Toasted Brown Sugar Pound Cake
When I get into a cooking rut the first thing I do is turn to recipes and books I love. Sometimes I just spend a week or so revisiting old recipes. Other times I decide to crack open favorite books and challenge myself to try something new. It can be anything from a full dinner recipe, to a quick baked treat, to a cocktail. There is no limit to what I’ll try and having someone else already have written the recipe for me a huge help. Not to mention, reading the recipes of others is a terrific learning opportunity. Hardly a recipe goes by when I don’t learn a new technique or flavor pairing.
Last week it snowed like crazy and I was locked inside with my two children crawling the walls. It was the perfect time to dive deep into some new and old cookbooks. In fact, I was finally able to crack open Food52 A New Way to Dinner. I’ve had it for a while but hadn’t really done much with it yet. With two kids who like to bake I took it as my chance to bake the Brown Sugar Pound Cake recipe. It originated from the back of a Domino sugar box and evolved with a little tweaking from Amanda and Merrill.
We took it a step further and, instead of serving it with fruit, toasted cool slices of it and make ice cream sandwich sundaes with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce. The idea was so simple and so delicious. The sweet bread with the slightly caramelized toasty edges was the perfect partner for smooth ice cream with a little salty sweet sauce on top. Since the brown sugar poundcake isn’t actually crazy sweet this wasn’t over the top sugary. It was just right with all the flavors and textures. I can’t wait to try it with more homemade ice creams this summer!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- vanilla ice cream
- salted caramel sauce
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour the inside of a 9x5 loaf pan.
- In a small bowl whisk the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs one at time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat well.
- With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients carefully and until they are just combined and the batter is smooth.
- Transfer the batter to the loaf pan and spread the top flat with a spatula. Bake it for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes in a the pan, then invert it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To toast: Slice the cake into ½-inch thick slices and toast to a medium brown in a toaster. Serve with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce.
