French Pound Cake or Quatre-Quarts

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 40

Total Time: 1

Servings: people

Classic French Quatre Quarts is a buttery, tender pound cake made with equal parts eggs, sugar, flour, and butter. Simple, elegant, and delicious.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar,
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup flour,
pinch of salt , optional

US - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. butter a 9x5 loaf mold or round mold and coat lightly with flour, or use a no-stick bakery spray.
Soften the butter in a bowl until it becomes creamier. Add the sugar 2 to 3 times and whisk vigorously until a nice cream is created.
Separate the egg yolk from the white. Add the egg yolks to the butter-sugar mixture. Incorporate the sifted flour.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites at full speed with a pinch of salt. Beat until soft peaks form and no white liquid remains in the bowl.
Gently fold one-third of the whipped egg whites into the butter mixture to loosen the batter. Add the remaining whites and fold gently from the bottom upward until incorporated. Do not overmix, as you want to preserve as much air as possible.
Pour the mixture into the mold and bake for 40 minutes in the middle of the oven.
Verify that it is ready by inserting a knife in the middle.
Remove from the oven and wait 5 minutes prior to removing from the mold.

Equipment

Stand Mixer
Mixing bowl
Kitchen scale, A kitchen scale is the easiest and most authentic way to prepare quatre-quarts because the weight of the eggs determines the weight of the butter, sugar, and flour.
Flour sifter
9 x 5 inch loaf pan
Cooling rack

Notes

- Not all ovens are the same. After 30 minutes of baking, insert a knife in the middle, and if it comes out clean, the Quatre-Quarts is done. Most noteworthy is not worrying about falling when you open the oven door. We do not use baking powder.

- Let it rest in the mold over a cooling wire rack for 5 minutes before removing it.

- Set on a cooling rack. The cooling rack will help the bottom cool off, and air will circulate underneath it.

Nutrition

Giangi's Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.