Alice Medrich's Kamut Pound Cake

When I am feeling strange and out-of-sorts, I like to bake. Who doesn't, you ask? I don't know. To me, baking is one of the best ways to soothe an uneasy heart and a jumpy mind. There's the gathering of the ingredients: the smooth, cool eggs, the stodgy packets of flour, the slab of butter, the pouring of thick buttermilk, perhaps, or milk. Maybe you're chopping up chocolate, focusing on the cutting board, taking care with the sharp knife, watching the shards of chocolate spray out. Or you're putting together your mixer, beaters sliding into their grooves with a satisfying snap. Out come the bowls, one - two - three, the clean measuring spoons, so full of shiny promise. You stop thinking about the end of the world or your ragged cuticles or your looming taxes or human misery. You can only focus on what's in front of you: the recipe, the equipment, the counter.

And the results are almost beside the point.

It's not the cake I crave, or the cookies, or the loaf of bread. It's the rhythm and the music of busying myself in the kitchen, of scraping batter into a prepared pan and washing a sink of dishes while whatever's in the oven starts to smell very good. It's the warmth of a hot oven and sitting in the living room reading while the apartment tightens around me, holding me safe in its cocoon. It's the feeling of having accomplished something, even if it's as small as a little loaf cake. Something other than worrying and fidgeting and generally allowing unease, like poison, into my mind.

So it's rather inconvenient when the cake I start to bake with every intention of either giving away or just ignoring turns out to be so delicious that I can't stop myself from slicing off a sliver every time I pass it. Silly cake, I think to myself. Your creation was supposed to be enough! And now it's got me contemplating cake for breakfast, which - if you know me - is rather out-of-character indeed.

The cake in question, as slim and simple as a shift dress, is a pound cake from Alice Medrich's Pure Dessert. (Has that woman ever written a bad recipe?) But it's a pound cake with a sly little twist: a measure of golden, rich Kamut flour poured in alongside the regular flour, which produces an exceptionally buttery pound cake that almost glows. Most intriguing, however, is Medrich's pound cake method: Instead of tediously creaming together butter and sugar, and then moving forward with the rest, it has you fill a bowl with dry ingredients and then dump in the cubed butter and half of the liquid ingredients at once. This you beat for exactly 60 seconds. Then you add a quarter of the remaining liquid and beat for exactly 20 seconds. You finish with the addition of the final bit of liquid and another 20-second beating, which leaves you with a silken batter ready to put poured into a tin and baked.

Boom.

Fastest pound cake ever.

It's actually a little disconcerting, especially if you planned on being leisurely in the kitchen. Well, that, and realizing just how easily you could be whipping up Kamut pound cakes at a moment's notice whenever your little aching heart desired.

And as is that wasn't enough, this pound cake bakes up into the most beautiful golden loaf. It's a work of art if you're into rustic, homey desserts (give me a slab of this over foam any day!) and would be a killer gift if you had a housewarming to go to or a dinner party. It keeps well for several days - we had it out on our counter loosely draped with parchment paper for two days and it was fine, even improving with the rest - and if wrapped tightly in plastic would stay fresh for longer.

Right after cooling, a slab sliced off the loaf is gorgeously damp and very rich. Almost too much so. But if you leave it out overnight, the loaf sort of sturdies up and reabsorbs the butter (or something) and what you get the next day are absolutely perfect slices of pound cake, sturdy but still light, fragrant but not too sweet, just as perfect eaten out of hand over the kitchen counter as they would be plated and topped with sugared berries for a pretty dessert. The crumb is super-velvety but if you pay very close attention while you let each bite melt in your mouth, you'll possibly taste the faintest shimmer of texture, almost graininess. It's lovely. Bewitching. I'm obsessed.

In fact, after I kept finding myself sneaking back into the kitchen and cutting off slice after slice, I forced myself to wrap the cake up and put her in the freezer. There was much protestation from the other member of this household who happens to have the metabolism of a 14-year old boy. Lucky him! This lady has a wedding dress to fit into this summer.

All of this to say, really, that I'm going to have look somewhere else for a long, meditative baking recipe to distract me from the rest of the world. But in the meantime, I discovered my holy grail pound cake and that was an unexpected gift.

Kamut Pound Cake
Makes 1 loaf serving 8 to 10

3 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup (3.5 ounces) sifted (before measuring) cake flour
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (1.75 ounces) whole-grain kamut flour 
¾ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons (6.5 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350º F. Line the loaf pan with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and vanilla to combine.

3. Sift the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl; if any bran is left in the sifter, add it to the mixture. Cut the butter into chunks and add it the flour mixture, then pour in half of the egg mixture. Beat on low speed with a hand-held mixer just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to high and beat for 1 minute only. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

4. Add half of the remaining egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl. Add the rest of the egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds.

5. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the surface. Bake until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. 55 to 65 minutes. (If the cake is browning too quickly, cover the loaf loosely with foil after 30 minutes.) Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then remove loaf from the pan and cool completely on the rack.

Comments

[Rivka]

Pure Dessert is my favorite dessert cookbook, and for some time, I've been meaning to get kamut flour to make this cake. You've just convinced me. Hooray!

[Monica]

Think you need a correction in your first paragraph: "This you beat for exactly 60 minutes." You meant 60 seconds, right?

Other than that, sounds fab. Now I just gotta get myself a stand mixer.

[Lauren Wilkinson]

the opening paragraphs of this post transported me. you entirely captured the transformation that happens to me when i head to the kitchen and start to bake. this cake looks lovely...indeed a reason to retreat.

[Amanda L.]

I'm sure you meant "seconds" but you typed that you must beat this cake for exactly 60 "minutes". This conjures fun images of my cats wondering what the heck that noise is for an hour.

[Luisa]

Ha! Fixed. Sorry, folks. Though can you *imagine* what that pound cake would look like?? :)

[Katrin]

You beat it for 60 minutes? ;)

[Sharmila]

I don't know why I do it. I look up your blog at times when my kitchen is miles away and the nearest one's meagre offering in terms of cooking implements is a microwave. I always tell myself the writing here is more appealing to me than the recipe, but I'm nearly always proven wrong. Sweet agony!
Now I have to find a way to occupy my mind elsewhere, and tout suite. Don't know how though. Right now, all I want is shards of Valhrona followed by a thick slice of this cake. As it turns out, I'm settling for a woefully inadequate peanut-butter sandwich that looked mighty appealing 20 minutes ago.

[Raquelita]

Oh, Luisa, you have such a rare gift with words! I loved, loved, loved reading this post.

May you find a way through the dark clouds into the light.

[Sara]

I think I'd like to try this with spelt--I'm not sure spelt and kamut are all that different, but I certainly could be wrong. (I have spelt, I don't have kamut, there's no other reason for the preference). Wasn't acquainted with Alice Medrich yet--thanks!

[Zoomie]

I'm not familiar with kamut flour - can you think where I might find some in the San Francisco area? I know it's a stretch since you lived in NY.

[courtney]

This is exactly why I bake-- something I've never really been able to put into words. Unfortunately, I often forget to give away the things I bake, and then I eat them. I once ate 2 dozen freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies in a single weekend. yikes. The universal dilemma of a baker!
And maybe I've never heard of kamut flour before. Do you think you could get it at Whole Foods?

[Sherry]

I agree totally. There is something about the process that makes baking therapeutic. Even with little kids, you can calm them or excite them, whichever is needed at the time, by asking them if they'd like to help bake muffins!

Your blog is wonderful to read and the photos are great as well!

[Luisa]

Sharmila - I hear your pain! Hope you enjoy the PB sandwich nevertheless. :)

Raquelita - thank you!

Sara - spelt and Kamut are quite different actually. Kamut has a very distinctive buttery, rich quality that makes for wonderful baked goods. It's also a lot yellower, more golden, than spelt. Also, spelt can make baked goods a little heavy, so keep that in mind if you use it.

Zoomie and Courtney - Whole Foods is a good place to look! Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mill both have Kamut flour in their line-up. Just a cursory Google search has me also turning up Rainbow Grocery in SF...

[Lisa@pobox607]

oh yum!
xo

[April]

Have you tried beer bread? I made it late last night because I didn't feel like going to bed. It has just a handful of ingredients, one being an entire bottle of beer. I highly recommend.

Can't wait to try this pound cake. I bet Market of Choice in Portland, OR has Kamut. I'm going to find out...

[Molly]

I am also comforted by the warmth of a kitchen, although I'm more of an onion dicer than a fold-in-my-dry-ingredients-sort-of- gal. There's something about listening to an old soul album and chopping an allium that comforts me.

I'm intrigued by the kamut flour. I'm going to have to track some down as this recipe sounds lovely. Thank you.

[Caroline]

Love the biscuit method used here. And I love pound cake, so I can't wait to give this a try.

[noëlle {simmer down!}]

Sigh... I have a wedding dress to fit into this summer as well, so I've been abstaining from anything with refined flour, potatoes, white rice, etc. (I know, I know, the dreaded "D" word, but it is working.) Luckily I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so sugar isn't too hard to avoid, but I do love to bake and have been missing it. Last week was a friend's birthday and I was so happy to have an excuse to make a cake!

[Jessica]

If I could be anyone else, just for a day, I would be you, Luisa Weiss. Your life seems so wonderful.

[Dorothee]

Love that your posting so regularly - And am hoping you can point me to a store here in Germany selling that flour with the wondrous qualities! Reformhaus? Bio-Laden? Normaler Supermarkt? Oder muss ich KDW beim nächsten Berlin-Besuch aufsuchen? I hope you didn't import the stuff, because I have to be at a picnic this weekend and the cake would be a wonderful mitbringsel.

[Melanie]

I second Dorothee's comment! Also, is kamut the same in German and English? LEO let me down this time and didn't have a suggestion for kamut!

[Luisa]

Jessica - that is very sweet of you to say, but I assure you my life is just as wacky and frustrating as anyone else's. :)

Dorothee - here in Berlin, I buy Kamut flour at a store called the Mehlstübchen in Schöneberg.

Melanie - yes, it's the same word! It's actually a copyrighted name.

[sara]

in your past life, you were a sales lady, i promise you that :) I don't even like pound cake and i want it!

[Molly]

A wedding dress!!!!

Am I the only one who missed the engagement announcement. Foolish me, then, for my gushing, now, but my most hearty congratulations, Luisa! And to marry a man with the metabolism of a 14 year old, and named Max, to boot. How perfect!

Really, what I wanted to say, before my enthusiasm got the best of me, was that i've had this medrich recipe dog-eared forever, even have a bag of kamut in my cupboard, but for some (ridiculous) reason never jumped. for shame. i shall remedy my error, post-haste.

[Chihiro]

I'm having a butter hangover from too many Parisian croissants and this still looks tempting!

[Salley]

Luisa, do you think this would travel well in the mail if wrapped tightly? Am trying to think of a special thank you gift!

[Robin (Hippo Flambe)]

If only you had posted this before my trip to the store, the one where I bought rye flour to make pumpernickel bagels. Adding kamut to my flour stock really means I am going to need a flour section in my freezer.

Once I buy the flour I know we will eat this for breakfast. I think pound cake makes a wonderful breakfast. Really it is like a large, loaf shaped muffin when you look at the ingredients.

[Julia of Randomly Yours, Julia]

I feel almost giddy with the number of new posts lately. The minute I saw Alice Medrich I knew I was in trouble.
So excited that you are getting married!

[Allison]

First time commenter! Posts like this is why I love your blog so much! The way you write about cooking is so beautiful and speaks to exactly how I feel about it. Most of the time I bake it's not the result I crave, but the act of making it.

Oh and your description of this pound cake makes me sure I absolutely have to make it for the result. Looks amazing.

[Rachelino]

Alice Medrich has never written a bad recipe. In the last month I have made her cocoa brownies with browned butter and walnuts and individual chocolate souffles from BitterSweet.
I feel the same way with baking. If I am feeling especially jumpy, nothing calms me down like baking something. When I heard my friend was going into labor (but not going to the hospital yet) I ran to the kitchen and made two batches of muffins for the nurses.

[ms. noziskova]

Ahhh...Alice Medrich is a *genius* or rather a fairy or goddess..or something with a more magical connotation. She doesn't come up with recipes, but rather spells - there's always some phantasmal flip-of-the-wrist element - how does she dream up these things??

At any rate - LOVE the post & the sound of this cake... it went to the top of my "to make" queue - yum!

[Kerry]

I'm with Molly - Congratulations o your engagement! I guess taking the big leap to Germany was the right step ;)

[Sasa]

Me too - I made those mint chocolate brownies from David Lebovitz yesterday and the butter and chocolate made me forget just for a minute that some people are looking for bodies in the snow.

[Luisa]

Sara - ha, maybe! :)

Molly - thank you!

Salley - it depends how far you're sending it. If tightly wrapped in plastic and aluminum foil (wait until it cools completely, but then wrap it up right away), I think it'd probably stay fresh for about 5 days.

Julia - thank you! :)

Allison - that makes me happy to read. Thanks.

Rachelino - wow, you're a good friend! Those lucky nurses. And lucky friend!

Ms. Noziskova - I'm glad you agree.

Kerry - thanks!

Sasa - it's just a one-two punch, isn't it. Over and over again. xo

[Catherine]

I obviously missed the engagement anouncement too- congratulations!

The cake looks delicious. I've never seen kamut before, only ever heard of it, I always imagined it would be one of those brown, gritty, hippy flours which made everything taste healthy- how wrong I was! I'm going to have to hunt out some kamut flour because I'm already dreaming up a million possibilities for this cake., I love how poundcakes can go from breakfast (and yes, cake is perfectly acceptable for breakfast!) to dessert with just a little dressing up from some berries and cream.

[Alex]

This is beautiful - the cake and the writing. Baking is one of the most soothing things for me also; I'd take an afternoon in a warm kitchen over a spa day anytime.

[Agnes]

Sounds lovely. But what is cake flour called in Germany? We don't have it in Denmark (I think) but I might order it online or take it back with me on my next trip to Germany...

[Luisa]

Catherine - thank you. Kamut is a smooth as silk, pale yellow flour. Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain has some wonderful recipes using it, too.

Alex - thank you.

Agnes - cake flour is called Kuchenmehl here. But if you don't have it in Denmark, you really can easily substitute all-purpose flour (which is what I did, actually). Using cake flour would result in an even lighter, more velvety cake, but it's just wonderful with all-purpose, too.

[Lindsey @DandyDishes]

You described perfectly what we all enjoy so much about cooking, sure the food tastes great, but it's the process we love the most. Thank you for so eloquently wording what I love most about the kitchen.

[Kaja]

I'd like to add my thanks to all those above for making pound cake sound delectable. You have a truly beautiful way with language.
Cheers from Slovenia!

[Jen]

I agree with another poster that you described the time in the kitchen just as I feel when I'm cooking. Baking is a new endeavor for me, I’ve always been discouraged due to the high altitude I am in. Lately, I have taken it on and researched the web, books and friends on what works best for them. I’m hoping the knowledge I have gained will help me be a better baker. So far, so good! So I may be giving this cake a try with my high altitude conversions and crossed fingers and toes! 

[Katie]

I love the way you describe getting lost in the baking process--cooking and baking can be so therapeutic...your words inspire me to bake something--right now.

Your blog is one of my favorite food blogs, by the way.

[Sprinzette @ Ginger and Almonds]

I'm not sure I'll look as "slim and simple as a shift dress" if I eat this, but it does look lovely.

Always a pleasure to read your posts...

[Amy]

Ahh, I cut out Melissa Clark's coconut oil pound cake with almonds and lemon zest recipe from the New York Times a couple weeks ago, from her article featuring coconut oil. I thought it looked so enchanting, but so does this! I can't make up my mind and I think this just means I'll have to make two different pound cakes to compare...? :)

Lovely pictures! The crumb looks delicious.

[mollykath]

Oh my, pound cake is quite literally my favorite dessert(ish) treat, ever. I am not a frequent baker but I will be making this SOON. (And, I also want to offer up the following recipe; I am evangelical about it - and I am not evangelical about baking - but if you like pound cake, try this one: http://bit.ly/eyyF7V - it is from one of my favorite cookbooks)

[Charlotte]

Luisa, you crack me up. And if you must bake, you can send me one of these anytime. I know what you mean tho' - I once baked about 6 dozen muffins prior to having surgery - I filled my freezer with muffins and gave them away in the end because I got sick of muffins. Now I think I must make a pound cake or a loaf cake or some kind of cake....

[Hospitable Scots Bachelor]

You are making me sooo jealous that I do not have "baking therapy" at my disposal!

[Wave Watcher]

How well you have put into words why I bake. It is always partly therapeutic as well as for the treats. I loved the Benne wafers earlier.

Do you think it's possible to bake these as muffins or in a cake pan, rather than a loaf pan? I like to put a lemon glaze on my pound cakes. That bit of tang hits the spot.

[Ellie @ Kitchen Wench]

I love Alice Medrich's books and recipes - they are always wonderful and she's never let me down yet! I haven't managed to get my hands on this book yet, but I think I might try and track down this kamut powder first as I've never even heard of it before!

[Faye]

You put all my feelings about baking into perfect words. Thank you! Your writing is just lovely!