Pound Cakes and True Madeleines

A pound cake is a type of butter cake; its recipe always starts with “Cream the butter,” It owes its name to its composition, which is one pound each flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. In French this cake is called quatre-quarts or “four quarters” for ¼ pound of each main ingredient. The only liquid ingredient is the eggs and all the ingredients are always weighed, taking the weight of the eggs as a base for the other ingredients. If you want to prepare the cake by weight instead of by