butter pound cake

Eileen Gray’s selected butter pound cake has a buttery vanilla flavour and an even, melting crumb. Her version uses unsalted butter, whole eggs and extra yolks, with a little milk and baking powder in the loaf batter.

Three whole eggs, four additional yolks and vanilla are whisked with half the milk. Cake flour, table salt and baking powder are sifted together separately, then granulated sugar is mixed into the dry ingredients.

Unsalted butter is mixed into the flour mixture before the remaining milk is added. The batter is beaten until lighter in colour and texture, then the egg mixture enters in three portions with the bowl scraped between them.

The batter is smoothed into a buttered and floured loaf pan and baked. After a short cooling period in the pan, the cake turns out onto a rack and cools to room temperature.

Gray presents this pound cake as a cake whose richness is in the butter-and-vanilla crumb itself. The additional yolks enrich the batter, while its smooth, even texture distinguishes the finished slices.