Little Round Pound Cakes

Four quarters,” the French name of this recipe means, referring to the proportion of ingredients (one-quarter each butter, sugar, eggs and flour). In France, the cake is sometimes served with afternoon tea but rarely as dessert.

This recipe is from Michel Stroot, pioneering spa chef at The Golden Door in California. “When we were growing up in Belgium,” Michel remembers, “my mother used to bake this cake in little molds, and we’d each take one with us to school.”