Pound cake Archives - THE BAKING SKILLET

Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake (Pound Cakes – Part 3)

May 31, 2016 No Comments

I am a recent strawberry convert. I remember I used to hate them. In the mid-western part of India around Bombay, the region where I am originally from, they are so precious and yet so disappointing. They sell it for an exorbitant price and if you are lucky you may find one sweet little strawberry in your pint. Like a lottery ticket. But you are obliged to say they were so good. You paid a high enough price for them to be good. It was the same in Dubai. They looked prettier but that’s it. I don’t remember ever buying strawberries. Ever! Until I met Steve who told me stories about how he worked on a farm as a child picking strawberries and eating most of them. I am not the biggest fan of fruit but picking strawberries at a farm and stuffing mouthfuls sounds like fun. And now I am here and it is berry season. Toronto markets are flooded. Strawberries everywhere! Plump, pretty, red, ready to eat and oh so delicious! While I was thinking of combining Pound cake series with strawberries I came across this gorgeous concoction by Joy the Baker. I tried the roasted strawberries and […]

Cakes, Desserts

Cardamom Pound Cake with Mango Cream (Pound Cakes – Part 2)

May 23, 2016 1 Comment

We are eating mangoes and berries for breakfast almost everyday! That’s supposed to be healthy right? So I should not feel guilty about eating a piece of cake with the bowl of fruits. Good. I wanted to use one of the pound cakes from the previous post and create a flavor that makes me nostalgic. Now this was experimentation territory and things could go wrong. And they did. But hey, this is all about challenging myself! I felt like baking a cardamom cake with mangoes. Why? Because in India summers meant long hot holidays, playing scruffy games on the streets, some boring and lots of fun visits to relatives and eating lots of mangoes. Ripe Alphonso mangoes are pulped by hand, chilled and served with some cardamom sprinkled on top. This was a real treat that one got only a couple of times during the short summer months. We really did look forward to it. Ahhh nostalgia… I wanted to recreate those flavours. The cake is lightly spiced with fragrant cardamom. This is potent stuff that can overpower everything, so I used only a touch for that beautiful aroma. And served it with mango cream reminiscent of the mango pulp […]

Cakes

Pound Cakes – Part 1

May 22, 2016 No Comments

I decided to start from the basics. Is there a better way to start a cake blog than with a rich buttery classic – the pound cake! Wikipedia and other sources say that traditionally a pound cake means a cake baked with equal proportions of flour, butter, eggs and sugar. Nobody follows tradition anymore. The pound cake has evolved; although most recipes still employ the 1:1 ratio for the basic ingredients, often there is an additional form of fat or diary such as cream cheese, buttermilk, milk or the use of cake flour for that fine texture. How could I know which one tastes better? On my quest for that buttery scrumptiousness, that rich, dense, moist deliciousness, with sweet, brown aromatic crust, I had to try them all, it was the only way! I tried a few recipes and some did not turn out very well. I will not get into details of disasters. However I will mention some learning. Follow recipe strictly – not just the ingredients and measurements but also the equipment, baking temperatures and cooking time. In my opinion, till one gets comfortable enough with baking cakes, it is not really wise to tamper with above mentioned […]