Comments on: cook’s illustrated classic pound cake

By: Rozzea

Rozzea — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 07:04:06 +0000

I just wanted to say how relieved I was to hear that it wasn’t my fault this pound cake didn’t work. I too love CI and have had many successful recipes. As I was following the recipe I kept thinking I was forgetting the baking power only to check and it wasn’t mentioned. I thought it strange but I plod onward. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed. It came out simply awful. That’s when I did a search on-line for a review. I will certainly try it again with your recommendations.

By: bridget

bridget — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:48:12 +0000

Adriana – That’s a hard question to answer. Assuming that you’re not using a different oven and your baking soda isn’t expired, I think your best bet is to follow standard baking practice. That means softened but not mushy butter, room temperature eggs, unbleached flour, and dry ingredients weighed instead of measured by volume. That last one sounds like it could really help – measuring flour by volume is notoriously imprecise, and if your cookies are cakey, that might mean you’re using more flour than you used to. You might also want to try folding in the flour instead of mixing it in with a mixer. In fact, I’ve found that this pound cake recipe taught me a lot about baking in general, with the specific temperature of the ingredients and the way they’re combined.

By: Adriana

Adriana — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:04:17 +0000

It must have been really frustrating when your cake didn’t work out. I have the same kind of problem, and was wondering if you have any suggestions: I’ve made the same chocolate chip cookie recipe many, many times. They were always beautifully cracked and chewy. But the last three times I’ve made them, they are puffy and cakey, and not cracked at all. It’s driving me nuts because I’ve tried everything! Larger eggs, smaller eggs, cold eggs, room temp. eggs, different brands of ingredients, very soft butter, colder butter, etc. . . I don’t know what I was doing before that I’m not doing now!

By: Nanograms

Nanograms — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:00:45 +0000

What a treat to find your blog when I goggled for pound cake. Wow. Thank you so much for reporting your experiences with this recipe. I’m heading off to the store to get some more eggs. Thank you again! = )

By: bridget

bridget — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:45:14 +0000

Eric Klassen – I think it’ll be okay in a round pan. Just watch it carefully in the oven, because it won’t need to cook as long.

By: Eric Klassen

Eric Klassen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:57:10 +0000

Hi,
I enjoyed your story on your website even if I drooled all over my keyboard. Question: Can I bake it in a round cake pan. I need a flat cake for a decoration idea I have for my mother-in-law’s b-day. A loaf shape just won’t work for me.
Thanks for your reply,
Eric

By: bridget

bridget — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:30:51 +0000

PokyMcb – I see your point. I coughed up the money and subscribed to the website as well. It’s just so convenient.

By: PokyMcb

PokyMcb — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:04:31 +0000

Hello ! I have a subscription to the Cooks Illustrated magazine itself so it is a source of frustration for me when I cannot access their recipes online unless I sign up yet again for another subscription. They should allow those who already pay for the magazine to read the online information, too. Anyway, thank you for posting this recipe (with corrections, no less!) and the helpful photographs.

By: bridget

bridget — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:15:47 +0000

Bruce – It’s in Step 2 – 325 degrees (Fahrenheit). I hope you enjoy the cake!

By: Bruce

Bruce — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:25:26 +0000

Ok I feel pretty dumb. Everyone else seems to know, but what is the baking temperature? I’d love to try this pound cake. Thank you.