sarahsan gave me this recipe and it's fabulous. It's from this website: http://www.dotfrank.com/It is called Mimi's Pound Cake and is suitable for lots of different toppings, the one below is Caramel.
This is how mine turned out:
When we had it for desert today everyone came back for a second helping :).
The Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups plain flour (and a little for lining the tin)
- 2 sticks (230g) salted butter (and a little for greasing the tin)
- 3 cups sugar (I used caster = superfine)
- 1 cup heavy whipping (double) cream
- 6 large eggs
- 2 tbl spns vanilla extract
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- electric hand whisk or mixer
- silicon spatula or metal spoon
- Tube pan
- sieve
- Two medium size bowls
- measuring implements
To Make The Cake
- Preheat to over to 325F/165C
- Grease and flour the inside of your tube tin.
- Measure out the flour into one medium bowl, then sieve into the other medium bowl - repeat this twice so the flour is well aerated.
- Cream together the butter and the sugar until they are light and fluffy (i.e. the mixture is a light colour and all the sugar has been mixed in very well). This can be done in the mixer, with a hand whisk or with a wooden spoon.
- Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in each egg until it is combined, but do not over whisk it.
- Blend in one cup of flour (use the hand whisk or the mixer)
- Blend in 1/2 cup of the double cream
- Repeat the two previous steps
- Add the last of the flour and beat until it is mixed in completely.
- Using a metal spoon or the spatula fold in the vanilla (folding is where you use a cutting motion through the mixture and then fold it over on itself to keep in the air)
- Put the batter into the greased tin and drop onto a hard surface to make sure the are no air pockets in the cake. You may have to spread the batter using the spatula to make sure it is flat.
- Put the cake in the oven and bake for 1h and 15 mins, or until the cake is brown on top and just beginning to come away from the sides of the pan. It is also a good idea to test it with a skewer to make sure it is not still molten inside.
- Once the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and leave it to stand for ten minutes before turning onto a plate or a cake stand.
- Leave to cool completely
For the Caramel Icing
Ingredients
- One box of light brown sugar (now I have no idea what size a box is in the US, I used approx 500g)
- 3/4 cup whipping cream (I used some of the double cream I used for the cake)
- 1 stick (115g) butter (I used salted)
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- wooden spoon
- balloon whisk
- small bowl of cold water
To Make the Icing
- Place all the ingredients in the saucepan and mix so the cream and the sugar roughly combine
- Over a low heat melt them all together and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally with the wooden spoon
- Allow to bubble for about five mins (stirring regularly) until the mixture makes soft balls in the bowl of cold water (vaguely putty like).
- Take off the heat and beat until the mixture thickens and it has lost its glossy shine and will coat the back of a spoon.
- Pour over the cake and allow to run down the sides (keep pouring to fill in the gaps - you can spread it, but it looks better poured). If the icing becomes too thick to pour add a little water to thin it back again.
I then gave it a light dusting of icing sugar to hide the fact I had to patch the icing - LOL