Tuesday morning, Tanya and I hopped over to Harris Teeter (or as we call it, Harry Teets (http://www.harristeeter.com/)) so she could get St. Pat's Day cupcakes for work. While there I spotted poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Poundcake). Try as I might, I could not resist its siren call, so we left with cakes, cup and pound.
I must say Harry Teets makes a smooth poundcake. A bit dry around the edges, but the center was dense yet fluffy, moist and buttery. Certainly one of the best I've ever gotten from a supermarket bakery. I was ready to give it a simple write-up after work, but then I ate one of the extra cupcakes Tanya brought home. Horror of horrors! The cakes were the same!
What trickery be this, 'o bakers of Harry Teets? Was my poundcake simply normal cake in block form, or were the cupcakes poundcake in heavily frosted cup shapes? Why must you torture me with this riddle baked in an enigma iced with a puzzle? So distraught was I that needed to wait an entire day before eating a second cupcake, and I'm not sure when I polished off the poundcake.
For this sorcerous feat that caused me to be uncharacteristically incoherent and uncoordinated on St. Patrick's Day, I vow to never again eat what is claimed to be two different types of cake from Harry Teets on the same day.
Made the mistake of walking by the poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Poundcake) table at Whole Foods today. Not only were they on sale, but they brought out the seasonal pumpkin poundcake. I couldn't resist. And I really should have.
Been too long since my last poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Poundcake) review, which is a darn shame since that means it's been that long since I ate blog-worthy poundcake.
This one is a locally-baked contender, which I picked up at the farmer's market, from Valentine's Country Bakery. It is a wonderfully dense cake that strikes the right balance of dryness and buttery moistness. It slices into firm pieces with none of the cornbread-like texture that I despise. Evenly brown perimeter. Overall, very worthy of being called a poundcake. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
[photo] Actually, it looks closer to an eighth, but where's the poetry with that title? Anyway, a very thoughtful co-worker brought in a poundcake (Quarter Poundcake) to celebrate someone's birthday after reading on his blog that he liked poundcake. Normally, this photo would be of an empty pan, but there were also brownies, a birthday cake and a coinciding spring luncheon. Still, I'm not one to let poundcake go to waste, so say "good-bye" to this quarter-pounder.
Cognizant of both my impending milestone of birth and my quest for the perfect poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Poundcake), my friend Susan at work baked for me something I've been too lazy to get around to: an authentic poundcake.
The old-fashioned recipe calls for a bit of salt and vanilla and a pound each of flour, sugar, eggs and butter, just like the olden days. I can describe the result only as a delight. Dense yellow interior, crisp sweet exterior, sliced without crumbling. Fortunately. I was wise enough to share it before I risked eating it all myself.
Thank you so much. Susan. Now, I guess I'll have to go super-old school and make one in a cast iron pan and wood burning oven. ☺ [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Finally cut into that cream cheese poundcake (http://sumocats.blogspot.com/2008/11/possibly-perfect-poundcake.html) Tanya brought home from the Dutch market. Is it perfect? Hmm...
Well, the texture is quite silken. Good balance between being dense and airy. Bit on the dry side but not greasy. I expected the top to be cream cheesy, but it was crunchy and sweet instead. Quite a delight reminiscent of Crunchy Feet (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2006/04/love-that-poundcake-from-cakelove.html). Not sure I'd go so far as to call it "perfect," but it's really darn good. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
Since my encounter with the poundcake-cornbread hybrid left my cake craving unsatisfied, I picked up another poundcake at Whole Foods to prove definitively that my hybrid theory was accurate. Sure enough, this poundcake turned out to be sweet and delicate, with no hint of cornmeal. We can all rest easy knowing that poundcake purity has been restored.
My plans to bake an authentic poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=poundcake) (with a pound of each ingredient) are still pending, but I whipped up a batch from a mix for today's Clean-up Day lunch. Customized it a bit with cinnamon and substituted soy milk. Turned out to be quite a hit, possibly helped by the lack of other desserts, but a hit nonetheless.
Technically, it's called "Crunchy Feet," but it's poundcake. My mom and I hoofed it out to Adams Morgan to pick up some pastries and cakes because my mom saw the bakery on television and had to try it on her visit.
Well, I've had a couple and it's possible my pursuit of Poundcake perfection is pau (that means "done" in Hawaiian). It's sweet, soft, and fluffy. By far the best poundcake I've ever tasted. Well worth the trip into DC and the walk down U Street.
So the Whole Foods poundcake count is one good and one bad. That's an even split. So, since I was picking up a few things at Whole Foods, I figured I'd pick up a tiebreaker. This time, my "contender or pretender" is a chocolate marble model. It is sweeter than the plain version. Smooth not grainy. Not sure I care for the slight chocolate taste. I'd prefer it be stronger or not at all. Be better with fudge or ice cream. Still, it's a good piece of poundcake. And that concludes my investigation into the mystery of the poundcake cornbread hybrid.... at least until I decide to try the blueberry.
Stopped by Whole Foods this morning for some snacks and picked up what was clearly labeled "poundcake". However, there is no way this thing is 100% poundcake. The taste and texture of cornmeal is faint but distinct. I can only assume some cornbread batter was mixed in with the pound cake mix because the cornbread was on sale right next to the poundcake.
In Japan, women give men chocolates for Valentine's Day. This year, I got poundcake. The loaf is from Whole Foods, same make and model as others I've tried, but this one somehow came out perfect. No hint of cornmeal or graininess. Soft, smooth, and dense. It is exactly what poundcake should be. A very nice surprise for V-day. Thanks, gal! xoxo
Heard Wegman's had the best cake around. Decided to put that to the test when I saw their poundcake. Have to admit, I did enjoy it better than I did the cake from Whole Foods. Moister, softer, and balanced sweetness. Certainly no confusing it with cornbread. Will definitely keep Wegman's in mind for my future poundcake needs. But then again, it's possible a head-to-head contest will be required.
So apparently the best way to kickstart my blogging is to piss me off (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-to-piss-me-off.html), though I'm pretty sure I established that a while ago.
Anyway, I've been dealing with a lot of boring stuff lately. Between work and health, the frivolity of the world hasn't been on my mind much. Plus, look at me. Does that guy have any right to call himself Sumocat? Forget about poundcake (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search?q=poundcake) and lunch pizza (http://sumocat.blogspot.com/search/label/Lunch%20Pizza) because that clearly ain't happening. Things are changing and I guess Scribbles will have to change with it. [+/-] Hide/Show Text [+/-] Hide/Show Text
My old nemesis, the poundcake from Whole Foods, has resurfaced in a new container. WF has wisely switched from foil baking pans to a more eco-friendly paper-based baking pan. The foil pan did strike me as wasteful, so the switch is quite welcome. And there seems to be no impact on quality. In fact, this batch seems sweeter and smoother than the last. But that may be because I haven't had it in a while.
[+/-] show/hide text Ran across this little devil at Whole Foods. Don't really care for peaches, but it was on sale and I'm a cheap bastard. Turned out to be pretty good and it went well with my coffee.
In my never-ending quest to finetune my blog, I have eliminated post headers on the web pages and tightened up the spacing around the ink image. The only text left in the post are the links below the ink image. Been pondering ways to switch to integrate links into the image via an image map, but each path seems like more trouble than it's worth. For now, the links stay as they are. Not sure if the left hand menu is worth messing with either. Perhaps I'll change the headers to ink or add a handwritten title to the background. Oh yes, I thought I'd start experimenting with multi-page posts as well. Don't want to go overboard and weigh down the blog but there were a couple of posts that could have gone further into detail. Also contemplating a scheme for when to use which stationery, but I'll probably stick with whimsy and keep the formality to a minimum. Finally, I added a link to the poundcake posts as a prototype for categorizing.
