Pound cake is so called because traditionally it was made with a pound of each of butter, sugar, flour and eggs. This version uses panela sugar in place of some of the more traditional white sugar, adding a caramel flavour and a crunchy sugar crust. It’s best eaten on the day it’s made.
Ingredients
Sugar crust
Crushed strawberry cream
Method
Main
1.Preheat oven to 170C. Beat butter, sugars, rinds and vanilla in an electric mixer until pale and fluffy (5-6 minutes). Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in flour and baking powder. Spoon into an 8.5cm x 22cm loaf tin buttered and lined with baking paper, smooth top. Bake until golden and cooked through (45 minutes-1 hour), cool in tin for 5 minutes then turn onto a wire rack.
2.For sugar crust, combine juices and sugars in a bowl and stir until dissolved, then spoon over warm cake. Stand until cooled to room temperature.
3.For crushed strawberry cream, combine strawberries and sugar in a bowl, coarsely crush strawberries and stand until juices leach from strawberries (4-5 minutes). Whisk crème fraîche in a separate bowl until thick and smooth, fold in strawberry mixture and serve with sugar-crusted vanilla pound cake.
Note Panela sugar is produced mainly in Colombia, where it’s usually sold in block form; in Australia, it’s more often seen as a granulated product.
Drink Suggestion: A pot of good old English breakfast tea. Drink suggestion by Max Allen
Notes
