For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The first 3 recipes in the book are all pound cake and I wasn't convinced that one pound cake differed that much from another pound cake so I figured this week's cake was mainly to practice all the steps from last week.

The recipe: Brown Sugar Pound Cake


And I was right about that, making it was pretty much the same as last week. But I was wrong about one pound cake not being that much different from another pound cake. The brown sugar gave this cake such a rich flavour and I loved the addition of nuts.

If you read about my week one cake last week, you'll know I thought I slightly overcooked the sour cream pound cake. So I was ready this time. Ten minutes before it was supposed to be done, I checked it with a cake tester. And it came out dry. So I checked it again and again and again just to be sure. And it was fine all those times too. So I took it out.

And was so disappointed, 2 hours later when it had cooled, to find out that it wasn't quite cooked. Not sure what to think of the completely clean cake tester but this one definitely needed the full cooking time.

Recipients: This one had a couple potential recipients - a playdate on Monday and a mom's group on Tuesday. But there is no way I was taking anyone an undercooked cake so this one was all for us.

Verdict: The flavour was amazing! Which makes it even more disappointing that I didn't cook it long enough. I will definitely be making this one again, except cooking it for the full time this time around.

The recipe also comes with an optional Cream Cheese Frosting. I didn't make the frosting and I really don't think it needs it. It was a little on the sweet side as it is and I think adding the frosting would have made it too much.

Up next: Missy G's Sweet Potato Pound Cake (not so sure about that one).

For a fleeting moment when I read Julie & Julia, the thought ran through my head that I should do a project like that. Except that I don't enjoy cooking that much and there were a whole lot of gross ingredients in that cookbook. And then I saw the movie and the thought went through my head again. And again, I gave it a miss because I really don't enjoy cooking.

Baking, however, is a different matter. I love to bake. So a few weeks ago when I came across the book All Cakes Considered, I knew I'd found my project.


All Cakes Considered is a recipe book of, you guessed it, cakes - one recipe a week for the year. It starts with an easy recipe and gets progressively more complicated as you work your way through.

I was hooked for a couple of reasons...

1. I take a lot of shortcuts. I know that butter and eggs should be at room temperature before you use them. But putting the butter in the microwave for 20 seconds is almost the same thing, isn't it? And dunking the eggs in warm water for a few minutes works, doesn't it? I'm also not really careful about how exact my measurements are. The instructions in the first recipe are unbelievably detailed. With each step she walks you through exactly what you need to do and for how long.

2. I tend to make the same things. I love to bake but I usually make the same few things (or the same types of things) over and over. So going through the book in order means I'll try lots of recipes I ordinarily would have skipped right by.

So that's my project. On to week 1.....

The recipe: Sour Cream Pound Cake (pictured above)

This cake is pretty simple but it took me twice as long to make it as it usually would - and it was definitely worth it. Taking the time to beat the butter, sugar and eggs for as long as I did made for such a consistent, fluffy batter.

I cooked the cake for the length of time stated in the recipe but I think it was slightly over-cooked which is a little surprising because my oven usually runs a bit cold.

Recipients: My aunt and uncle visiting from the Island. It was a big cake and I wondered what we would do with it all but a close friend was having a really tough week so I wrapped up a big chunk of the cake and put it in with a meal I was taking over for her and her family.

Verdict: Good but super-sweet (and I have a wicked sweet tooth). Next time I'd make it with a bit less sugar. It was also a touch on the dry side from being over-cooked. I think I'll try pulling it out 10 minutes earlier next time.

Up next: Brown Sugar Pound Cake.