Five-Flavor Pound Cake Recipe

Five-Flavor Pound Cake

SERVES 10 TO 12

This was the first recipe that I shared when I started working at a restaurant. I was so excited that I called my grandmother to tell her that Grannys Five-Flavor Pound Cake was in print on the dinner menu. This was the cake that all the grandchildren would beg Granny to send after we moved away. At Christmas, it was served with boiled custard. The Caramel Drizzle makes an intense icing, and a decorative sugar adds glamour to this festive cake.

Five-Flavor Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 sticks butter
2 ½ cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup low-fat sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. rum extract
1 tsp. coconut flavoring
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. almond extract

Caramel Drizzle

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup low-fat milk or vanilla soymilk
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar

Pound Cake

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray decorative or regular 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Sift and measure flour in mixing bowl. Add salt and baking soda, sift again and set mixture aside.
Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, incorporating each well after adding.
Add flour alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Mix for at least 2 minutes on medium speed.
Add extracts one at a time, incorporating each in mixture before next addition. Continue mixing batter until it is shiny, about 3 to 5 minutes. Pour batter into tube pan, and place pan in center of oven.
Bake for 1 hour, or until cake is golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and cool cake slightly on wire rack before turning it out onto serving plate. Cool cake completely before drizzling with caramel.

Caramel Drizzle

Combine brown sugar, milk, butter and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low, and cook until mixture is slightly thick, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar. Stir until smooth and creamy. Let icing cool slightly, and pour over cake. Icing hardens as it cools.