Michel Stroot's Little Round Pound Cakes
Submitted by maureenford
Individual pound cakes baked in ramekins with lemon zest, vanilla, and beaten egg whites for a lighter texture. Buttery, golden mini cakes with a fine crumb and citrus fragrance.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
25 minCOOK
20 minREADY
45 minThese miniature pound cakes bake up in individual ramekins with a gorgeous golden crust from the sugar coating on the inside of each mold. The lemon zest and vanilla perfume the batter so intensely you can smell them the moment the oven door opens.
What makes this recipe different from a standard pound cake is the separated eggs. The yolks go into the creamed butter for richness, and the whites get beaten stiff and folded in at the end. That extra step lightens the crumb without losing the dense, buttery quality that makes pound cake worth eating.
The batter will feel stiff and slightly stubborn when you fold in the whites. That’s normal. Stir a big spoonful of whites in first to loosen things up, then fold the rest gently. You’ll need to chop through the batter a bit to get it incorporated, but stop the second it comes together. Overfolding deflates the whites and you lose that lift.
Kitchen Tips
- Beat the butter and sugar for a full 6 minutes. This isn’t a suggestion. That long creaming traps air that gives the cakes their light structure.
- Lightly spoon flour into measuring cups rather than scooping. Scooping packs in too much flour and makes the cakes dense and dry.
- Fill ramekins only ⅔ full. The batter rises significantly and will overflow if you go higher.
- Run a knife around the edges immediately after cooling briefly. Wait too long and the sugar crust fuses to the mold.
Variations
- Orange pound cakes: Swap the lemon zest for orange zest and add a tablespoon of Grand Marnier to the batter.
- Almond version: Replace the vanilla with almond extract and top each unmolded cake with sliced toasted almonds.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Butter 8 small ramekins, custard cups or tiny loaf pans; sprinkle with sugar, shaking out the excess sugar to leave a very fine coating.
Place the pans on a baking sheet; set aside.
Sift the flour onto a sheet of wax paper; set aside.
Beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium-high speed Add the sugar and beat until very light, about 6 minutes. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla; add the egg yolks and beat for about 2 minutes longer. Lower the speed to slow, add the flour and beat just until nearly blended, about 15 seconds, no longer. The mixture will be stiff and slightly hard to blend at this point; don’t overmix. In a bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt at high speed until nearly stiff, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir a large spoonful of the whites into the batter; fold in the remaining whites until blended. Again, you’ll have to work and chop the somewhat stiff mixture slightly in order to blend in the whites, but don’t overblend. Gently spoon the mixture into the prepared remekins or pans, filling each about ⅔ full. Bake until the cakes are golden brown and a toothpick minutes (the timing can vary with the molds being used). Transfer to a wire rack and cool briefly. Run the tip of a knife around the sides of the cakes to loosen them from the ramekins; unmold and cool completely on the rack. You can either wrap the cakes in plastic wrap, or return them to their ramekins and seal the tops with plastic wrap.
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