Help on Pound Cake

First, did you see it get put together?  Any particular order or resting periods?  Separation of eggs?  Did you eat it hot or cold?  Was chocolate mixed in or on top?  Served as the meal or as a dessert?  Sugar?  How would you compare it to a souffle?

I suspect...

Separate two eggs then beat well yolks, 1/2 kg fresh unsalted cheese curds, 125g cream, 50g each duram and flour whisked with a half teaspoon of sifted soda.  Fold in stiff egg whites beaten with a pinch of salt and pour into a well buttered sprinkled with crumbs pan and bake in a medium hot oven.  Drizzle with butter and grated semi-sweet chocolate. 

How close does that come?

Mini

Hello, I recall an article in Fine Cooking magazine covering pound cakes that include dairy (apart from butter) in the recipe. You might be able to use these recipes as a framework, for which you can substitute durum, ricotta, etc.

One of the recipes is available on their website:
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/lemon_buttermilk_pound_cake.aspx

There is another recipe using cream cheese, in comparison to the one above, that substitutes 3 ounces of cream cheese for the buttermilk, increases the eggs from 2 to 4, increases the sugar by 1/2 cup, adds 1 tsp vanilla extract, and reduces baking poweder to 1/2 tsp from 1 tsp. (It also adds 1 cup of blueberries to make it a fruity pound cake).

I hope you have fun experimenting and are able to recreate your "taste memory" from your trip to Italy.

Regards, breadsong

i hope you'll share once you do figure it out

hi there

this is Gina de Palma's ricotta pound cake. (from her book Dolce Italiano) I have not tried it but she is reliable

makes one 9 inch cake/10 servings

1.5 cups cake flour; 2.5 tsp baking powder; 1 tsp kosher salt; 6 oz unsalted butter, softened; 1.5 cups fresh whole-milk ricotta; 1.5 cups granulated sugar; 3 large eggs; 1/2 vanilla bean; 1 tsp pure vanilla extrct; confectioner's sugar for dusting

preheat oven to 350. rack in the center. grease and flour the tin (a 9-inch loaf pan)

sift flour, baking powder and salt.

cream butter + ricotta + sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla seeds and the vanilla extract

add the dry ingredients and mix

pour batter into tin. tap the tin on to remove air pockets. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the pan 180 degree. Lover the oven to 325 and continue baking till the cake springs back a little when touched, the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the pan add the a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes more.

allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. gently invert it

dust with sugar

it is best the next day

ciaoi from milano

stefano

You can substitute Italian Tipo 00 flour with white pastry flour. I did a lot of testing, and the results were pretty much identical. I wouldn't use cake flour, because its nearly always bleached.

I'm wondering about the baking soda - it is not a common ingredient in European pastry, usually it's baking powder.

I'm pretty sure that Italians would not put 1 whole teaspoon of salt in a cake. Before I came to the US I never heard of any pastry recipe that had more than a pinch of salt in it - if any at all.

Karin