The Ultimate Pound Cake

This may be the first recipe I ever wrote down. It's written in 13-year-old Mica's handwriting, dating it to October 22nd, 2013. The piece of paper has been laid on a countertop next to the baking so many times that it's stained and wrinkled from liquids falling on it.

It's definitely the recipe I've made the most in my life. Pound cake is fun to make and only requires simple ingredients that you mostly have at hand. This recipe is also the most versatile you will find. Changing one ingredient makes for a completely different flavor, and I'll point out all those easy swaps.

I can't help but think of my friend, Justi, every time I see this recipe. We once made 16 of these pound cakes for a charity event. And she was there with me when we wrote the recipe from Vane, an amazing baker who was patient enough to teach us.

Ingredients

3 eggs
200 grams of sugar
250 grams of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup or 50 milliliters of oil or butter (I usually use sunflower oil, but olive oil works too, just expect its flavor to reflect on the pound cake)
The flavor of your choice: vanilla extract, 2 lemons, 2 oranges, dulce de leche, etc.
For my favorite pound cake topping: you'll also need 1 cup of powdered sugar and the juice of half a lemon.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a regular-size loaf pan with parchment paper or grease and flour it.
Combine the oil with the sugar. You can mix it with a fork for a denser texture or use a mixer for a lighter, cakier texture.
Mix in the eggs and then the flour, along with the baking powder and soda.
Vanilla Pound Cake: just add a splash of vanilla extract to the above.
Lemon Pound Cake: add the zest of a lemon or two (depending on size) plus the juice of one of the lemons. Same story for Orange Pound Cake.
Chocolate Pound Cake: add 50 grams of cocoa powder + 50 cc of milk.
Marble Pound Cake: make the batter with the oil, sugar, eggs, (200 grams of) flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Divide the batter almost in half. Add a splash of vanilla extract to the "bigger" half, and cocoa powder + milk to the smaller one. Have fun when pouring the batters into the same loaf pan. I usually do almost all the vanilla, then all the chocolate, and a small portion of vanilla on top.
Pour the batter into a loaf pan with parchment paper or one greased and floured. Bake for around 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Once it cools down, prepare the topping: mix powdered sugar and the juice of half a lemon until it has a rather dense consistency. Pour on top of the pound cake once it cools down. Another spin-off is to mix cocoa with lemon for the topping (this one works especially well for the Marble Pound Cake).

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