cold-oven pound cake
My dad’s aunt Marie had eight children to rear during the Great Depression. Starting a cake in a cold oven was just one way to save on fuel at a time when every penny counted. Times have changed, but I like to make this cake the way Great-Aunt Marie did, and try to imagine what it must have been like to be a mother to eight children. Maybe I’ll just preheat the oven!
Servings
15
Servings
15
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Do not preheat the oven. Grease and flour the bottom, sides, and tube of a 9-inch tube cake pan.
  2. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, but do not overbeat. Set the mixer on slow speed and stir in the flour and cream alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Add the vanilla and stir well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and put the cake in a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 325°F. Begin timing now and bake the cake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the cake. The toothpick should be clean when it is removed. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to continue cooling.