogurt and the eggs with lemon juice mixed with 200g of milk, let the buttermilk form, and then mix it into the batter.
