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By Wolfgang Puck, Tribune Media Services
It's humble comfort food, yet so rich and
delicious that it feels like pure indulgence.
If I close my eyes, I can still smell the wonderful marbled chocolate-and-vanilla pound cake my mother baked on weekends and served for breakfast on Sunday mornings, accompanied by big cups of hot chocolate. Though we led a modest life, such a meal was pure luxury.
For all their satisfying results, pound cakes are simple to make: Combine the dry ingredients, including baking powder and baking soda to lighten the batter; beat together the butter and sugar, then beat in eggs one at a time, which incorporates air for an even lighter cake; and combine the ingredients in batches so they blend evenly. My recipe also includes buttermilk, which adds a subtle tang and, along with the leavening agents, lifts the batter even more.
There are so many ways to flavor pound cake. As my mother did, I like to divide the batter, flavor each portion differently, and swirl them together for a marbled effect. Many people add lemon juice and zest, as in the sensational lemon pound cake pastry chef Sherry Yard makes at Spago Beverly Hills. I've had coffee or mocha pound cakes; orange, berry, or coconut ones; and others with cinnamon or nutmeg. The options go on and on.
And you don't even have to make them in a loaf pan. Doubled in quantity, the batter bakes well in a Bundt pan, which takes about 1-1/2 hours. Or make cupcakes, which bake in 20 to 25 minutes.
Pound cake stays moist and delicious for days thanks to all the butter. If you make yours ahead, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it; then cut it slice by slice and warm it in the toaster or under the broiler before serving. For shorter-term storage, just keep it at cool room temperature under a cake dome or in an airtight container.
Of course, if pound cake is at all in sight on my own kitchen counter, it never lasts very long!
Makes 1 Loaf
Ingredients - Marbled Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze
POUND CAKE:
4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cage-free eggs
1 cup organic buttermilk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces
3 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/3 cup brandy
Preparation - Marbled Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze
Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. With butter, coat the bottom and sides of an 8-1/2-by-3-1/2-by-2-1/2-inch loaf pan.
For the cake, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the butter at medium speed. Gradually add the sugar, then increase the speed to high and continue beating until fluffy. One at a time, add the eggs, beating just until each has blended in. Reduce the speed to low and beat in a third of the flour mixture; then half of the buttermilk; then another third of the flour mixture; then the remaining buttermilk and the vanilla; and, finally, the remaining flour mixture.
Scrape two thirds of the batter into the loaf pan. Add the cocoa to the batter remaining in the bowl, and beat at low speed until blended. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Drop large spoonfuls of the chocolate batter over the batter in the pan; then, inserting the blade of a narrow metal spatula or a table knife vertically into the pan, swirl through the batters to combine them partially for a marbled effect.
Bake the pound cake until a long wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
When the cake has cooled completely, run a sharp knife around the inside of the pan to separate the cake. Invert the pan onto the rack and lift it away to unmold the cake. Turn the cake right side up. Place a pan below the rack to capture glaze drips.
To make the glaze, bring 2 inches of water to a simmer in a medium saucepan. In a medium heatproof bowl large enough to rest on the pan's rim without touching the water, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over the simmering water and leave until the chocolate and butter have melted almost completely; then, turn off the heat and let the mixture continue melting, stirring occasionally. With a wire whisk, stir in the corn syrup and brandy. Carefully pour the mixture through a fine-meshed strainer into a clean liquid measuring cup.
Drizzle the warm glaze evenly over the cake. Leave until the glaze has set.
Slip a long, sturdy spatula under the cake and transfer to a flat serving platter or cutting board. To serve, cut crosswise with a sharp serrated knife.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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Wolfgang Puck Recipes from Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen (Click Here for More)
Wolfgang Puck's Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck
The world-renowned chef with an extraordinary passion for food now shares that passion in Wolfgang
Puck's Kitchen. Puck makes great cooking easier than you ever imagined. He reveals how to turn common ingredients into uncommon masterpieces. Each feature includes both an expert tip and an easy recipe-exactly what you need to transform your home cooking from acceptable to delectable. Moves with color photos.
About Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck, in the eyes of food lovers and experts alike, is one of the most famous chefs in America and arguably the world. He has spawned a culinary empire that includes a fine dining group of 12 internationally acclaimed restaurants in Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Maui; an extensive catering & events business with bases in Hollywood and Chicago, famed as official caterer to the Governors Ball following the Oscars; as well as Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc., a corporation that controls, licenses, and franchises the Wolfgang Puck brand in a wide variety of business activities, including casual Wolfgang Puck Cafes, fast-casual Wolfgang Puck Expresses, consumer packaged foods, cookware, book publishing, television, and the Internet.
For the first time, Puck shares his expert, easy-to-master approach to cooking in the newspaper arena through WOLFGANG PUCK?S KITCHEN, a newspaper column syndicated by Tribune Media Services.
The Austrian-born Puck began his formal training at age 14, inspired by his mother, Maria, a hotel chef. He left Europe for America in 1973 at the age of 24, having already worked in the master kitchens of three-star French restaurants. In 1975, Puck moved to Los Angeles, and soon was both chef and part-owner of Ma Maison. It quickly became a magnet for the rich and famous, with Puck as star attraction. Since then, he has changed the way Americans cook and eat by fusing formal French techniques and Asian and California influenced esthetics with the highest quality ingredients.
After the 1981 publication of the first of his five cookbooks, Puck, in partnership with designer Barbara Lazaroff, opened Spago. Located in West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, it was an instant success and culinary phenomenon from its opening day in 1982. Although the original location closed in 2000, three years after the successful opening of Spago Beverly Hills, Spago Hollywood today is remembered internationally as a legendary haven for entertainment, political and social luminaries.
In 2000, Puck developed his own "Wolfgang Puck" television show, which began airing on the Food Network in January 2001. The show features Puck sharing his cooking expertise with a studio audience who joins him in his kitchen, along with field documentary segments in which he explores the vast and diverse world of food, from farms to artisan workshops to restaurants, and visits with such luminaries as Julia Child, Robert Mondavi and Paul Bocuse. "Wolfgang Puck" was awarded a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Service Show in 2002.
Puck also appears regularly on ABC's "Good Morning America," sharing his latest creations. He has been a guest on a multitude of other shows, including "The Late Show with David Letterman," "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "Entertainment Tonight," "ABC News with Peter Jennings," "CBS Evening News with Dan Rather," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "Frasier," and "The Simpsons." In 2001, the A&E Network featured Puck's life on its popular "Biography" series.
Puck and partner Barbara Lazaroff are actively involved in many philanthropic endeavors and charitable organizations, including their own Puck-Lazaroff Charitable Foundation, established in 1982, which supports the annual American Wine & Food Festival to benefit Meals-on-Wheels.
Puck lives in Beverly Hills. He and Barbara Lazaroff have two sons, Cameron and Byron.
(c) 2008 WOLFGANG PUCK WORLDWIDE, INC. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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