Berry Pound Cake with Whipped Cream

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Servings:
20
Yield:
2 loaves

For the Fourth of July, a pair of pound cakes iced with lightly sweetened whipped cream and topped with blueberries and raspberries will garner grateful salutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans

  • 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

  • ½ cup cake flour (not self-rising)

  • 1 tablespoon baking powder

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 ¼ cups granulated sugar

  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

  • 3 large eggs, plus 1 large egg white

  • 1 cup whole milk

  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream

  • 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

  • 1 cup (about 4 ounces) fresh blueberries

  • 1 cup (about 4 ounces) fresh raspberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans. Line with parchment paper, allowing a 1-inch overhang on long sides. Butter parchment; set aside. Whisk together flours, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

  2. Put butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk.

  3. Divide batter evenly between prepared pans. Bake until dark golden and a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Lift cakes out; let cool completely on rack. Trim tops of cakes level. Cakes can be stored at room temperature, covered, up to 1 day.

  4. Put cream and confectioners' sugar into the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Transfer whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a leaf tip (such as Ateco #113). Pipe a ruffled pattern on tops of cakes. Pile blueberries in center of 1 cake, and raspberries in center of the other.

Cook's Notes

The cakes have a dark, crusty exterior and a moist, vanilla-kissed interior. Pipe the cream onto the cakes with a pastry bag fitted with a leaf tip -- practice first on parchment paper, weaving back and forth to create a ruffly pattern. Then pile on plenty of berries to make the cakes as vibrant as the Stars and Stripes.

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