What Happens
if I Don't Put Baking Powder in a Pound Cake?
By Michelle Powell-Smith
Pound cake is a dense
and rich cake, traditionally baked in a loaf pan. The cake takes its name from
the original recipe, which called for a pound each of butter, eggs, sugar and
flour. Today, most pound cakes include chemical leavening like baking powder to
help them rise. A skilled baker can opt to bake a pound cake without baking
powder, but getting it to rise will require some elbow grease.
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The Ingredients
You can make an
excellent traditional pound cake by combining 2 sticks of butter, 4 large eggs,
1 cup of granulated sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla. The dry ingredients include 2
1/4 cups of cake flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. baking powder. Unlike most cakes,
the baking powder plays a relatively small role in leavening pound cakes. If
you prefer a moister and slightly less dense pound cake, choose a recipe that
includes milk and a higher ratio of fat, like butter or shortening, to the
other ingredients.
Mixing
A high, finely
textured pound cake requires special care as you combine the ingredients.
Combine the butter and sugar and beat until light and fluffy with a hand or
stand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for at least 1 minute after
each addition. Quickly mix in the vanilla. Lower the mixer speed and blend the
flour just until a stiff batter forms.
Baking Without Baking
Powder
While modern pound
cake recipes do include baking powder, if you mix the basic ingredients in a
pound cake correctly you can bake a delicious cake without any chemical
leavening at all. Mixing the cake correctly is essential, since the eggs are
the sole leavening agent. Start with all ingredients at room temperature,
particularly the butter and eggs. Beat the butter and sugar for a full five
minutes and allow at least two minutes of mixing after you add each egg if
you'd like to bake a pound cake without baking powder. Fold in the dry
ingredients by hand as gently as possible for the best height, rather than
relying on your mixer.
Problems
Baking a pound cake
without baking powder can result in a heavy, grainy cake with an unappealing
texture. The flavor will not change, but you'll lose the traditional high,
cracked top. Very careful mixing can prevent this, but the baking powder acts
as an insurance policy for your pound cake.
