Here's a "foolproof" mile high pound cake recipe! Real butter, while delicious, can cause issues like gumminess in recipes if it isn't combined correctly. By using butter flavored shortening instead, you can avoid these issues entirely! You can use cold eggs and sour cream straight from the fridge. It comes out deliciously dense and moist with a crunchy top.
2 cups butter flavored shortening
4 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon each of your favorite extracts: lemon, rum, coconut, or butter work great
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 large eggs
4 1/2 cups cake flour or White Lily All Purpose Flour
1 lb sour cream
Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare Old Country Kitchenware square tube pan by fitting a parchment paper square between the two pieces and brushing with pan coat. Beat shortening and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. Add extracts, baking powder, and salt beat until combined. With the mixer running, add each egg one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Add 2 cups of flour, beating until it just disappears. Beat in sour cream, then beat in the last 2 1/2 cups of flour. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat for another 15 seconds at medium speed. Pour batter into prepared tube pan and gently shake to settle. Place on middle rack of oven with a baking sheet on the rack below it. Bake 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool until the pan is cool enough to handle. To unmold, place it over a metal can and push down to remove the outer piece. Once the tube is cool enough to touch for 4 seconds, lift or turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
10 comments
Cathy, I’d use 1 tablespoon of each flavor that you’d like to add to the cake. At the least I’d do 1 tablespoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon of something else. Five flavor pound cakes are popular and you can add them all if you’d like! Taste the batter before baking to adjust the flavor. Since this cake has no butter in it, it’s missing that rich flavor and you’ll want to make it up with other flavors!
Carolyn, the flour helps to emulsify the eggs and butter together, since water and fat do not mix! and if you add the eggs too quickly the batter can curdle. The flour helps to prevent this and keep your batter silky smooth.
I have made several Mile Pound Cakes and I love making them. I woul like to know what is the purpose of adding the 1/2 cup of flour, after you have creamed the butter and sugar together. I have asked in my FB group and a lot of Bakers say that they never heard of doing this.
Please clarify! I really want to make this for dinner party I’m hosting. Slightly confused by the extracts. How many total tablespoons do I use?
Thank you for these great baking ideas. I ordered the square pan. My late mom had two pieces, one of which I keep for memory’s sake. Her pan is very old. We were raised enjoying the many cakes from that square pan.