This is an old fashioned style scratch pound cake. It is moist with a dense, even crumb, and its crust is wonderfully crisp and slightly chewy. Serve with fresh fruit and whipped cream, or drizzle with a simple glaze. It’s perfect with a cup of hot tea.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter lightly salted
- 3 cups granulated white sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract experiment using lemon or almond!
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
Glaze (optional)
- 1¼ cups powdered sugar
- 3 tbsp milk
- ½ tsp vanilla, lemon, or almond extract it's your choice!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 and grease and flour two 9×5 loaf pans.
- Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Cream butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until mixture is fluffy and light in color.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Combine buttermilk and extract in a measuring cup.
- Add 1/3 of flour mixture to wet mixture, and stir to combine.
- Add 1/2 of buttermilk mixture and stir to combine.
- Repeat until all flour and buttermilk is added. With this method you always start AND end with the flour mixture. This helps keep the batter light and fluffy.
- Pour batter evenly into the two pans. This is a thick batter.
- Bake at 325 for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a crumb or two clinging to it. Your baking times will vary depending on the size of your pans, the temperature of your oven, and whether your pans are glass or metal. A good rule of thumb is that when you start to smell the cake, it means they are almost done.
- When the loaves are done, remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Then turn the loaves out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
- If using the glaze, whisk together all ingredients until thoroughly combined and no lumps remain. If necessary, add milk a few drops at a time to achieve the desired pouring consistency.
- Drizzle glaze over the tops of the loaves and allow to dry (it will crust).
Recipe Cost
I used my CakeBoss Software to cost out the recipe and came up with only $5.81. That’s less than $3 per loaf! Isn’t it crazy that the vanilla costs almost as much as the sugar? These loaves would be great for selling at farmers markets. Depending on your local market, you may be able to get $10 each, or more! Carefully track your costs, including packaging, and investigate your competitors’ prices. A 300% ROI on your ingredient costs isn’t bad for a cake that can be whipped together in less than 30 minutes prep time.
