Little Pound Cakes

Tilly Pamment

Makes

8 small pound cakes

Ingredients

	200g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
	200g caster sugar
	2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
	3 eggs
	200g plain flour, plus extra to dust
	½ teaspoon baking powder
	⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
	80ml full-cream (whole) milk
	icing sugar, to dust

STORE & SHARE

These little pound cakes make a wonderful gift. I like to box up a selection of flavours and deliver them as a little edible ‘hello’ or ‘happy birthday’! (Include some candles for extra cheer.)

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Instructions

1.	Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced.
2.	Grease eight 180ml- capacity mini loaf tins (or eight large muffin cups with 180ml-capacity holes) well with butter and dust with a little flour, tapping out any excess.
3.	In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, caster sugar and vanilla until very light and fluffy.
4.	Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well and scraping down the side of the bowl after each addition.
5.	Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and use a hand whisk to combine.
6.	Add half the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture, stirring gently, before adding the milk.
7.	Once incorporated, follow with the remaining flour mixture. Scrape down the side of the bowl and stir the batter gently until combined.
8.	Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins, smoothing the tops and tapping the tins gently on the bench to remove any air bubbles.
9.	Bake in the preheated oven for 15-22 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
10.	Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool further.
11.	Serve the cakes a little warm or at room temperature, dusted liberally with icing sugar.
12.	VARIATIONS
13.	RHUBARB & MARMALADE Add 2 tablespoons of fine-cut marmalade to the creamed butter and sugar mixture when making the cake batter, and top each cake with two or three slices of Marmalade Baked Rhubarb (see recipe) before baking.
14.	LEMON & THYME Rub the finely grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon thyme leaves through the caster sugar before creaming it with the butter.
15.	Top the cooked cakes with a glaze made by mixing 80g of caster sugar with 1½ tablespoons of lemon juice and some extra lemon thyme leaves.
16.	Drizzle over the cakes once you have removed them from their tins, but while they are still warm.
17.	EARL GREY Finely grind 2 teaspoons of Earl Grey tea in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle and add to the creamed butter and sugar mixture along with the finely grated zest of ½ bergamot orange or 1 lemon, when making the cake batter.
18.	Top the cooled cakes with a simple icing made by mixing 160g pure icing sugar with 1½ – 2 tablespoons of lemon or bergamot juice.
19.	STORE & SHARE Store the baked rhubarb and syrup in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 3–4 days.

This is an edited
extract from Handfuls
of Sunshine by Tilly
Pamment. Published
by Murdoch Books,
$45. Photography,
recipes and styling
by Tilly Pamment.

Tags: Issue 231