Wet Ingredients in Pound Cake: How to modify the basic 1:1:1:1 ratio?

[chefathome]

Hello, all.

Since I've learned the basics of pound cakes, I improvise on the very 1:1:1:1 (flour, egg, fats, sugar) ratio. I modify it a bit for changing the texture/tenderness, and I often enrich it with dry ingredients (not too much).

However, I didn't yet fully understand two things:

1. How should I modify the basic ratio when adding wet ingredients, like sour cream, yogurt or cream?
2. What happens when the wet ingredients I add are really liquidy, best example being orange juice?

I'd appreciate your advice, in order to be able to improvise more wisely.

Yours,
Arnon

 

[breezet]

Trial and error is the way to go. I'd say, make sure the consistency of the batter is the same as the one of a regular pound cake, and hopefully you shouldn't go wrong. That said, I'm not a professional baker yet, but this way I normally succeed

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[Aunt Bea]

I would go to a trusted site like King Arthur flour and make a spreadsheet starting with a basic pound cake then add an orange or lemon pound cake, next add a sour cream pound cake, chocolate pound cake etc... See what variations exist in the recipes. I believe you will see a pattern emerge that will allow you to develop a set of rules that you can use to improvise.

I would also consider making an orange or lemon pound cake by incorporating a large amount of zest, some lemon or orange extract into your basic pound cake recipe. Then finish it with a glaze made from the juice of the fruit, additional zest and powdered sugar.

Chocolate marble pound cake made with Fiori di Sicilia extract is the best!

Good luck!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Aunt Bea has the right of it.

 

[breezet]

Yup! Sounds like the best idea!

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[Mad Cook]

Hello, all.

Since I've learned the basics of pound cakes, I improvise on the very 1:1:1:1 (flour, egg, fats, sugar) ratio. I modify it a bit for changing the texture/tenderness, and I often enrich it with dry ingredients (not too much).

However, I didn't yet fully understand two things:

1. How should I modify the basic ratio when adding wet ingredients, like sour cream, yogurt or cream?
2. What happens when the wet ingredients I add are really liquidy, best example being orange juice?

I'd appreciate your advice, in order to be able to improvise more wisely.

Yours,
Arnon

A wild guess this - are you in the UK?

If you want a straightforward pound cake to taste orange-y I'd just use the zest of the orange in the cake and use the juice in the frosting/icing and the filling. If you are using SR flour the acidity in the OJ can up-set the balance of the raising agent in the flour and give an imperfect rise. Incidentally, the typical Victoria sandwich cake recipe is basically a pound cake so bvariants on this might help with seasoning.

As for the other liquids I think I would be inclined to adapt an American-type cake recipe or use an English recipe that uses those specific wet ingredients - in which case it ceases to be a pound cake!

Just a suggestion - Aunt Bea's idea about contacting the King Arthur's flour people is a good one. In the UK, rather than approaching the big flour conglomerates you might do better contacting a small specialist flour miller such as Dove's Farm, Carrs or Marriages, as our home baking flours are slightly different to US ones.