Brown Sugar Pound Cake

This is a fairly long post – read on for step-by-step-photos; or simply skip to the bottom for the recipe!

Pound cake – very literally – is a cake traditionally baked with a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of eggs. But of course, it’ll be too insane to use a pound each of these ingredients, so, as long as the ingredients are in the ratio of 1:1:1:1, the cake will still be really tasty.

I threw in some chocolate chips and rum-infused raisins – mmmmm!

This cake is the perfect cake to bring along for a picnic because there’s no icing or frosting on the cake – hence it packs and travels very well. At the same time, this recipe makes a light (not sponge-cake light, but not as dense as brownie) cake that is perfect for picnic, tea or maybe even breakfast.

Oh, and instead of cutting the cake into small slices like me; cut them into small cubes – perfect for parties!

Not only is the recipe foolproof, the variations is also endless. Can’t wait to try them out with blueberries or coffee the next time!

Okay I’m gonna stop talking typing and move on to the recipe! (:

Soak some raisins in rum or brandy overnight.

Drain them and set aside. The rum can be reused to soak more raisins or drizzled onto the pound cake later on (if you want to…)

Grab some semi-sweet chocolate chips. If you don’t want chocolate chips in them, increase the amount of raisins.

Or, omit the raisins and throw in more chocolate chips.

Or, get rid of both the chocolate chips and raisins, and add in some blueberries or raspberries.

Or, scrape off the seeds of a vanilla bean and throw it into the pound cake batter later on.

Or… oops, I digress.

Back to the pound cake. The easiest way to ensure you have a 1:1:1:1 ratio is to first weigh the eggs first.

Crack 5 eggs into a bowl and weigh them. Mine came to about 270 grams.

So this means 270 grams of flour!

With 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

The flour and salt will be sifted before adding into the cake batter. It will help lighten the pound cake (:

270 grams of eggs means 270 grams light brown sugar.

Because I’m using semisweet chocolate chips, I reduced the amount of sugar used to 220 grams. The resulting pound cake is just nice for me. But for people who like a sweeter cake, by all means use the original 270 grams.

And yep, 270 grams of unsalted butter.

Easy, isn’t it?

Cream the butter for a while with an electric mixer.

Then add brown sugar gradually while beating the butter.

And the butter will turn into a lovely, light golden brown colour.

In goes 1 egg at a time, beating well after each addition! This will make the pound cake light and yummy.

After all 5 eggs are added in, the mixture will look a little bit curdly, but don’t worry… the flour will make it alright later on.

Before the flour goes in, add in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

In goes the sifted flour…

… Folding gently to combine.

The cake batter will be slightly thick but still spreadable.

And the raisins and chocolate chips take a dive into the rich and luscious batter.

This amount makes a 9-inch cake that will be about 2 to 2.5 inch tall. I like to line the baking pan in such a way the sides are extending out so that it’ll be easier to remove the cake later on.

Pour in the cake batter.

It’s gonna be a huge cake!

Spread it out….

… And smooth the batter flat.

Lift the tin up and drop it several times on the counter top. This is to release the excess air bubbles trapped inside the cake. Otherwise you will see holes in the cake when you cut it… won’t look very good…

Bake for a good 35-40 minutes…

… Until it’s of a lovely golden brown.

Let it rest for 15 minutes.

Endure… endure!

Run a knife along the edges of the cake…

… Then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.

I love the golden brown colour of this cake. It’s just so pretty…

… And so yummy too!

(I ate 3 slices at a go!)

Bake one today!

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Brown Sugar Pound Cake (makes a 9-inch cake)

I copied this recipe down while browsing a library book a very long time ago… I can’t remember what’s the title of the book anymore!

150 grams raisins
125ml – 180ml dark rum (or brandy)
250 grams all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
250 grams good quality unsalted butter
250 grams light brown sugar*
250 grams eggs (about 5 eggs)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
200 grams semisweet chocolate chips, mixed with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour**

Note:

• This recipe is very foolproof – it requires the same amount of eggs, flour, butter and sugar. So crack your eggs in a bowl and weigh them first; take note of the weight and just use the same amount of flour, butter and sugar.
• All ingredients must be at room temperature.
• For best results, use really good quality unsalted butter and fresh eggs.
• *As the semi-sweet chocolate chips will add sweetness into the cake, I reduced the amount of brown sugar to actually 200 grams; the resulting cake is just nice for me.
• **Mixing the chocolate chips with flour will help to prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom.

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The night before…
Place the raisins in a leak-proof container. Pour the rum over the raisins to cover them completely. Cover with a lid and let the raisins soak overnight.

On the day of baking…
Drain the raisins. The rum can be reused to soak more raisins or drizzled on top of the finished cake later for extra rum-iness.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Butter a 9-inch baking tin and line the bottom with baking parchment. Set the baking tin aside.

Sift the all-purpose flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside.

Place the softened unsalted butter in a huge bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter for 30 seconds on medium speed. With the electric mixer operating at medium speed, add in the brown sugar gradually. Make sure the sugar is all beaten in, scrapping the sides with a rubber spatula occasionally. This will take about 3-5 minutes. Turn up to high speed and beat for 1 minute.

Scrape the sides with the rubber spatula. Add in 1 egg into the butter mixture. Turn the electric mixer on low speed and mix for 30 seconds, then turn up to medium speed and beat for another 30 seconds. Scrape the sides. Repeat with 1 egg at a time until all the eggs are mixed in.

Add in the vanilla extract to the butter-egg mixture and beat on low speed for 30 seconds till it’s fully incorporated.

Fold in the flour gently in two batches. Fold in the rum-soaked raisins and chocolate chips. Pour the cake batter into the baking tin. Smooth the top using the rubber spatula or a palette knife. Lift the cake tin up and drop it several times to release excess air bubbles in the cake batter.

(If you do not want to fold in the raisins and the chocolate chips: pour half of the cake batter into the baking tin, sprinkle the raisins and chocolate chips evenly over the cake batter then pour in the rest of the cake batter. Smooth the top and bang the cake tin several times.)

Bake for 35 – 45 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean (try again if you ended up poking the chocolate chip). If the top is browning too fast during the course of baking, cover the top of the tin with a piece of aluminium foil.

Let the cake sits in the baking tin for 15 minutes. Run a knife along the side of the baking tin and turn out the cake. Peel off the baking parchment and turn it right side up. Let the cake cool completely on a baking rack before slicing.

Serve plain or with whipped cream or with ice cream or with more rum!

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Variations:

• Dark Chocolate Chips Pound Cake:

  Omit the raisins and swap the semi-sweet chocolate chips to dark chocolate chips.

• Raisins Pound Cake:

  Omit the chocolate chips and up the amount of raisins used to 250 grams.

• Berry-licious Pound Cake:

  Replace the chocolate chips and raisins with 250 grams blueberries or raspberries.

Happy baking!