- 10
- 75 mins
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups superfine sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- Zest of a lemon or orange
Preparation
Step 1
Like all pound cakes, this Cream Cheese Pound Cake has a wonderful rich and buttery flavor, moist texture, and a golden brown crust that is both sweet and crisp. A little lemon zest (the outer skin of the fruit) is added to the batter which adds a nice citrus flavor and balances the sweetness of the cake. It is very good served on its own but also good with fresh fruit and softly whipped cream. It stores well and can be frozen.
It is important when making this pound cake to have the cream cheese, butter and eggs at room temperature as this enables the maximum amount of air to be beaten into the batter. There is a tendency for the batter to curdle when adding the eggs but having the eggs at room temperature and adding each egg separately will help to prevent this. But don't worry if it does curdle as once the flour is added the batter will smooth out.
The cake is baked in a bundt pan and if you are using a dark colored bunt pan reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. This is done because a dark colored pan absorbs more of the energy coming from the oven walls so it becomes hotter and transmit heat faster than a light colored pan. Reducing the oven temperature slightly will help compensate for this.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in center of oven.
Butter and flour a 10 inch bundt pan.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, in three additions, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the eggs,
one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pour the batter into the
prepared pan and smooth the top.
Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. (The cake is cooled in the pan first for about 20 minutes so the cake has time to set. The cake may collapse if you try to remove it from the pan too soon.)
Note: To make your own superfine sugar - place 3 cups granulated white sugar in bowl of food processor. Process until very fine, about 30 seconds.