Baked, Glazed & Sliced: 10 Pound Cakes For Any Occasion

There's something about this time of year that just says "pound cake." Maybe it's the fact that it's so compact and portable, ready to be shuttled to the nearest backyard potluck or neighborhood stoop party. Maybe it's that fresh summer fruit and a dollop of whipped cream are pound cake's inevitable companions. Whatever the reason, it's time for pound cake. Take a look at these beauties.

• Brown Butter Pound Cake from Gourmet - Our favorite classic, but with the deep nuttiness of browned butter.

• Blueberry-Sour Cream Pound Cake from Martha Stewart - The purple swirls of blueberry juices in this one are so pretty. And delicious.

• Rum Pound Cake with Pineapple Sauce from Ezra Pound Cake - It's about to get tropical up in here.

• Apple Cinnamon Toastie from Leite's Culinaria - Ok, maybe it's not technically a pound cake, but it is baked in a loaf pan. And it has a cool name. And it's gluten-free!

• Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake from Fine Cooking - Ooooh, coconut with lemon sounds beyond amazing.

• Cornmeal Pound Cake with Rosemary Syrup from Epicurious - Sometimes we need a break from the sweets, and this sounds like it would do the job nicely.

• Grapefruit Pound Cake from Forty Cakes - I'm imagining this as a more intense version of lemon pound cake.

• Deep Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake from Food & Wine - Now we're talking.

• Brickle Pound Cake from Sweet Kat's Kitchen - Think toffee bits, walnuts, and cinnamon swirled into a pound cake...that's brickle!

• Meyer Lemon Pound Cake from Dessarts - A white chocolate glaze is the finishing touch on this lovely cake.

What pound cakes are you baking these days?

(Image: Romulo Yanes/Gourmet)

Comments (9)

I've made this one several times. Love it. Graham Cracker Pound Cake http://danatreat.com/2010/10/how-graham-got-his-name/

I make Cindy's Cold Oven Pound Cake--that's right, you start it in a cold oven. Tastes delicious with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

A few weeks ago, my girlfriend made what I can only describe as the best cake I've eaten in my entire life. I'm going to have to convince her to make that apple-cinnamon toastie, but the bar has been set pretty high.

http://teaspoonofvanilla.com/2011/06/09/the-bundt-hunt/

The last pound cake I baked was Elvis Presley's Favorite Pound Cake (also started in a cold oven) which gets raves on epicurious but the texture was so fluffy it reminded me of cotton candy. Really not a big fan. But I am loving Flo Braker's Eggnog Pound Cake with Crystal Rum Glaze lately.

My two never-fail pound cakes, though, are Rose Levy Beranbaum's Perfect Pound Cake (also Alice Medrich's adaptations using kamut, spelt, or cornmeal are amazing) and Maida Heatter's Old Fashioned Chocolate Loaf Cake.

10 Pound Cakes?! Those sound pretty heavy! (JK)

A friend of mine used to make a sweet pound cake with grated sharp cheddar cheese in it that was amazingly delicious, surprisingly. She was from Ohio so I don't know if it was a regional thing, but she used to use orange cheese and the few times I made it I switched to a natural colored cheese and it wasn't really the same.

When I'm in the mood for cake, I often make a cocoa cabernet poundcake from the SF Chronicle. It's filling, moist and oh so delicious. I've given it away as gifts sometimes.

@recycleg - that sounds so good! is there a link for that cake?

a tradition that has been going on for 38 years, one for my daughter's b/day each year 7-up cake....easiest cake ever....a big lemon pound cake is all it is yum