I've always been a bit of an old soul. As a child, I loved digging through trunks of old clothes and photos in the attic, and my taste in movies and music has always leaned toward the classics.
The same goes for my favorite recipes. The dog-eared, stained, spiral-bound cookbooks from my grandmother's generation are some of my favorites. So when I noticed a retro recipe for cream cheese pound cake circulating on Reddit, I knew it was going to be good. I just wasn't prepared for the exact quality.
Reddit Won't Shut Up About This Pound Cake
Lucky for us, there's a Reddit subthread for every niche interest, including retro recipes. r/Old_Recipes has 433,000 active and opinionated members, and many of them have shared their experiences with the now-viral cream cheese pound cake.
In the original post, /u/_PopsicleFeet shared a handwritten recipe card with a deceptively simple recipe written on it, saying: “My aunt has been making this cake since I was little. I am 37 years old for reference. I remember it being sold at a small gas station my grandmother owned in Marietta Ga. It was always a family favorite and I finally got the recipe a few years ago. I don't live in Georgia anymore, but I love making this cake because it tastes like home.
The recipe and story immediately struck a chord, and hundreds of users posted their own experiences with photos of failures and triumphs as well as memories of eating the cake as children. One of Reddit's human angels transcribed a more complete version of this recipe in the comments. We have the impression that an entire community has been formed around this cake.
Simply Recipes / Stephanie Ganz
What's so special about cream cheese pound cake?
Reddit bakers who love this cake rave about its moist, sweet interior, and they're borderline obsessed with the crispy crust that forms on top, which becomes the bottom because the cake is inverted.
/u/LyingInPonds emphatically says, “Crispy Bits are SO good. Here in North Carolina, and people were begging my mom to make them cold baked pound cake. It’s a feeling that keeps coming back.”
Two main things make this recipe remarkable. The first is right there in the name: cream cheese. In a typical pound cake recipe, you use a pound of flour, sugar and butter. Here, you replace half the butter with cream cheese, which gives the cake a velvety texture and a slightly tighter crumb. But there is another important tip that should not be overlooked: This cake begins baking in a cold oven.
If you've never made a cold baked cake before, this may seem counterintuitive. While making this cake, I had to stop myself several times from turning on the oven to preheat it. This step of the recipe is so essential that some versions of this cake are called “cold baked pound cake” or variations on that theme.
According to Southern Living, “the hallmark of cold baked pound cake is a thick, golden-brown crust, with a flavor reminiscent of toasted caramel.” » The cold oven approach also gives the sourdough more time to work, resulting in a tall, moist cake, making it as beautiful to look at as it is satisfying to eat.
Simply Recipes / Stephanie Ganz
How to Make Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Despite its notable tricks, this is otherwise a very simple cake recipe. You'll start by creaming the butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until well combined. Then add the sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is foamy. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting until each is incorporated before adding more. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix thoroughly before adding the flour, then turn to low speed and mix until the flour is just incorporated. Finally add a teaspoon of vanilla, mixing gently.
Pour the batter into a greased pan and tap it on the counter several times to allow the batter to settle. The original post says to use a flat tube pan or cake pan, but Reddit is full of bakers who have used all kinds of pans, including cupcake pans, which one user says give even more of that edge signature superior crispiness.
Once the cake is in the oven, turn the oven to 325°F and set a timer for 90 minutes. Although the original post didn't include instructions for removing the cake from the pan (arguably the most arduous step), users chimed in: Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for about an hour before return it. Let cool completely before serving and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to five days.
