Pound Cake Recipe With Butter and Oil

If Hansom were cooking, he'd have all the ingredients he needs out and ready mise en place before he starts. That's the trouble with men. Too damn organized.

Me? I prefer to dive straight into the cooking process post haste. Of course, sometimes I find half way through that I don't have everything that the recipe calls for. Unfortunate, but true. So what do I do? Regret at leisure? 

Tsk, tsk, non, non. 

I improvise.

My beautiful pound cake loaf made with a mix of butter and oil.

That's how I know that if you don't have the required quantity of butter that a pound cake recipe calls for, you can use a mix of butter and oil and still turn out a decent pound cake.

Pound Cake Using Butter and Oil

The recipe for a pound cake is simple. Apart from flour, sugar, eggs and fat, the only other thing that you absolutely need is a weighing scale to accurately measure the weight of all the ingredients. A pound each of eggs, flour, sugar and butter is the formula for a pound cake. That's why it's called pound cake. 

However, since I had only about 2/3 the quantity of butter that the recipe called for, I substituted the remaining weight with vegetable oil.  A fat is a fat is a fat, after all. And everything turned out just fine. 

The texture of my pound cake made with butter and oil was indeed, slightly different from one made entirely of butter, though it was still fluffy with a good crumb. And while the aroma of butter was not as strong when using a combo of butter and oil, it still makes a pretty good pound cake.

My pound cake made with butter and oil.

Kitchen Notes:

My recipe below makes enough batter to slightly overfill two mini-loaf tins. I gather this is why my mini pound cake loafs, while they rose fairly evenly, had a slight depression in the center. Because I used tins that were slightly too small.

Note to self: 

Next time don't be silly and overfill the mini-loaf tins because you don't want to waste excess batter. It's ok to discard the excess. Or pour the excess into mini muffin tins and bake later.

Or instead, just use one large loaf tin.

Another note to self:

What's that saying when life gives you lemons?

Well, if life gives me a flat top loaf cake with a slight depression in the center, I'll take it as a wonderful opportunity to ice it and decorate it. 

Eye Candy!

 

How to Decorate a Loaf Cake

Whip up a quick icing with half a cup of confectioner's sugar and 1 tablespoon of water or milk. Pour it over the top of the loaf cake.

Then arrange sweets, candy, jelly beans, cookies, dried fruits and nuts, sprinkles, sparkling sugar etc. on top. Sprinkle with a dusting of powdered sugar and leave aside for about 20 minutes until the icing sets.

And there's my beautiful pound cake made with butter and oil and decorated easily with sugar and spice and all things nice. Eye candy!

Pound Cake Recipe with Butter and Oil

Ingredients:

☐  3 eggs (177.5g weighed with shells)
☐  Self-rising flour 178g, sifted
☐  Sugar- 178g
☐  Salted Butter- 1 stick/ 8 tablespoons (113.4g)
☐  Oil- 8 tablespoons (64g)
☐  Vanilla essence- 1 teaspoon

Equipment:

☐  2 mini loaf tins (fill half full only)

☐  Or 1 large loaf tin

Step-by-Step Instructions:

Step 1: Cream Oil, Sugar and Butter 

In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugar with the oil. Then add the softened butter and beat with a hand held mixi until pale and creamy.

Step 2: Add Eggs

Slowly add the eggs one at a time and beat into the mixture. 

Step 3: Add Essence

Add the vanilla essence and continue to beat.

Step 4: Add Self-Rising Flour

Add the sifted flour a little at a time and beat lightly. Don't overbeat.

Step 5: Bake
Pour into 2 mini loaf pans (half full only) or 1 loaf pan.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°F for 40-45mins until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool completely before icing and decorating.

My Related Recipes:

Banana Bread with Only 1 Banana

Marble Pound Cake

Orange Blossom Pound Cake Loaves with Sugared Pansies

Click on the "Sweets & Desserts" label below to see more sugar and spice and other things nice from my kitchen.