Description
Ina Garten’s vanilla cream cheese pound cake delivers pure comfort with silky richness and classic charm. Delicate vanilla notes dance through moist crumbs, inviting you to savor each luxurious slice of this timeless dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Main Ingredients:
- ¾ pound (340 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 ounces (226 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups (360 grams) sifted cake flour (measured after sifting)
- 2 ½ cups (500 grams) granulated sugar
Flavoring Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Finishing Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons demerara or turbinado sugar, such as Sugar in the Raw
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Baking spray with flour, such as Baker’s Joy
Instructions
- Warm the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (160 degrees Celsius), ensuring the rack is positioned in the center.
- Thoroughly coat two metal loaf pans (8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches or 21.5 x 11.5 x 6.5 centimeters) with baking spray.
- Generously dust the interior of each pan with demerara sugar, rotating to create an even crystalline coating.
- Place softened butter, room temperature cream cheese, and granulated sugar into an electric mixer bowl.
- Cream the mixture at medium speed for approximately 3 minutes until the texture becomes light, fluffy, and pale.
- Pause mixing to scrape down the bowl’s sides, ensuring complete ingredient integration.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and incorporate eggs individually, thoroughly mixing after each addition and scraping the bowl between additions.
- Gently fold in vanilla extract and freshly scraped vanilla bean seeds.
- In a separate mixing bowl, sift together cake flour and salt to eliminate potential lumps.
- Gradually introduce the flour mixture into the butter mixture at low speed, mixing until just combined.
- Perform a final gentle fold to ensure uniform batter consistency, being careful not to overmix.
- Evenly distribute the batter between the prepared loaf pans, smoothing the surfaces with a spatula.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, checking doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center – it should emerge clean.
- Allow cakes to rest in their pans for 30 minutes, permitting gentle cooling and structural stabilization.
- Carefully invert the pans onto a wire cooling rack, allowing cakes to cool completely before serving or storing.
Notes
- Cold ingredients can sabotage your cake’s texture, causing clumpy batter and uneven rising.
- Gradually incorporate eggs to help them blend smoothly, creating a silky, uniform mixture.
- Cake flour’s lower protein content guarantees a delicate, melt-in-your-mouth crumb that feels luxurious.
- Gentle mixing preserves air bubbles, resulting in a fluffy, tender cake that stays moist after baking.
- Precise oven temperature prevents burning and ensures a golden, evenly cooked masterpiece every time.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 455 kcal
- Sugar: 32 g
- Sodium: 170 mg
- Fat: 26 g
- Saturated Fat: 16 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 51 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Cholesterol: 105 mg