Going Balls Out

Posted: May 9, 2010 | Author: Bakezilla | Filed under: Bakezilla, delish | 3 Comments »

Sometimes, you have a reason to go balls out. Well, not literally, but figuratively. You have an occasion to make your fanciest, richest, unhealthiest dish to celebrate a special occasion. I had an opportunity on Friday, which was the last day of my internship, and I wanted to say “Thank You” to everybody there, who were super friendly and welcoming to me, but going balls out.

So I made an incredible pound cake, and a strawberry-pear pie. I’m going to post about the cake today, and the pie later, for you guys to wait with baited breath. The director of the clinic, a brilliant psychiatrist and genuine foodie, stated that this was “one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.” So don’t just take it from me, this cake is delicious.

Why? It’s called a pound cake because the recipe calls for AN ENTIRE POUND OF BUTTER. Yup. That is what makes it so incredibly tasty. And something to eat in SMALL PORTIONS.

This is from Shirley Corriher’s BakeWise. You will need:
-a 12-cup (large) Bundt pan, greased and floured
-1 pound (4 sticks) of softened butter, unsalted
-2 3/4 cups of sugar (I like brown, but white is also fine)
-1 tbs vanilla extract (use real. Always. Imitation vanilla extract is horrid).
-Half a dozen eggs. Try to get them to room temp if possible, but cold is also okay.
-2 3/4 cups flour (I use unbleached, but any all-purpose flour is fine).
-Half cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 2 cups berries, fresh or frozen. I used blueberries, but raspberries, strawberries, cherries, blackberries, or any other berries or combination thereof would be tasty too.

Preheat the oven to 350. Place the cream in a medium bowl and put it in the freezer as you start.

Start by beating the butter to soften. Cream in the sugar. Then beat in the vanilla. Then, slowly beat in the eggs one by one. Then, add in the flour in 3 or 4 small batches, beat until just combined.

Take the cream out of the freezer. On high speed, whip it until it forms soft peaks (that’s exactly what it sounds like, it will look kind of like gentle hills in your bowl).

Fold the whipped cream into the batter. Don’t just add in the cream. Whipping it truly makes this cake have an incredible texture. It lightens it up, while it is still an incredibly moist cake. Fold in the berries. Spoon the batter into the greased, floured bundt pan.

The recipe said to bake it for 50-60 minutes, but mine took about 80 minutes. Test it with a butter knife or cake tester, it’s done when it comes out clean.

Not only does the clinic director think this cake is great, so does my cross-eyed, intellectually challenged cat: