Woah Nellie!

Nellie’s ‘Pound Cake’—weighing in at 1 pound 9 ounces—is a keeper

by Mary Jo David

After last month, I’m happy to report that my desk drawer is unjammed and I can, once again, access my thumb drive containing the old issues of the Stockbridge Brief-Sun. While I was happy for the opportunity to veer off-script last month, I’ll admit it was good to get back to perusing 100-year-old recipes from Nellie Maxwell again.

I missed seeing her recommendations that, by today’s standards, are considered unusual. For example, 100 years ago, the meat grinder appeared to be the tool of the month and jellies seemed to be the rage. I scrolled past “Jellied Chicken,” which called for putting a veal knuckle through a meat grinder (gross!), and “Popcorn Wafers” that required you to put—you guessed it—popcorn through a meat grinder! I also skipped past a molded “Coffee Jelly,” as well as “Chicken Pudding,” “Dinner Cheese,” and “Raspberry and Pie Plant.” NOTE: After a quick online search, I discovered “pie plant” was what people called rhubarb back in the day.

After much thought, I decided to veer away from molded jellies and the meat grinder because I had on hand some freshly picked strawberries that were just begging for a good accompaniment. Some believe there’s no summer dessert more delicious than strawberry shortcake, but I’ve always preferred strawberries on pound cake. So, when I came upon Nellie’s “Pound Cake” in the July 17, 1924, edition of the Stockbridge Brief-Sun, the decision was made for me.

For years I searched for a great pound cake recipe. Up to this point, the two I’ve used most frequently are Paula Deen’s “Mama’s Pound Cake” and “Easy Pound Cake” from beyondfrosting.com. I decided to see how Nellie’s recipe stacked up to my current favorites.

Three things I noticed about Nellie’s recipe when I compared it to the other two:

• She uses way less milk.
• The recipe doesn’t call for salt.
• She separates the eggs and whips the egg white.

I took care to make sure I creamed the butter and sugar until the mixture was quite light—probably about five minutes. Since I was using butter right out of the fridge, I made sure to soften it slightly first. My favorite method for doing this is to use the power controls on my microwave. I generally put the butter in a microwave-safe dish and warm it for a minute at a time on power level 1 or 2 until the butter reaches the consistency I need.

I measured the flour before I sifted it. I have two sifters—one has a single screen and one has a triple screen. Out of laziness (it’s easier to reach in the cupboard), I used the single-screen sifter for this recipe, but I sifted the flour and baking powder twice to make up for using this more basic sifter.

Most of this recipe was mixed using my KitchenAid stand mixer. But when it came to beating the egg whites, I pulled out my Dualit hand mixer—a powerful gem I purchased at a garage sale on Mason Road. To this day, I wonder why the person was selling the mixer. It appears to be the same as hand mixers I’ve seen used on “The Great British Bake Off,” and in my experience, it makes short work of whipping egg whites, whipping cream, and making my mom’s special buttercream frosting.

Once I had all the ingredients mixed together, I eyeballed the amount and decided to use my largest loaf pan, which is 8.25 by 4.25 inches (bottom measurements) by 3 inches. Per Nellie’s instruction, I lined the pan with waxed paper. She didn’t mention greasing the pan, so I reluctantly used just the waxed paper.

The one place where I veered from Nellie’s instructions was baking time. I’ve never made a pound cake that baked in 40 minutes. Since Nellie did not specify an oven temperature, I Googled a number of vintage pound cake recipes and decided to start the baking process in a 325-degree oven. After 20 minutes, I turned the oven up to 350 degrees and baked for another 30 minutes. When a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake came out clean, I removed the pound cake from the oven.

After cooling the cake for 10 minutes, I flipped the pan over—and voilà!—the cake came right out of the pan. I removed the waxed paper and cooled it for another 20 minutes. Then, I served it, still warm and topped with freshly mashed strawberries, to my resident taste tester.

Pound for pound, Nellie’s “Pound Cake” recipe resulted in a bigger smile than any previous Nellie recipe tested! I guess that means it’s a keeper.