Double Vanilla Pound Cake

The Husband got me the Cake Bible a couple of weeks back.

After I attended the bread making course, the teacher recommended the Bread Bible and Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I thought I should give bread baking a rest for now, since I have not gotten an electric mixer (can't decide which one to get) and kneading by hand is really quite tiring.

So. I opted for the Cake Bible instead.. and so The Husband got it for me.

I have been meaning to start baking... but of course, as usual, things cropped up here and there... I forgot to get milk from the supermarket and blah blah blah.

I finally managed to try out the double vanilla pound cake recipe today, except lazy me used self-raising flour instead of the "Cake Flour plus baking powder and salt" recommended by Rose.
Using cake flour and baking powder is supposed to make the cake even finer.

But the end result is pretty good. It was really melt in your mouth. And I am so glad I used real vanilla. Cos it really gave the cake a heavenly scent and the little pods adds a teeny weeny bit of "crunchiness" to the cake. (You can feel the little tiny bits of vanilla beans as you eat the cake!) Plus the cake

The Husband had 2 slices... so I figured, that means it really is quite okay.

Next time, I'd try it with the cake flour mixture.

Here's the recipe I used.

Ingredients
3 tbsp of milk
3 large eggs
1 tsp of vanilla (Original recipe says 1.5 tsp)
1 vanilla bean (I scrapped out the beans and threw the pod into my sugar so that I can have vanilla sugar.)
1.5 cups self-raising flour plus a pinch of salt (or 1.5 cup cake flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt)
3/4 cup sugar
164 grams softened unsalted butter

What I did
1. Scald the milk in a small saucepan. (til you see tiny bubbles in the milk)
2. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrap the grains into the milk (The recipe says to also throw the bean into the milk but I didn't do that since I didn't want a mess.)
3. Let the milk cool to room temperature
4. Mix the eggs, vanilla-infused milk and vanilla extract
5. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well
6. Pour half the egg mixture into the large bowl (dry ingredients) and mix well (for about 3 minutes for me, beating by hand - book says 1 minute on medium speed)
7. Pour half of the remaining egg mixture into the large bowl and beat well (for about 1 minute by hand - book says 20 seconds)
8. Pour the rest of the egg mixture into the bowl and beat well (again, for about another 1 minute by hand - book says 20 seconds)
9. Scrape down sides
10. Pour batter into a disposable aluminium pan (book says greased and floured pan)
11. Bake in a preheated oven at 177 deg C for 55 to 65 minutes, till cake is cooked. I covered the cake with an aluminium foil after 30 minutes to prevent over-browning, removing the foil just 5 minutes before I took it out.
12. Cook on rack for at least 10 minutes before cutting

Actually, the book is a lot more detailed - even tells you the type of pan to use, so it is really quite fool-proof (Very good for me).

Most of the recipes (esp those not in basic cake section) looks too complex.. but I suppose I will try them one day when I'm in a "feeling very detailed" kind of mood.