Back when both electricity and baking powder were more scientists' dream than cooks' reality, baking poundcake separated the serious cooks from the dabblers.
The batter required laborious beating. Baking the cake in a wood-burning oven was unpredictable at best.
Yet even today, without these challenges, any number of things can make a good poundcake go bad.
Cookbook authors and bakers debate how and when to add eggs, how to measure the ingredients, how long to beat the batter, what kind of pan to use, and how long to bake the cake.
The payoff is an elegantly simple cake with a velvety texture and rich, comforting flavor.
The first poundcakes were leavened with many eggs, beaten by hand for an hour or more. Then they baked for at least an hour in un-air-conditioned kitchens.
By the early 20th century, poundcakes were far less work because of the introduction of double-acting baking powder. Still, they retained their reputation as a rare treat.
"Modern-day, smaller-in-size poundcakes are easy -- with certain caveats," says Elizabeth Alston, food editor of Woman's Day magazine and author of "Simply Cakes" (HarperCollins, $12.50).
Ms. Alstonhas strict instructions for measuring the flour: Use the exact size measuring cup. Stir the floor, then spoon it into the cup, then level with a flat edge, such as the back of a knife. Don't tap the measuring cup on the counter, and don't tamp the flour down in the cup.
Use large eggs and butter, both at room temperature; otherwise, the butter-sugar mixture will be grainy or separate, Ms. Alston says.
Alabama baker Prudence Hilburn, author of "A Treasury of Southern Baking" (HarperPerennial, $15), offers this tip: "Just beat in the eggs completely, one at a time."
In fact, there are two options for adding eggs. Ms. Hilburn's method of adding them one at a time is the traditional way. The batter may curdle, but adding flour corrects that.
An alternate method comes from Flo Braker's "The Simple Art of Perfect Cooking" (Morrow, 1985): Beat all the eggs together lightly, then add the beaten mixture to the batter a teaspoon at a time, beating well after each addition.
vTC This creates an emulsion effect not unlike that used to make mayonnaise, and keeps air in the batter, which makes the cake moist and tender.
A basic poundcake can be flavored with just about anything. Traditionally, nuts, coconut and lemon were used as flavorings for Southern poundcakes, Ms. Hilburn says. To vary the flavor, she recommends substituting different types of liquid in recipes that call for liquid.
Pan choice is partly a matter of tradition. Historically, poundcakes were made in two-piece tube pans for ease in removing the heavy cake.
Now, most experts agree you pretty much have your choice among tube pans, Bundt pans, loaf pans and even springform pans.
Poundcakes gain much of their texture and virtually all of their flavor from fat, so trying to reduce fat in a poundcake is like letting the air out of a balloon. Many cookbook authors don't even try.
Ms. Alston lowers fat and calories by forgoing frosting. She offers recipes for flavored whipped creams and fruit sauces to complement poundcake. Fruit sauces made from fresh or frozen fruit add little or no fat, she points out. She recommends raspberry-blueberry or plum sauce.
Ms. Hilburn says caramel or chocolate sauces could be glazed or drizzled over a poundcake. "What I really like, though," she says, "is to add a bowl of fresh fruit to a poundcake. That's a complete dessert."
Aunt Mary's Poundcake
Makes 12 to 16 servings
1/2 pound margarine, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
5 eggs, at room temperature
2 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons lemon extract
3 drops almond extract
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 10-inch tube pan.
Beat margarine at medium speed with electric mixer about 2 minutes. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed 5 to 7 minutes.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Add cake flour to creamed mixture. Mix at lowest speed just until blended. Stir in flavorings.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Per serving: 307 calories; 16 g fat; 76 mg cholesterol; 178 mg sodium; 47 percent of calories from fat.
Coconut Cream Poundcake
Makes 18 to 20 servings
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, at room temperature
2 whole eggs
3 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 cup heavy cream
1 (6-ounce) package (about 1 1/2 cups) frozen coconut
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix. Add the sugar, shortening, butter, whole eggs, egg whites, extract, cream and coconut. Beat with a mixer on low about 1 minute, then on medium-high for 2 minutes. The batter will be thick and fluffy.
Spoon into the prepared pan. Bake for one hour, or until a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted near the center of the cake. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, turn it out of the pan onto a large plate. Allow to cool before slicing.
Per serving: 190 calories; 22 grams fat; 61 mg cholesterol; 190 mg sodium; 67 percent of calories from fat.
When something goes wrong . . .
* Cake is too dry. It may have been overbaked. If the oven rack is not dead center, air doesn't circulate around the cake and the cake won't get done. If you leave the cake in longer to compensate, it gets overbaked.
Tip: To keep poundcakes baked in loaf pans from overbrowning or becoming too dry, grease pan and line with baking parchment.
* Cake is underbaked. The pan may have been too big. The sides shield the batter and slow the baking.
* Batter ran over the sides of the pan. The pan was too small.
* Cake didn't rise. The egg-butter-sugar mixture wasn't beaten enough. Or the pan may have been greased but not floured.
Tip: Always flour a greased pan when baking a cake, because a slippery surface keeps the cake from adhering to the sides of the pan and rising to full volume. Use solid shortening to grease pan.
* Cake falls. The oven temperature may have been too low.
* Cake is damp in the center or has sunk. It may have been underbaked or removed from the pan too soon.
Tip: Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
* Cake is crumbly. The batter was mixed too much after the flour was added, thus overdeveloping the gluten in the flour. This is necessary in bread-making but bad in cake-making.
Tip: Try slightly reducing the amount of flour the next time.
* Cake is rubbery: Too much liquid was added to batter. Liquid is sometimes added to vary flavor; always add less than 1/2 cup.
Tip: Try tinkering with the amounts of basic ingredients. Lower amount of flour by about 2 tablespoons while increasing amount of sugar by about 2 tablespoons. For a denser cake, add an egg yolk.
* Top of cake splits: This is normal in poundcakes.
* How to tell if the cake's done: Poundcake recipes require long cooking times, but doneness is in the eye of the cook. Set the timer for 10 minutes less than the recipe recommends. To test doneness, touch the cake in the middle and see if it springs back slightly; or use a toothpick or a cake tester. The cake is done when no uncooked batter clings to the tester.