Pound Cake

The standard set of scales in the Victorian era had a platform or bowl on two sides of a balance. This meant that the cook could use weights, but also that she or he could measure ingredients in proportion to one another. Pound cake evolved as exactly that: one Imperial pound of each of the basic ingredients. If you want to be as exact as early cooks, weigh the eggs in their shells and measure out the same weight in butter, flour and sugar, then add the flavourings and frui