![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/IMG_2131-300x225.jpg\" "\\"IMG_2131\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There are few better accompaniments to fresh berries than a slice of pound cake, that perfectly balanced classic originally made with one pound butter, one pound sugar, and one pound flour. Now the formulas vary, but it\u2019s always plain, unfrosted, dense, and rich.<\/p>\n
We tasted five brands of pound cake, unadorned. Berries and ice cream came later. Cakes range from dense and compact (like frozen Sara Lee Pound Cake) to light and fluffy (Entenmann\u2019s All Butter Loaf Cake). Contrary to the advertising jingle, nobody among our pound cake pundits really liked Sara Lee. She was voted least favorite by six of the 10 tasters. \u201cI\u2019ve seen sponges that have more texture,\u2019\u2019 said one.<\/p>\n
Everyone went for the ringer in the group, a cake made from a mix (all others are sold already baked). Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix, to which you add eggs, butter, and milk, came in first. Cake mix aficionados caught on immediately. \u201cSmells like store-bought box cake mix, which is a good thing, if you ask me,\u2019\u2019 announced one.<\/p>\n
Alas, the list of stabilizers in some of these confections is staggering. The one from Roche Bros., called \u201cOur Own 100% Butter Pound Cake,\u2019\u2019 is the closest to made-from-scratch with only seven ingredients. The loaves are baked on the premises and frozen immediately. Other brands contain up to 18 ingredients.<\/p>\n
One taster always requests pound cake for her birthday and advised us how to prepare leftovers.<\/p>\n
\u201cToast slices in a dry skillet or toaster oven. There is plenty of butter in the loaf without adding more.\u2019\u2019 Then, of course, pile on berries and ice cream.<\/p>\n
Betty Crocker Pound Cake Mix WINNER!
\n($2.79)<\/p>\n
Prepare this mix and you get two 8-inch loaves and a kitchen that smells like imitation vanilla. Two ounces of butter give the cake a buttery finish, but that\u2019s the only real butter in it. Several tasters gave Betty thumbs up for appearance: \u201cNicely browned.\u2019\u2019 \u201cHealthy look makes it seem less naughty to indulge.\u2019\u2019 But one thought it had a \u201cpainful, rocky\u2019\u2019 look. \u201cOutside color is quite light and it is hard on the top. Tastes like it\u2019s from a mix.\u2019\u2019 (Astute.) Many found the cake\u2019s texture to be \u201clight, almost like angel food cake.\u2019\u2019 \u201cFluffy\u2019\u2019 and \u201cairy,\u2019\u2019 said others. \u201cVery vanilla. Great aroma. Not too greasy!\u2019\u2019 Another: \u201cA lot of vanilla. Nice smell and texture, but a little dry on the edges.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Capitol Old Fashioned Golden Pound Cake<\/p>\n
$1.19 for 10 ounces<\/p>\n
This was the bargain of the lot. The label says \u201cgolden\u2019\u2019 but should say \u201clemon.\u2019\u2019 Every taster detected citrus flavoring. \u201cFruity taste,\u2019\u2019 said one. Another: \u201cI like the lemon flavor.\u2019\u2019 \u201cHas a very sweet orange taste.\u2019\u2019 \u201cTantalizing citrus aftertaste.\u2019\u2019 The appearance bothered some. \u201cPoints off for paper wrapping,\u2019\u2019 said one. Others: \u201cgreasy,\u2019\u2019 \u201cextremely sweet,\u2019\u2019 and \u201cprocessed.\u2019\u2019 Then again, one person\u2019s greasy was another\u2019s \u201cmelts in your mouth.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Entenmann\u2019s All Butter Loaf Cake<\/p>\n
$4.29 for 11.5 ounces<\/p>\n
Entenmann\u2019s blue and white package is a supermarket standard. This was the most yellow cake of the batch, garnering comments like \u201cbright easy appearance,\u2019\u2019 \u201clooks homemade,\u2019\u2019 and \u201clooks buttery.\u2019\u2019 That buttery quality made it seem \u201cnaughty to eat\u2019\u2019 for one taster. For another: \u201cThe split across the top is very attractive. It looks appetizing and moist. But looks are misleading. Only the top was moist, the rest is dry. It actually tastes more like pancakes than pound cake.\u2019\u2019 Two chose it as a favorite because they liked the moist texture, sweet taste, \u201cpleasant light flavor,\u2019\u2019 and \u201cgood vanilla taste.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Roche Bros.<\/p>\n
$3.99 for 16 ounces<\/p>\n
Wow, this is a pound cake! And one true to the claim of 100 percent butter. Two chose it as their favorite: \u201cThe top rose up and is golden brown with a split down the middle. From looks alone I was most excited about this one. Very dense and buttery, tastes most like a pound cake. The top is sugary and pleasant.\u2019\u2019 Seems that most loved the crust, \u201cLooks really good, like I want to pick just at the top, like a muffin,\u2019\u2019 said one. \u201cCookie-like exterior,\u2019\u2019 \u201cgreat crust! Most homemade looking!\u2019\u2019 Judgments of the texture ranged from \u201cdense\u2019\u2019 to \u201cvery dense\u2019\u2019 to \u201csuper dense.\u2019\u2019 You get the picture.<\/p>\n
Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cake<\/p>\n
$3.99 for 10.75 ounces<\/p>\n
This familiar pound cake, from the freezer case, is often used as a base for layered desserts with fruit and cream. Going solo didn\u2019t win it any compliments. \u201cA little industrial.\u2019\u2019 \u201cStrange, artificial appearance on top.\u2019\u2019 \u201cVery flat top, doesn\u2019t look appetizing. It tastes like frozen Sara Lee. Taste is very ordinary. I like bland, which is why I like pound cake, but this is pushing it.\u2019\u2019 Someone else picked up on this too: \u201cTastes and looks like frozen pound cake.\u2019\u2019 It wasn\u2019t all bad. \u201cNice vanilla tones,\u2019\u2019 \u201csweet and creamy,\u2019\u2019 \u201cnot too rich or sweet,\u2019\u2019 \u201cnice, unremarkable appearance,\u2019\u2019 and \u201coverall, average.\u2019\u2019
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it comes to pound cake, traditional flavors count By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent | July 14, 2010 There are few better accompaniments to fresh berries than a slice of pound cake, that perfectly balanced classic originally made with one pound butter, one pound sugar, and one pound flour. Now the formulas vary, but it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-taste-kitchen-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":876,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions\/876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cookingatdebras.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}