Pound Cake

Traditional pound cake is made by combining equal parts by weight of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour; it contains no leavening such as baking powder and, as a result, can be rather dense, but in a satisfying, buttery kind of way. Any airiness that traditional pound cakes do have is a result of beating the butter and sugar for a long time—until the mixture has the consistency of sour cream—and then continuing the beating while adding the eggs. Flour is added at the end and worked as little as