I know Mother’s Day is a month away, but you’ve got to plan ahead for this kind of event! I have an awesome pound cake recipe for you today, but that’s not the only exciting part of the post. I have not one, but two America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks to giveaway today.
When I was working with ATK for the giveaway we did last month, they asked if I had any other ideas for the future and I sure did. My smart husband bought me a couple of ATK cookbooks two years ago for Mother’s Day. When I have new books, he gets lots of good food out of it. I’m always telling my mom about this or that recipe in the books, so I thought this year I would get her a copy of her own. I told ATK I was planning on getting my mom their Family Baking Book and thought it would be fun to give you all a chance to win not one, but two copies of the book. I thought you could keep one of the copies and give the second copy away for Mother’s Day too! They thought it was a great idea and now it’s happening. Be sure to check out the bottom of the post for your chance to win.
The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book is one of my favorites. I learned the art of pizza making from this book, I adore the chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and mac-n-cheese. It’s plum full of amazing recipes that just never, ever, ever turn out wrong. Their name says it all; their recipes are tested to perfection.
I know that you, and your mom (or any other lady you’d like to honor this Mother’s Day) will love this cookbook and I’m excited to be able to give you a chance to win two copies of it!
Now on to the recipe.
I decided a while ago that I would make a virtual treat for my mom in this post. She’s in Kentucky and I’m in Utah so we rarely get to sit together and enjoy a meal or dessert. She’s enjoys the simple things in life, scrapes the icing off of cupcakes, always gets a vanilla cone at DQ, and Angel Food cake is consistently her Birthday cake request. When looking though the cookbook I knew that the Cold Oven Pound Cake would be a perfect treat for me to “make” for her. This pound cake recipe is slightly different in the fact that you don’t preheat the oven before putting the cake in. The extra time that the cake has to sit in the oven gives it time to develop and rise. The results were a perfectly moist and dense pound cake that wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting. Sweet yes, but not so sweet that a few strawberries and whipped cream weren’t welcome additions.
The cake comes together easily and it just feels a bit fancier than a normal cake; perfect for a holiday dedicated to spoiling your favorite ladies. It was delicious the second day too, so feel free to make it ahead of time.
Enjoy and Happy (early) Mother’s Day to you.
ATK sent me a copy to give my mom! This is her book all wrapped up and ready for the mail. And yes, I call her Momma Lou 🙂
Perfect Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups sugar
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 16-cup tube pan (you might think of it as an Angel Food cake pan). In a medium bowl add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. In a small bowl add the milk and vanilla.
- In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed (electric mixer or stand mixer) until it is very light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until everything is well combined.
- Turn the mixer speed to low and add 1/3 of the flour, followed by half of the milk, then another third of the flour, the second half of the milk, and then the rest of the flour. Once the last of the flour is added, mix until it is just incorporated.
- Scrape the batter into the pan that you greased and floured. Smooth the top of the batter and wipe up any batter that dripped onto the sides. Tap the pan a few times on the counter to settle the batter. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and place the cake on the rack. Shut the oven door and then turn on the oven to 325 degrees. Let the cake cook, without opening the oven door, for 70 to 80 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the middle comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes and then use a small knife and cut around the edge of the cake to make it loose. Flip the cake upside down so that it come out of the pan and let the cake cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving.
Notes
Do NOT preheat the oven. The cake won’t turn out if you do.
Take care to use room temperature ingredients… it matters.
This was wonderful with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serves 12-16
Here’s where you enter to win 2 copies of The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. Just in time for you to make some treats for Mother’s Day and to have an extra copy to give to one of your favorite women.
Good luck and thanks for being here!
Disclosure: America’s Test Kitchen provided me with a copy of the cookbook to send to my mom and is providing the prize to one lucky winner. I wasn’t paid to sponsor the giveaway or to gush about their product. I just love them and wanted to share that love with you!
I’ve seen this recipe on AMK before and have been curious about it. You’ve convinced me to make this for Mother’s Day this year. I’m having Bart’s mom and grandma from Georgia come, and they’d love this simple dessert. Thanks for the idea and hopefully I win the books to have a present for the MIL!
*ATK- can’t totally messed up the acronym!
This the best tasting cake ever!!! Except something I did wrong it did not come out yellow it was on the white side only thing l did was l forgot the vanilla extract sol mixed it with the milk. Please tell me where l went wrong. auntbea921 (From Maryland) Thank you for the recipe my husband loved it !!!
I use eggs from my free-range hens their yolks are so much more orange then normal yellow store-bought eggs. I find lots of my baked goods have a lot more color when I use my fresh eggs compared to traditional store-bought ones. I bet that was the only difference! i’m so glad you liked it!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter. I love ATK, Cook’s Country and Cooks Illustrated.
This cake looks perfect for me. Ryan (and I) went off sugar a year ago… we still have treats (with sugar) occasionally, but due to limiting our sugar intake neither of us really like them super sweet anymore… This will be something I’ll be trying out really soon. 🙂
And I’m the dork that sits down and reads a cook book cover to cover when I get it… 😛
This looks so yummy! I can imagine this with iced tea, starwberries on a summer night in the back yard! Thanks for sharing.
this definately will be on my mothers day table…sounds delicious
Love it! I really like ATK. Theirs was the first cooking show I watched – gotta love PBS!
Found it!! Yay!
I would use this weekly! Love their show! Thank you for the recipe. I know who I’d give the other one to 🙂
Ohhh, I would LOVE to win this!
Bobi
We love ATK!!!
I just bought four pounds of strawberries! I will have to make this.
Yummmy!!
I love baking! The last time I made pound cake it didn’t turn out so well, so I am excited to try this amazing cake!
Rachel- My only pound cake experience before this was a flop too, so I was nervous! But it turned out really well 🙂 Let me know how it turns out for you!
Great giveaway! Love ATK!
This looks delicious and easy! Can’t wait to try it!
pound cake is one of those simple yet wonderful things!
I’ve been wanting to make pound cake so I’m going to make that happen with this recipe.
I really need this book!
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try making it, maybe for Mother’s Day at the office, we have so many nice ladies here.
I have been craving pound cake with strawberries and whip cream, I think I will have to try this this weekend!
I love pound cake and this looks so tasty!
so glad i caught this giveaway. i was sad i missed your others cuz i haven’t been on that often. (idk if you saw, but I linked your red velvet cheese cake bars on my blog)
What a great idea! Now if I don’t win I know what I want for Mother’s Day 🙂
I don’t know which I would appreciate more, the cake (yummy) or the book (great). May I have both?
Your Pound cake looks so moist and Yummy! I know your mom will love her new cook book! I know I would! Thank you for the chance to win!
I made something the other day that called for cake flour but I used regular flour sifted out. I could for sure tell something was off. SO what is the difference between the two? And as someone who rarely bakes do I actually need cake flour or is there a secret trick I’m missing out on?
So cake flour, all-purpose flour, and bread flour all have different percentages of protein in them. Bread flour having the highest amount and cake flour having the lowest. You want more protein with bread flour because it makes things chewy and more elastic and the gluten develops more. Cake flour is the opposite… it has a “finer crumb” in baked goods. You don’t want chewy and elastic cake, you want a cake that is really tender and kind of falls apart in your mouth. In all my baking experience I’ve found it is best just to use what is called for, especially in something a bit temperamental like a pound cake. It’s a lot of ingredients to use for it to not turn out well. So yes, in this case, I say you need the cake flour for sure. It’s a bit more pricey but this cake is worth it 🙂
Wow, thanks for that very helpful tip!
The cake looks good!
Yum! Looks delicious!
“Do NOT preheat the oven.”
This is new to me for pound cake, but I trust you!
Rafflecopter name: Margot Core
I had never heard of the method before either. The ATK cookbook titled the recipe “cold oven pound cake” and I guess it was popular in the 1970’s. So don’t trust me on this one, trust ATK 🙂
One of these days I’m going to win one of your give aways!
I love this blog, I also would love to win this contest for your book give away America’s Test Kitchen. I am always looking for the latest and greatest in the food world for innovative ideas and amazing recipes. Thanks for the opportunity to enter and win one of your books. ~Beverly
Just entered!
Looks awesome! (:
Thanks for the giveaway and the pound cake recipe!
Such a spring-y cake with those flavors and that bright yellow color!
I made this cake when ATK’s The Feed had it as part of their “Cooking through the Decades” challenge. It didn’t turn out for me, it was a dense thinner cake that just didn’t rise the way it should have (it had a totally weird texture, but I still ate the whole thing…ooops). I love ATK and when I told them about this, they gave me quite a bit of feedback. Most likely my oven just stinks and doesn’t regulate the temperature very well. After seeing this cake again, I feel like giving it another whirl just to make sure I didn’t do something wrong the first time. It looks so good! Thanks for the giveaway 🙂 Fingers crossed.
We bake this all the time! Love ATK – thank you for the opportunity to win their wonderful books!
Looks good 🙂
Just entered, fingers crossed 🙂
Will make wonderful strawberry shortcake!
love atk recipes
Everything Edible Turns Out. I Even Mixed Up Two Recipes That Were On ATK Back To Back! Fabulous Results Too. Beef Roast w/ Vegetables & Then Onion Soup. Placed Apple~Butter In Wrong Recipe! Oops!
That looks like it would be tasty with fresh berries.
Thanks so much for the recipe and the giveaway! Looks delicious!
I’m glad ATK posted about your website, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have found it. Like your post, could relate. My mom is in WA and I’m in SC, so I’m having to improve my sewing skills mostly on my own. Thanks for the giveaway!
Looks so delicious. My kids want me to make it NOW!
I love ATK and pound cake. Can’t wait to try this!
can’t wait to try this – we love pound cake at our house!
Thank you for the chance to win this from ATK! Love them!!
I LOVE the ATK cookbook that I have (Family Recipes), and I NEED the one you’re giving away!!
I love ATK! Their recipes are fantastic, and I have no need of the Food Network as long as I have ATK on my local PBS station.
Love the books… pleaseee 🙂
Love the pound cake recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
This looks amazing and easy too! Would love to win the books!
Love ATK and would LOVE to have their baking book! My mom would probably benefit from it, too. 🙂
I love Americas Test Kitchen too!
Just like you, my mother lives so far away… Abroad. And like every year, I won’t be able to celebrate Mother’s Day with her near me sharing some good food and laughs. May be if I get to win those cookbooks, we can prepare the same recipe and eat the same food even though we’re so far away from each other.
Can’t wait to try this pound cake! I, also, love ATK!
The chocolate chip cookies are BEYOND epic.
Oh how lovely <3
Lovely cake, can’t wait to bake…..
The pound cake looks delish!
Thanks for the giveaway! Wish I could win 🙂
I grew up eating a cake similar to this one but they called it a Cold Oven Cake. Fabulous. I can’t wait to make this. So simple but always delicious.
Thank you for offering this giveaway 🙂
Hope this goes through, I have not used blogs before but found your wonderful sounding/looking Pound Cake recipe on ATK which lead me to your blog. I’ll bookmark your site and check in now and then. My husband’s mother used to make pound cakes but has passed and we took her cooking for granted until we could no longer ask for her recipes. Thanks for your efforts!
Thanks for this contest.
Sounds delicious. :0) Thank you for the recipe, with it we are all winners not just the one who wins the two books. :0)
Looks delicious! I love desserts that are simple, yet flavorful.
I love pound cakes and love that this needs no preheating the oven. Running out to get some eggs so that I can try this. I love Americas Test Kitchen recipes they are awesome !!!
I love all the ATK books – this is one of the few I don’t have.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway! I would give the second copy to my sister, who is the hardworking mom of twin boys.
Wow, this is an easy contest! I was going to pin and comment anyway, and I already follow you everywhere, as well as ATK 😀
OMG!!!! I’ve searching for a pound cake recipe!!!! Gotta try this out!!!!
Hmmm…tjis cake turned out kinda weird. Toward the last part of the cooking time the butter started bubbling up out of the pan, almost like it was “frying” the cake! (I thought 2 1/2 sticks was a lot of butter, but I used it anyway.) The cake was really greasy, almost more like a “fritter” than a cake. Tasted yummy though…I’m going to bring this to work and put some strawberries on it, so that I don’t have to eat all that butter (!!!). Maybe try reducing the amount of butter and using regular all-purpose flour instead of cake flour? Just a thought…
So sad to hear! I wonder what happened?!
I’m not sure if this is still relevant for you, but pound cakes ALWAYS have tons of butter. The trick of making a successful pound cake is emulsifying the mixture so that the butter doesn’t separate out. Making that happen is a different story…
Also your measurements must always be exact when baking. That may explain the spillage out of the pan. If you make it again be sure to follow the measurements as recorded in the recipe.
I made it and it turned out perfectly. Note that the 70-80 minutes starts from the time the cake goes in the cold oven, not after the pre-heat. Otherwise the cake will be dry.
I took your suggestion and made the pound cake for Mother’s Day yesterday with fresh strawberries. It was perfect! I got so many compliments on how light and delicious it was. I’m so glad you posted this recipe so I could earn some brownie points with Bart’s mom and grandma! I had never made a pound cake before yesterday (and got a little nervous after reading a few failed attempt reviews), but the recipe was simple to follow. The batter was so light and fluffy- yummy buttery goodness!
i tried this recipe last week and it came out PERFECT! it was soo good my husband demanded i make another one as soon as he and the kids had wiped the first one clean. my only question is, can i half the recipe to make it in a loaf pan? i want to give it as a gift and would rather make it in a loaf pan than the round one…
I honestly don’t know but I say it’s worth a try. If you are confident that you could test for done-ness in a loaf pan since you can’t rely on a time, then I say you have a great chance it will turn out well! Let me know if you try it!
Made this last night..super delicious!!!!
Yea!!! And isn’t it an odd method?! I made it last night too and put some strawberries and whipped cream on it for after our Easter dinner. TWINS!
May I have the recipe in grams and Celsius please…
I tried it and it came out perfect I love it. I was wondering though how would it come out with salted butter?
Hi it’s been I while I have been longing for a good reciepe of pound cake. Have a question can we use oil instead of butter. N if it’s butter how much is two sticks.
I have no idea if oil will work. I think it would make it taste off since butter has such a nice flavor. 2 sticks is one cup though.
I made this cake yesterday. Followed the recipe exactly. It did not rise and was still not cooked in the center.
What would have caused thiscto
I tried this cake yesterday. I followed the recipe
exactly and my cake did not rise and the center was still not done. What could have caused this to happen?
I have been baking for 50 years or longer and never had one do this.
It may be similar to, but it is not a pound cake. The ingredients are out of balance and are not a pound each.
I am not saying it is not good I personally like plain cakes.