Pound Cake

In old-fashioned recipes for pound cake, the eggs were used as weights on one side of the scale and balanced with equal weights of butter, sugar and flour. The most familiar version is flavored simply with vanilla, orange flower water, or grated orange or lemon zest. Rich but light, with outstanding flavor when butter is used, pound cake is popular in many countries. In France you will find quatre quarts, in Germany sandkuchen, in Finland murokakku, and in Britain Madeira cake (which does not contain Madeira but is intended as an accompaniment to it).