Fall is not usually the season you think of raspberries, but when I saw this Vanilla Bean and Raspberry Pound Cake by Zoë Francois as a Cake Slice Baker's choice, I knew it would be the one to make.
Raspberries are a little tart right now, so I picked up a bag of frozen. They did fine, but fresh ones would probably be a little better.
I did like running into those big ol' pockets of berries, though.
This incredibly delicious cake is easy to make, but takes a ton of ingredients. It's a true pound cake.
Let's Look at the Pounds in this Pound Cake!
- 1 pound of butter
- 1 pound of powdered sugar
- 1 pound of eggs (yes, eggs! Be sure and weigh them, but it takes about 9 eggs)
- 1 pound of flour
It's best to make this cake by weight, so get your kitchen scale out. If you don't have a kitchen scale, run - don't walk - to your nearest store and pick one up. Don't feel like running? Scoop one up online at your favorite big-box store or Amazon.
I was skeptical of making baked goods by weight at first. How much difference can it make? A lot.
Measurements are much more precise - 4 ½ ounces of flour is 4 ½ ounces, but a cup of flour can be a cup and a teaspoon, or 9/10ths of a cup, depending on how you scoop it.
This recipe makes a dense, but tender and amazing cake. A small piece goes a long way.
I had a slice when it was still a little warm and, oh my, it's so good.
If you don't like the seeds from the raspberries, you can use raspberry jam. Just put one third of the batter in the pan, dot on the jam and swirl a little bit, then continue with the next third - another jam swirl, then the final batter.
The original Vanilla Bean and Raspberry Pound cake actually uses two 8"x4" loaf pans. Also, the raspberry is an option that I chose to take. You may just want to make the Vanilla Bean Pound cake. Great either way!
For the holiday season, this would be great with cranberries. If you made my recent recipe, Cranberry Orange Nut Cookies (yum), you'll have leftover fresh cranberries and can use them in this recipe.
Be sure and visit the other Cake Slice Bakers' recipes (listed below the recipe card)!
Vanilla Bean and Raspberry Pound Cake
Dense, tender true pound cake dotted with raspberries and finished off with a nice glaze.
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454g) butter, room temperature
- 1 lb (454g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
- 2 teaspoon citrus zest (optional)
- 1 lb (454g) eggs (about 9 large), room temperature
- 1 lb (454g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 C (240g) fresh or frozen raspberries
- Icing/Glaze:
- 1 ½ C (180g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoon heavy whipping cream (plus more as needed)
- ½ teaspoon clear vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° (165°C). Generously spray or butter and flour a 12 bundt or tube pan.
- Put the butter in a stand mixer bowl and cream the butter on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth, about 1 minute.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the powdered sugar - mix until incorporated. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed for even incorporation.
- Add the vanilla extract, vanilla bean seeds, and citrus zest (if using) and mix until incorporated.
- Turn the mixer speed to medium-low and add the eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined. Scrape the bowl after every couple of eggs.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add ⅓rd of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Repeat with another ⅓rd flour mixture, then the final ⅓rd, scraping the bowl as needed.
- Fold the raspberries into the batter and gently stir. (If using frozen raspberries, keep them frozen until you add them so they won't bleed into the cake.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to release excess air bubbles.
- Bake the cakes for about 1 hour 10 to 1 hour 15 minutes until very lightly golden brown and a tester comes out clean (may have some raspberry juice on the tester - that's OK). Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes, then invert onto a cake plate - let cool completely.
- Whisk together the icing ingredients till smooth and pour the icing over the cooled cake. Let set before serving.
Notes
If you can't find vanilla beans (or find out they're $10.00 per bean!!), use an additional ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.
You can make this as loaves - two 8x4" pans and leave out the raspberries for a wonderful vanilla pound cake.
Use weight on this recipe to make it a true pound cake.
If you don't have/can't find clear vanilla, just use regular. The icing will be slightly tinted, but just as good!
Zoe says the citrus zest can be orange, lime, or lemon - whatever you'd like. Or leave it out if you want to. Very versatile, but still delicious.
You don't have to use the glaze. Just sprinkle with powdered sugar if you'd like a pretty finish. I sprinkled my glaze with decorating sugar to make it festive.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 96Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 124mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 2g
Nutrition Values are Approximate
Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is Zoë Bakes Cakes by Zoē François. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!
Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.
The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.
Vanilla-Bean Pound Cake
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- Karen's Kitchen Stories
- My Recipe Reviews
- Camille Cooks
Grandma Ellen's Trinidad Rum Cake
Mod Yule Log
Yum! Thanks for the idea about the jam; it's got my brain humming. I think it would be really good with leftover cranberry sauce swirled in.
Yes, it would Kim. Good idea!
The bundt pan is perfect when you want a full size cake for the holidays and the Raspberries look scrumptious in that cake.
Thanks Wendy!
I really wanted to try this with the raspberries. Love the little pockets of them! P.S. I'm a total "bake by weight" convert and love when recipes include them.
Thanks Karen. I try to include weights in baking recipes, but some of my old-timey recipes are difficult to convert.
This might be on the counter for Thanksgiving week(end). It looks delicious. And, yes, weighing ingredients for baking makes a HUGE difference.
Thanks Camilla. We're sure enjoying it!