Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake

• 375 g all-purpose flour (3 cups)
• 600 g sugar (3 cups)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine grain salt
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated if possible
• 171 g butter room temperature (1½ sticks)
• 155 g oil neutral flavored, like canola (¾ cup/6 fl oz)
• 5 eggs large size
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 244 g buttermilk (1 cup)

Vanilla Syrup

• 400 g sugar (2 cups)
• 480 g water (2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Icing

• 115 g powdered sugar (1 cup)
• 2-4 tablespoon heavy cream or water
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS 

Prepare

• Set an oven rack towards the bottom of the oven and place a baking stone on top, if you have one. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C/gas mark 4).
• Prepare the bundt pan by coating it well with baking spray, or use a pastry brush to grease all of the crevices of the pan and then dust with flour.

Make the cake batter

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater attachment or a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Mix on low until combined.
• Add the soft, room temperature butter to the flour mixture and mix on medium low until you can no longer see pieces of butter. It should be a sandy texture.
• Add the oil, eggs, vanilla extract and buttermilk to a medium bowl or measuring cup with a spout. Mix to combine.
• Add a third of the egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix well. Then add another third, mix well, and then the rest. Mix for 30-60 seconds on medium speed to build the structure of the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Rap the pan against the countertop a few times to level it out and get rid of any large air bubbles.

Bake

• The cake will take a while to bake. You can start checking at about an hour, but it will likely take an hour and 15 to an hour and 25 minutes to fully bake. There should be no wiggling or wobbling on the top of the cake, and it should not be very gooey. It should spring back when lightly touched with your finger, and the internal temperature should be 205°F (96°C).
• Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes in the pan, and then flip it upside down by putting a cooling rack upside down on top of the pan, and flipping them over together. Carefully pull the pan up and off of the cake.

Vanilla Syrup

• While the cake cools, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat it until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool for a few minutes and stir in the vanilla.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the syrup all over the warm cake, trying to get in all of the crevices if your bundt cake is very decorated.

Vanilla Icing

• To make the icing, simply whisk the powdered sugar so there are no lumps, and add about half of the liquid (all of the vanilla extract plus some of the heavy cream or water).
• Whisk it together and check the consistency. If it is too thick, add more liquid. If it looks too thin, you can add some more powdered sugar.
• Drizzle the icing over the cake. You want the cake to be completely cool when you do this if you want a thick icing look; if you want a more translucent look, you can ice a semi-warm cake.

Store

• This cake will keep well at room temperature for about a week.
• To freeze, cut slices, individually wrap them and then freeze them inside an airtight container.

NUTRITION

Serving: 176gCalories: 559kcalCarbohydrates: 89gProtein: 5gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 78mgSodium: 287mgPotassium: 73mgFiber: 1gSugar: 71gVitamin A: 394IUVi