Sour Cream Pound Cake

Baked in loaf pan 70 minutes

I absolutely love Sour Cream Pound Cake. It is my all time favorite cake. It is moist and tender, perfectly sweet and doesn't need any frosting or glaze.

When I was a little girl, my dear friend lived across the street from me. We shared such a carefree and wonderful childhood.  Her Grandmother lived with her, and it is because of her extraordinary baking skills that I fell in love with this particular cake.  She seemed to bake a lot, and I know that I enjoyed many of her creations; but I honestly can't recall what they were or how they tasted ... except for her pound cake.  I can still remember sitting at their kitchen table and savoring every mouthful of her perfectly baked cake.  It was firm, but moist, and had the most wonderful crust.  

My friend and her family moved when I was 13 years old, and it would be several years before I would have the opportunity to enjoy my favorite dessert again.  I was given this recipe by a co-worker, and I made it that very night. When I took the first bite it was if I was thrown back in time.  It's funny how certain foods can do that.  I hope you all enjoy this cake as much as I do!  

Ingredients:

• 3 Cups sugar (minus 1 TBL for high altitude)
• 3 Cups sifted flour (plus 1 TBL for high altitude)
• 1 Cup butter (2 sticks)
• 1/4 tsp. soda
• 6 eggs (separated)
• 8 oz. sour cream

Directions:

Prep pans; grease and flour.

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Because I don't have a handheld mixer, I go ahead and beat the egg whites until firm but tender, making sure to not over beat them.  I then transfer them into another bowl and use the stand mixer to mix the rest of the cake.   

Cream butter and sugar.

 

Add yokes ( 1 at a time).

Add soda to flour.
 Alternately add flour, then sour cream to butter and sugar mixture. 

Fold stiffened egg whites into cake batter.

Mini loaf pans

Pour batter into prepared pans.  

* For these particular mini loaf pans, I used a 1/3 cup measure plus about a Tbl of batter for each mold.  (I tried to divide the batter evenly)

Baked in mini loaf pans 40 minutes

Bake 1 1/2 hours (90 min.) @ 300 degrees,  or 325 degrees for high altitude.

*Note:  I used the mini loaf pans, and baked them at 300 degrees for 40 minutes.  Some of them turned out beautifully golden brown, and others were a little pale in color.  However, all of the cakes were fully cooked in 40 minutes, and very fluffy and moist.  

* The tender, 'crystalized' crust which is a result of the egg whites being folded into the batter, in my opinion (as well as the opinions of most of my family members) is the absolute best part of the cake.  That is why I chose to bake it in individual loaves instead of in a bundt pan.  My goal was to have more of the coveted crusty surface.  However, my plan backfired.  I had a very difficult time getting the cakes out of the pans.  I've never had that happen with this particular recipe before.  I don't know what happened, but I wasn't able to get even one of the loaves to come out of the pan cleanly.  (I'm wondering if I overfilled the wells.  If I'd divided the batter into 3 sets of mini loaves instead of 2 it may have prevented them from baking up and over the edge of the mold.)  Will my family enjoy them less because they aren't beautiful and whole?  Not likely!  I don't really mind that they fell apart and look like a mess.  The flavor is absolutely amazing ... exactly as I remember! 

Baked in mini loaf pan 40 minutes

Enjoy!