baking in the name of science

My normal Pound cake recipe calls for 1 lb butter, 1 lb sugar, 1 lb eggs, 1 lb flour, and nothing else. Today archinonlive said that he was hungry for "fluffy pound cake". I commented that normal pound cake is fluffy enough for me even though it has no baking powder. However, this made us wonder, just what happens if you add some.

Off to the kitchen we went...

In the name of science we mixed up a half batch (just over 1/2 pound each, since 4 eggs from that box were just over 1/2 pound--we don't really need a full batch in the house if there is no one but us to eat it!), then divided the batter in half and added 3/4 a teaspoon of baking powder to one loaf before baking.

My hypothesis was that even if the goal was "fluffy pound cake" that the baking powder isn't really needed, that it will taste better without it.



Result: Both are good, but the one with baking powder (the taller one in the photo, on the left side) has a slight metallic after taste. The one without is light and fluffy enough to suit me, but people who are used to modern fluff cakes might like the one with better. I don't think I will bother with baking powder next time I bake pound cake.