Granny’s Five-Flavor Pound Cake

Recipe from Carla Hall

Adapted by Genevieve Ko

Published Feb. 20, 2024

Granny’s Five-Flavor Pound Cake
Matt Taylor-Gross for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
Total Time
1 hour 40 minutes, plus cooling
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
1½ hours
Rating
4(340)
Comments
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Golden with a fine crumb, this pound cake smells amazing while it’s baking and tastes just as intoxicating once sliced. It’s comforting with its buttery softness and complex with its blend of five extracts (vanilla, rum, coconut, lemon and almond). The celebrity chef Carla Hall got this recipe, among other beloved soul food dishes, from her maternal grandmother, Jessie Mae Price. This family dessert was served at every Christmas celebration in Tennessee and wrapped and shipped off to the grandchildren as well. It’s a keeping cake, the kind that tastes even better over time, and meant to be shared. Ms. Hall wanted to recreate the tenderness that her granny achieved through sifted cake flour without sending home cooks to the store for yet another ingredient, so she swapped in some cornstarch instead. If you don’t have that in your pantry, using only all-purpose flour works just fine too, as does any combination of extracts you can find or have on hand. —Genevieve Ko

Featured in: For Carla Hall, It’s Been a Bumpy Climb to a ‘Top Chef’ Life

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Ingredients

Yield:12 servings
  • Nonstick baking spray
  • 2½cups/330 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½cup/60 grams cornstarch (or an additional ¼ cup/33 grams all-purpose flour)
  • 1teaspoon baking powder
  • 1teaspoon fine salt
  • 1cup/228 grams unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature
  • 2½cups/500 grams granulated sugar
  • 6large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1cup/244 grams sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1teaspoon rum extract
  • 1teaspoon coconut extract
  • 1teaspoon lemon extract
  • 1teaspoon almond extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan with nonstick baking spray.

  2. Step 2

    Whisk the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

  3. Step 3

    In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer on medium, add the eggs one at a time, completely incorporating each egg before adding the next. Stop and scrape down the bowl.

  4. Step 4

    With the mixer on low speed, add about a third of the flour. Once incorporated, add half of the sour cream, then half of the remaining flour. Beat in the rest of the sour cream and the remaining flour, then continue beating for 2 minutes on medium speed, stopping occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the extracts one at a time, completely incorporating each before adding the next. Continue beating until the batter is shiny, about 4 minutes. Pour the batter into the cake pan.

  5. Step 5

    Bake until the cake is golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. It will smell really, really good.

  6. Step 6

    Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold onto the rack. Let the cake cool completely. Well-wrapped, the cake will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Ratings

4 out of 5
340 user ratings
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Comments

Fiona M

I make a LOT of cakes and over the years I've adjusted the method to keep things simple. Yes to sifting the flour/cornstarch mix, yes to beating the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, but at that stage you can then add everything else and just beat the mixture for 3 minutes to get everything well combined and aerated. Adding one egg at a time etc risks curdling the batter which an all-at-once mix will not do. Saves time and the result is perfect.

monacake

As a general rule, for recipes requiring 1 teaspoon of rum extract, use 3 tablespoons of rum.

Kaz in DC

I made it yesterday. The only change was I switched the rum extract for an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract (no rum in my house and mint and anise did not sound like they would add yumminess). The cake came out great. Excellent rounded flavor, a rich taste. I would definitely recommend it.

Platypian

I sadly did not love this - we found the flavor of the five extracts a bit sickly sweet. Served with whipped cream which helped modulate the sweetness a bit, and could imagine it being better with fresh fruit. The texture was great (made it with cake flour rather than all-purpose cornstarch), but think there are better recipes for a good light Bundt cake out there.

Jeannette

This is similar to the cake my father-in-law made except he also added a teaspoon of nutmeg. Delicious!

SewOblio

The aroma is amazing. My guests had that first bite, ‘wow! what are these flavors’ face. However, I didn’t have any coconut extract - so mine was made with only 4 of the 5. Delish!

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Credits

Adapted from Carla Hall

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