The Table
Baking for the life around the table.
The Table begins with baking for real occasions, whether it’s a birthday, a quiet breakfast, or a family visit. It can also be something baked for someone who needs care. The recipe may be a family one or come from a cookbook or another baker. We report what happened in the kitchen and why it belonged on the table.
latest from the tableIt’s Good, But It’s Not Mama’s
After years of trying to recreate the pound cake my grandmother was known for, one new version finally got a different answer.
My grandmother was known for her pound cake. She baked it in a tube pan and brought it to Thanksgiving and birthdays wrapped in wax paper. Even people who usually skipped dessert took a slice, and everyone made sure they got one before it was gone.
What I remember the most is the taste. There was vanilla and butter, but neither was too strong. The crumb was dense without being dry, and the sweet crust was my favorite part. If there was any left, I always took a piece home to have with my coffee the next morning.
I don’t have her recipe. But, I have spent years trying to make a cake that tastes like the one I remember.
Each new attempt, I changed one thing at a time. I tried adding cream cheese, cake flour instead of all-purpose, starting with a cold oven, and adding different amounts of sugar and extract. I knew I could rely on my dad for an honest review, so I would take a piece over and wait for his feedback. As much as he enjoyed what I baked, his response was always the same: “It’s good, but it’s not Mama’s.”
As the weather started to change, my family started asking me to bake a cake. I thought about trying to recreate my grandmother’s pound cake again. This time, I used Chef Lindsey Farr’s sour cream pound cake recipe. It included brandy, which I’ve never used in a plain pound cake and I wanted to see what it would do. According to Farr, it helps make the cake tender and moist.
I made the cake one afternoon with ingredients I already had in the house, including the brandy. I was used to creaming butter and sugar until the mixture was light and fluffy, but this recipe called for it to form a paste. After the cake cooled, I dusted it with powdered sugar.
My dad is no longer here to test this one. My daughter Kelsey was my tester instead. I don’t know if this cake reminded her of my grandmother’s or if it was just the cake she liked the best. But when she took a bite, she said, “I think this one is it.”
Maybe it’s not Mama’s cake. Maybe it’s just the pound cake I make now.
HOW WE COOK
Cooked here.
Credited plainly.
Original when there is a reason.
Sourced when someone else has already done it better.
Most of what we cook begins with someone else’s recipe. We choose it, credit and link to the source, and make it in this kitchen. Then we tell you what happened: what changed, what we’d do differently, and what belonged on the table with it.
We are not here to grade another cook’s recipe or book. We describe the experience and leave the verdict to the reader.