poundcake Archives - Proud Italian Cook

Gramma Mary’s Famous Sour Cream Poundcake

I recently got together with some family members to make my mother in law’s sweet tradition of her famous sour cream poundcake. Not only do we all have the memories of making this cake with her, we all remember just how absolutely delicious this poundcake is, so much so that a few of us have been dreaming of making it together, it’s been years!

I came across her hand written recipe that I had tucked away, and that got the ball rolling. We set a date, got all our ingredients together, dusted off our tube pans and was ready to go. We decided we were going to make three cakes, and over the years we adjusted her recipe from medium eggs to large eggs.

The batter will be pretty thick so if you have a heavy duty mixer like a Kitchen Aid, now is the time to use it, although in the past I’ve used a hand mixer which works as well, but you’ll have a little bit of a workout.

The sour cream addition turns this poundcake into something magical, a dense crumb, which is buttery, tender and not dry at all.

The top gets a little crunchy and the texture of the two combined makes for a slice of heaven!

You will not be disappointed at all with this cake. It’s the perfect cake to have when you know friends or family will be stopping by for a little coffee, or for any special occasion, a dessert to showcase for any of the holidays or a beautiful gift to give someone.

It stands nice and tall with it’s characteristic crack on top, this legacy of love I promise, will become one of your favorites as well.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Gramma Mary's Famous Sour Cream Poundcake

Hands down, this is the poundcake of your dreams!

Author: Marie

Ingredients

1 lb. unsalted, good quality butter, room temp
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
1 cup full fat sour cream
3 cups of all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda,(yes just ¼ teaspoon!)
1 heaping teaspoon, vanilla
powdered sugar for dusting the cake

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl. beat the butter with the sugar until nice and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, add vanilla and mix well to combine.
In a small bowl whisk flour, baking soda and salt.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour. cream into the big mixing bowl, beating on a very low speed.
Make sure you beat the flour mixture on low speed otherwise the cake will be light and not like a poundcake at all.
Batter will be quite thick, spoon it into large buttered tube pan.
Tap the pan so that the batter lays even in the pan and smooth the top out.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour - to an hour and 15 minutes, depending on your oven, so check after 1
hour.
Let it cool until you see the sides loosen then invert on a rack and continue to let it cool.
Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top, cake should be completely cooled before slicing and serving.

Ricotta Poundcake

This is hands down my favorite poundcake! I can’t say enough good things about it, except that it’s so moist, rich in flavor, and just plain delicious!

I’ve made it several times ever since I first saw the recipe in “Dolce Italiano” by Gina De Palma. Everyone who takes a bite of this always says the same thing, “OMG this is so good!”

The original version, which I made here, is vanilla based, and it’s truly outstanding.

I also make a lemon flavored version replacing the vanilla with Limoncello and freshly grated lemon peel, it’s citrusy and lovely!

Update on this recipe.

I first posted this 2009, it is now 2020 ( I can’t believe it) and I’m still making this delicious ricotta pound cake. Nothing has changed, it’s still a winner in my books!

I recently made it in my longer loaf pan and as you can see it turned out wonderful.

This time I added one heaping tablespoon of vanilla bean paste into the mix and the result was amazing, but you can’t go wrong with lemon either!

This is one of those recipes that never disappoints a classic and a great dessert to have all year long. Make a nice pot of coffee and share it with your friends and family!

INGREDIENTS:

Adapted from Gina’s recipe

1 1/2 cups of cake flour

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

3/4 cup or 6oz unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups fresh whole milk ricotta ( mine wasn’t whole milk & it turned out perfect)

1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 vanilla bean ( I didn’t have any at the time, and believe me it was just as good!)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract ( I added a little more because I didn’t use a vanilla bean)

Confectioners sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and position rack in center. Grease and flour a 9-inch loaf pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together cake flour, bak powder, and salt, set aside. With your mixer cream together the butter, ricotta, and sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 2 min’s. Beat eggs in one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Split the vanilla bean, scrape out, and beat into the batter along with the extract. On low speed beat in the dry ingredients. Scrape down and beat for 30 seconds more.

Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth down with a spatula. Gently wack pan on counter to remove air pockets. Bake just for 15 min’s, then turn pan 180 degrees to ensure even browning. Lower temp to 325 degrees F and bake till cake springs back lightly, the sides start to pull away, and when it comes out clean in the center, about 25 min’s more.

Ok, here’s a couple of things I noted. Depending on how wet your ricotta is you might have to bake it longer, so drain your ricotta for a while if it’s very wet. This time I added an extra 15 min’s to the time. One other time I made this, I added another 1/2 hour. So just watch it and keep testing for doneness. Cool on a wire rack, then invert, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

UPDATE IN 2020

I followed the general directions but it took 1/2 hour longer to bake, so don’t stress about that, you’ll know when it’s done, the ricotta wetness definitely affects the time sometimes.