Do you have a recipe that you use over and over again with great results? It’s a recipe that you have perfected and it’s your go-to recipe that you make without giving much thought. Well I have such a recipe – a sour cream pound cake – that was my pride and joy until a few weeks ago. I actually checked my recipe card - I’ve been making this cake without any problems since 1992.
The Problem
There were actually two problems, an obvious problem that was the ugly cake; and the fact that someone asked me to bake a pound cake to send to her daughter in the military. I definitely could not send the cake you see in the picture above. That is a truly ugly cake. It had a hard crust that separated from the cake. But get this – it was light, tender and absolutely delicious. It was just butt ugly!
What Caused the Problem
I had to figure out why this happened and how I could fix it, so I began a process of elimination.
First: I simply baked another cake with the same results – hard crust separating from cake but delicious. This cake was sliced, wrapped in plastic wrap and taken to work to share. It was gone by mid day.
Second: I went back to my KitchenAid Classic Mixer. Last summer my daughter gave me the KitchenAid 5.5 Qt mixer. Its motor is more powerful, so I thought “with this motor, I may be over beating the batter.” Same results. This cake was sliced, wrapped and given to a community service agency that I work with. They loved it. I understand that the director hid some slices for later.
Third: I went back to my old stem pan (on the left) with the old mixer. Last summer I also bought a new stem pan – Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum 10-Inch Angel Food Cake Pan
Fourth: Oops, I forgot to adjust the oven temperature on cake #3. Because that pan is dark and nonstick, I should have changed the baking temperature from 325 degrees to 300 degrees. Same results. This one was wrapped and put in the freezer.
Fifth: I remembered that last summer I also began buying 25 pound bags of flour from Costco. I don’t know how much protein is in that flour which could contribute to too much gluten formation. So, I went to Publix and purchased a bag of what I used to use - Gold Medal flour, all purpose flour. Same results. Cake was sliced in half, wrapped and frozen.
OK, by now I’ve scoured the internet, read the trouble shooting section of The Cake Bible
Next, I consult the heavy hitters – my mom and the pound cake queen Ms B. My mom said to check the amount of sugar and make sure I wasn’t over beating the cake. Ms B said check the sugar and make sure I wasn’t over beating the cake after I added the eggs.
Now I’m totally confused. The amount of sugar was spot on. I had never heard of over beating the eggs. Everything I had read suggested that you couldn’t over beat the cake until you added the flour.
Sixth: Let’s see if it makes a difference if I bake the same recipe in two loaf pans. Yes, it did. Crust was slightly hard but did not separate. However, I promised to make a 10 inch round cake. Into the freezer it went.
Seventh: I Googled “sour cream pound cake” to find one with the exact ingredients as mine and found a recipe by Paula Deen. However, the way she mixed her cake was totally foreign to me. She creamed the butter and sugar, added the sour cream then alternated the flour with the eggs. Huh? That has to be a typo. BUT, what have I got to lose? Nothing. Guess what? SUCCESS!
Then again, since I’m skeptical now, I baked another. Success again. This time I wrapped the cake, boxed it up and almost ran to the Post Office.
Cake number 7 also went into the freezer but without frustration.
What did I learn from all of this? After 8 cups of butter, 24 cups of sugar, 48 eggs, 24 cups of flour, 64 ounces of sour cream, 8 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract and 8 teaspoons of pure almond extract, I should have asked Ms B first 
That was HILARIOUS!!! How much of the cake did you eat?
@Nichole - one slice off the first two, two slices off the one I cut in quarters. That’s one of the reasons I put them in the freezer, so I wouldn’t keep eating off of them.
Hi Valarie, I made the same cake and the same thing happened. With saying that I took off the overflowed cake and ate it and sliced the rest to give to my husband and the rest of the family. They truly enjoyed it. Just to let you know I made another cake which was perfect. That has been awhile ago, so I think I need to start baking again. Thanks for the inspiration……Later I will share my Best of Best recipes……
Herella, thanks for coming by and leaving a comment. I thought I was the only one who had this problem. By the way, I cut off some of the crust and ate it too. Nice and crunchy and sweet.
Good read Mrs. Valerie…the first batch, I said to myself it may be “ugly” but I bet it’s good…
Hi Ms. Valerie, the first cake looked ugly but I see from how fast it disappeared it was good. I love your persistence in finding out what went wrong. That is encouraging not only in baking but in some things that I have been working on. I learned a valuable lesson from your story…NEVER GIVE UP!!!
Thanks Michelle, it was good but oh so ugly.
Stephanie, this was a daunting task because I worked on it for about 10 days. I couldn’t give up because I had to send the cake I promised and I knew I had made that cake many times before.
Sis. Valerie, I really enjoyed reading this post. You are funny. Gold Medal flour…now that’s old school. That’s what I was taught by Momma to always use. Like Paula Dean, I cream my sugar & butter, then add the cream cheese or sour cream, alternate 2 eggs, cup flour, 2 eggs, cup of flour, etc. Cake 7…what a beauty! Do you remember 7-up pound cakes with CRISCO??
According to “The Help” good for scaley feet & frying chicken!! LOL!!
Pam, I had to laugh to keep from crying and yes, I also have a 7-Up recipe that calls for Crisco and it’s just as good.
Thanks for the suggestion. I was getting frustrated with my busted pound cakes. It’s good to know wat I have been doing wrong. You out out a lot of many to get it right. Thanks for saving me time and money.
I just had the same pound cake experience - ugly but yummy. Slightly weird thing is that I was going to use Paula Deen’s recipe, but at the last minute went with my Mom’s tried and true recipe - which is the same as Paula’s as far as ingredients, except that all amounts are doubled except the soda. My Mom’s is also baked in a tube pan at 25 degrees less. I will definitely try Paula’s mixing technique next time.
Interestingly enough, I found this webpage googling the internet to find out how to get that heavy crust on a pound cake like my mom used to get… the kind that you could break off the separated crust and eat like a cookie
I had the same problem, after I bought a Kitchen Aid Mixer, thought I was mixing the batter too long. Of course I was mixing butter, sugar and then one egg at a time. Now I will add eggs later as stated above. Thanks, I really do need to know that, hope it works for me.