Leite's Vanilla Pound Cake

By stancec44

This vanilla pound cake from Virginia Willis is made with pantry staples of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs with the notable addition of vanilla bean seeds. It has a lovely cakey fine-crumbed texture and crisp edges. Pound cake perfection.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter (8 oz), at room temperature, plus more for the pan
• 3 cups White Lily or other Southern all-purpose flour (or substitute gluten-free all-purpose flour; see variation below)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean split and scraped, or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening, preferably Crisco, at room temperature
• 3 cups granulated sugar

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 80mins
Adapted from leitesculinaria.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Generously slick a 16-cup Bundt pan with butter.
2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, and the scraped vanilla seeds.
3. In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle, beat together the butter, shortening, and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Add the flour and milk mixtures to the butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating between dry and liquid, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Fill the prepared pan with batter. It should be no more than 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325°F (160°C) and bake for 45 minutes more, until the cake is golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the pan and a wooden toothpick or skewer inserted in the cake comes out with nary a glob of batter but perhaps just a couple dry crumbs.
6. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack to cool completely. This cake will stay moist in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
GLUTEN-FREE VARIATION
Follow the recipe above, substituting your favorite store-bought or homemade gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for the all-purpose flour. Kindly note that the gluten-free version of this pound cake may only rise about 3/4 of the way up the sides of the pan and may be slightly moister and denser than traditional pound cake. This is common when you bake with gluten-free flours. And don’t be surprised if the cake takes just a few minutes longer to bake completely through and turns a slightly darker shade of golden than you expect at the edges. This, too, is a common characteristic of gluten-free flours.