Editing Pound cake

{{short description|Type of cake}}
{{Other uses|Pound Cake (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Pound cake
| image = Pound cake 2.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| image_alt = A pound cake that has been baked in a [[loaf pan]].
| caption = A pound cake that has been baked in a [[loaf pan]].
| alternate_name = 
| region = England
| creator = 
| course = 
| served = 
| main_ingredient = [[Flour]], [[butter]], [[sugar]], and [[Egg (food)|eggs]]
| variations = Addition of flavorings or dried fruits
| calories = 
| other = 
}}

'''Pound cake''' is a type of cake traditionally made with a [[pound (mass)|pound]] of each of four ingredients: [[flour]], [[butter]], [[Eggs as food|eggs]], and [[sugar]].  Pound cakes are generally baked in either a loaf pan or a [[Bundt cake|Bundt]] mold. They are sometimes served either dusted with powdered sugar, lightly glazed with syrup, with a coat of icing, or with whipped cream and fruit.

==History==
The earliest recipe for pound cake is found in the English  cook book  ''[[The Art of Cookery]]'' by Hannah Glasse, published in 1747.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Art of Cookery, made Plain and Easy|last=Glasse|first=Hannah|year=1747|page=272}}</ref> The first U.S. cookbook, ''[[American Cookery]]'', published in 1796, has a recipe for pound cake.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Stories and Recipes Behind more than 125 of our Best-loved Cakes|last=Byrn|first=Anne|publisher=Rodale|year=2016|isbn=9781623365431|pages=21|oclc=934884678}}</ref>

Over time, the ingredients for pound cake changed. [[Eliza Leslie]], who wrote the 1851 edition of ''Direction for Cookery'', used 10 eggs, beat them as lightly as possible, mixed them with a pound of flour, then added the juice of two lemons or three large oranges. This changed the flavor and texture of the cake. In the 2008 issue of ''Saveur'', James Villas wrote that cake flour would not work in place of all-purpose flour because it lacks the strength to support the heavy batter.

In some recipes from 19th century cookbooks, fruit was also added to the cake.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Family_Hand_book/ZarOpAsUZL4C |title=The Family Hand-book: Or Practical Information in Domestic Economy ; Including Cookery, Household Management, and All Other Subjects Connected with the Health, Comfort, and Expenditure of a Family : with a Collection of Choice Receipts and Valuable Hints |date=1838 |publisher=John W. Parker |language=en}}</ref>

An early variation on this cake replaced some of the flour with [[cornmeal]] made from dried corn ([[maize]]), which was then called ''Indian meal''.<ref name=":0" /> A recipe for '''Indian pound cake''' was first published in 1828 by Eliza Leslie and later included in ''The Indian Meal Book'',<ref>{{cite web |title= The Indian meal book : comprising the best American receipts for the various preparations of that excellent article |url= https://archive.org/details/b21526618 |website= archive.org|year= 1846 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=November 2021}} which was published in London in 1846, when people in Ireland were looking for alternatives to expensive [[wheat flour]].<ref name=":0" />

==Variations==
[[File:Pound cake, September 2007 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Slices of pound cake]]
There are numerous variations on the traditional pound cake, with certain countries and regions having distinctive styles. These can include the addition of flavoring agents (such as [[vanilla extract]] or [[almond extract]]) or dried fruit (such as [[Zante currant|currants]] or [[Dried cranberry|dried cranberries]]), as well as alterations to the original recipe to change the characteristics of the resulting pound cake. For instance, [[baking soda]] or [[baking powder]] may be incorporated to induce [[leavening]] during baking, resulting in a less dense pound cake. A cooking [[oil]] (typically a [[vegetable oil]]) is sometimes substituted for some or all of the butter, which is intended to produce a moister cake.  Sour cream pound cake is a popular variation in the United States, which involves the substitution of [[sour cream]] for some of the butter, which also is intended to produce a moister cake with a tangy flavor.  Some of these variations may drastically change the texture and flavor of the pound cake, but the name pound cake is often still used.  Some of the variations are described below.

===French style===
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2024}}
Pound cake is served in [[France]]. The [[French language|French]] name for the pound cake, {{Lang|fr|quatre-quarts}}, means four quarters. There are equal weights in each of the four quarters. Traditionally, the cake of the French region of [[Brittany]] uses the same quantity of the four ingredients, but with no added fruit of any kind. However, the French-speaking parts of the [[French West Indies|Caribbean]] traditionally add rum to the ingredients for Christmas Eve or even mashed bananas for extra moisture. In some cases, they might have beaten egg whites instead of whole eggs to lighten the batter. Other variants include adding chocolate or lemon juice for flavor.

===Mexican style===
In [[Mexico]], the pound cake is called ''{{Lang|es|panqué}}''. The basic recipe of Mexican ''{{Lang|es|panqué}}'' is much like the traditional U.S. recipe. Most common variants are ''{{Lang|es|panqué con nueces}}'' (pound cake with walnuts) and ''{{Lang|es|panqué con pasas}}'' (pound cake with raisins).

===Colombian style===
''Ponqué'' is the [[Colombia]]n version of the pound cake: the term {{Lang|es|ponqué}} is itself a Spanish phonetic approximation of ''pound-cake''. The ''ponqué'' is essentially a wine-drenched cake with a cream or sugar coating, and it is very popular at birthdays, weddings and other social celebrations.

===German style===
[[File:Easter Lamb (bread).jpg|thumb|Traditional German ''Osterlamm'', which often is made of ''Eischwerteig mit Fett'']]
The German term ''[[:de:Rührkuchen|Rührkuchen]]'' (stirred cake) refers to any kind of cake where a batter is made by mixing flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and often milk. The concept of the first four ingredients having equal proportions is not common, but, nevertheless, this style of cake batter forms the basis of many popular cake recipes. With the simple addition of nuts, cocoa, dried fruits and alcohols, and the use of different shapes and sizes of tins, a wide variety of traditional German cakes are made. For example, this dough or a minor variation of it is often used to make cakes made in a loaf tin (''{{Lang|de|Orangenkuchen}}'' - orange cake; ''{{Lang|de|Nusskuchen}}'' - hazelnut cake), marbled cakes in a bundt tin (''{{Lang|de|Marmorkuchen}}'' ) and other flavor combinations in shaped tins (''{{Lang|de|Falscher Rehrücken}}'' - fake venison saddle with bitter chocolate and almonds,<ref name=":1" /> ''Osterlamm'' - Easter Lamb with vanilla and rum<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.mannbackt.de/2014/04/17/gebackenes-osterlamm-suesse-tradition-1364/|title=Gebackenes Osterlamm... süße Tradition - Mann backt|date=2014-04-17|work=Mann backt|access-date=2018-09-15|language=de-DE}}</ref>).
 
In the technical language of professional baking, these recipes are classified as ''Eischwerteig mit Fett'' ("egg-heavy batter with shortening"). For example, in a German cooks' vocational school book from the 1980s the basic recipe for such a cake baked in a 26&nbsp;cm (10") spring form tin is given as four eggs, three egg-weights of butter, four egg-weights of sugar, three egg-weights of flour and one egg-weight of starch.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Zeitgemäß kochen und backen: Lehr- und Arbeitsbuch für berufsbildende Schulen|last=Engelmann|first=Barbara|publisher=BLV Verlagsgesellschaft|year=1982|isbn=3-405-12479-4|location=München;Wien;Zürich|pages=359–368|language=de|trans-title=Modern Cooking and Baking; a text- and work book for vocational schools}}</ref> It is close to the English pound of each and the French four equal quarters.

==Cherry cake==
{{Infobox food
| name = Cherry cake
| image = British cherry cake.JPG
| caption = A slice of traditional British cherry cake
| alternate_name = 
| country = 
| region = 
| national_cuisine = 
| creator = 
| year = 
| mintime = 
| maxtime = 
| type = [[Cake]]
| course = [[Dessert]]
| served = Cold or warmed
| main_ingredient = [[Candied fruit|Glacé cherries]] and cake [[batter (cooking)|batter]]
| minor_ingredient = 
| variations = 
| serving_size = 
| calories = 
| protein = 
| fat = 
| carbohydrate = 
| glycemic_index = 
| similar_dish = [[Fruitcake]]
| other = 
}}
'''Cherry cake''' is a traditional [[British cuisine|British]] [[cake]]. The cake consists of [[Candied fruit|glacé cherries]] evenly suspended within a [[Madeira cake|Madeira]] [[Sponge cake|sponge]]; it can also be considered as a basic or trivial variation of pound cake.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RL6LAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA649 |title=The Oxford Companion to Food |author= Alan Davidson |publisher=Oxford University Press Oxford |edition= 2nd |year= 2006 |isbn=978-0192806819 |page=649}}</ref> Glacé cherries are used because the moisture within fresh cherries causes them to sink to the bottom of any cake, ruining the cake's form.

Cakes with cherries inside them are found in many other cuisines.

==See also==
*[[Madeira cake]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{cookbook|state=collapsed}}
* http://www.cooksinfo.com/pound-cake

{{Cakes}}
{{English cuisine}}

[[Category:British cakes]]
[[Category:Butter cakes]]
[[Category:American cakes]]
[[Category:French cakes]]
[[Category:German cakes]]
[[Category:Mexican desserts]]
[[Category:Cakes]]