Batter up: tips to bake a perfect pound cake

Science is just as much a part of a good cake as sugar. Following are some tips from Nick Malgieri's "Perfect Cakes" for making the most of your pound cake:

• Always start with very soft butter.

• Don't rush the mixing — many of these batters are leavened only by the air beaten into them during mixing.

• Always have eggs and any liquids as close to room temperature as possible, and add them to the batter gradually.

Adding liquid too quickly, or adding too much at a time, can make a cake batter separate, resulting in a heavy, greasy texture instead of a light one.

• For a loaf cake, line the pan or at least the bottom with parchment paper.

• If the top of a cake baked for a long time seems to be coloring too deeply, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Placing the cake pan on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan will protect the bottom of the cake from coloring too deeply.

• Cool pound cakes in the pan for a few minutes, then invert onto a rack or board. Invert again so that the cake cools completely, right side up.

• To store, keep tightly wrapped in plastic and foil at room temperature for up to a couple of days, or freeze for longer.

• Although finer than coffee cakes, pound cakes are served in the same way: with a favorite beverage.

• If the last few slices of a pound cake seem dry, lightly toast them and serve with butter or jam.

• Alternate liquid and dry ingredients. "Many of the recipes call for alternating liquid and dry ingredients when you add them to the batter. For pound cakes or any butter cake, always begin and end with the flour," Malgieri writes.

"Here's why: The buttery base of these batters does not absorb a lot of liquid easily. If the butter is forced to absorb too much liquid (usually eggs), the butter will reach its saturation point, and the result will be a separated batter with unabsorbed liquid in it. If this happens, the cake will be heavy.

"So it's far better to start by adding just some of the liquid to the butter and sugar mixture, then add the rest alternating it with the flour. The flour brings the batter together and prevents separation. For most recipes, these ingredients are incorporated in five additions: flour, liquid, flour, liquid, flour."