Raisin Pound Cake Recipe - Recipes.net (2024)

FAQs

Is milk or water better for pound cake? ›

And sometimes it's even soda! For my classic pound cakes, I swear by a little bit of whole milk. It makes the cake so moist and tender and plays well with the other ingredients. Milk should be at room temperature.

Extra sugar or leavening causes a cake to fall; extra flour makes it dry.

The ratio of wet to dry ingredients determines a cake's moisture level. If there's simply too much flour and not enough butter, a cake will taste dry. On the other hand, if there's too much milk and not enough flour, a cake will taste too wet. Finding the right balance between wet and dry ingredients is key.

Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Not 350°F. Generously grease a 10-12 cup Bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.

Cake flour – This flour works considerably better for pound cake than using plain/all-purpose flour (see in post for comparison). It rises better, and has a more tender crumb. Measuring cake flour: If using cups, sift flour into a large bowl first, then scoop out a cup of flour.

Unlike layer cakes, which use a thin batter that should never fill the pan more than halfway (more on that here), pound cake batter is thick, and should fill the pan within an inch of the top to encourage a prominent crown.

Pound cakes, in particular, are dense batters. In the oven, the outside begins to cook much faster than the inside; the crack is from the inner batter rising and releasing steam through the semi-cooked outer batter.

If the gluten is overworked, you will end up with a tougher and dense pound cake – NOT good. Another way to avoid this is to use cake flour instead of AP flour. CHEAT NOTE 1 – CAKE FLOUR can be substituted for AP flour because it'll give a lighter texture to your pound cake.

This helps to achieve a smoother batter and a more even bake. Sifting Dry Ingredients: Sift flour and leavening agents to create a lighter cake. Creaming Butter and Sugar: This step is crucial. Beat the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Can I use both butter and oil in cake? ›

A blend of these two ingredients gives the cake the best possible flavor and texture. Butter provides flavor while oil adds moisture and keeps it from being too dry. A cake made with all oil would be moist but lacking in flavor, and an all-butter cake may have a more buttery taste, but would be more dry.

Sour cream is one of the fattiest dairy products; the extra fat content (for example, adding sour cream to a cake instead of milk) will make the cake moister and richer, says Wilk. "Fat, in any form (butter, lard, cream, etc.) shortens gluten strands, which essentially leads to the most tender baked goods," she adds.

There are several possible causes for what is called a sad streak in a pound cake. One is that there wasn't enough stirring in the early stages of preparing the batter. The other is that the cake needs to 'set' the crumb when you first remove it from the oven.

Starting your pound cake in a cold oven also impacts the texture of the cake. A longer bake time and lower temperature allows the leavening more time to work before the cake sets, resulting in a taller, fluffier cake.

Baking tip #2: adding milk to your box cake mix in place of water adds a dense texture to your dessert leaving it moist and flavorful like a homemade cake. Or, if you prefer, you can add buttermilk, giving your cake a tangy flavor to balance out the sweetness.

Thin liquids such as water, beer and soda water make the lightest batters, but milk isn't far behind. Milk-based batter should be mixed to a consistency thinner than pancake batter but thicker than heavy cream, and then ideally chilled for an hour before it's used.

“Cake Mix can usually be used with either water or milk. When using milk, however, you can probably expect better results because it can make the cake become more moist and rich in flavor.

More expert tips and recipe troubleshooting

Why is my cake so dense and heavy? Reason #1 – Chances are not enough air was incorporated into the butter and sugar. This could be because the creaming time wasn't long enough, or because the sugar, eggs or flour were incorporated too quickly.