Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Just like Sara Lee's Pound Cake! Buttery, slightly dense but tender with a fine crumb. From Eric Kim and the NYT, an absolutely delicious pound cake that will transport you to your childhood.
Prep Time20 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: buttery, Dessert, ERic KIm, freeze-dried raspberries, NYT Cooking, pound cake, whipped cream
It's All About the Cake
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour (320 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ cups unsalted butter (345 grams) at room temperature
- 8 ounces cream cheese (226 grams) at room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar (600 grams)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 5 large eggs at room temperature
The Bling Finish
- 2 cups cold heavy whipping cream (473 milliliters)
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup raspberry preserves (305 grams) see notes
- 1½ cups freeze-dried raspberries (34 grams)
Make the cake:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan; line the bottom and long sides with parchment.
In a medium bowl, add the flour and baking powder. Whisk to combine and to break up any lumps. Set aside.
Add the butter,cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed to combine. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until fluffy, almost white, and the sugar is mostly dissolved about 5 to 7 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth after each addition. Use a flexible spatula to scrape the bowl, then beat over medium speed for another minute.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until most of the flour streaks have disappeared. Using the spatula, scrape the bowl and gently stir until you eliminate the flour streaks. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, then smooth out the top.
Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown and a skewer or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 65 minutes. When you gently press on the center of the cake with your fingertip, you shouldn’t leave a dent. The internal temperature of the cake should be about 205 degrees. Let cool completely in the pan. (The cooled cake can be covered and kept at room temperature for up to 3 or 4 days.)
Putting it all together
If using the jam, spread layer on top of the cake. You could use strawberry or a mixed berry jam also.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream, sugar and salt over medium-high until billowy soft peaks form. When you lift the whisk out of the bowl and turn it upside-down, a peak of cream should flop over slightly like a Santa hat. Evenly spread the whipped cream over the jam-topped cake.
Add the freeze-dried raspberries to a fine-mesh sieve and hold it over the cake. Using your fingers, pass them through until most of the magenta powder rests atop the frosting like fresh snow and most of the seeds are left behind in the sieve. The entire surface of the whipped cream should be covered in pink dust. Discard the raspberry seeds. Serve immediately.
Personally, the cake is so damn good, I don't think it needs the jam. The whipped cream is great and the sprinkling of raspberry dust is more than enough. YOu could also substitute strawberry for raspberry.
This is from the original recipe
Look for a brand of raspberry preserves with minimal ingredients: They should consist of only raspberries, sugar, pectin and some kind of citrus. That will taste more tart and less artificial than one with, say, high-fructose corn syrup and other fruit juices that muddy the natural raspberry flavor. If your preserves taste especially sweet, you can stir in up to 3 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice for added tartness.