Grain-Free Pound Cake

Plus learn all of my grain-free favorite baking brands!

Hello, friends!

This pound cake is the first official recipe request in my new video series, Make It Good. Our community member Danita left a request in the comments of the Brookie video, and her request was echoed by so many others that I decided to pick it first. 

“What I want to contribute as a possible future reproduction is a pound cake. I so miss my grandmothers. She made one for every Holiday and sometimes, just because. It is surely a family heirloom tradition.” -Danita

---

I always start by thumbing through recipes I had previously developed. Aila’s Birthday Cake and my Cranberry Orange Muffins were the first two I thought of when it came to texture, crumb, and sweetness. From there, I found the most popular pound cake recipe on the internet and used a standard gluten-free flour blend in place of his regular flour and good old-fashioned sugar and butter so I could get an idea of what Pound Cake should taste like.

I hadn’t had it in years, but my mom used to use it as strawberry shortcake base all the time growing up. Most grain-free breads are quick breads and have a similar texture to pound cake, so I felt like this may be an easy-er task than some. But it still took 9 renditions because I wanted to get the crumb and the rise just right.

Before we dive in to the decisions I made while testing, be sure to watch me make version 3 (of 9!) of this cake. You’ll learn why I chose the grain-free flours I used, why the beating time given in a recipe is important, why I chose a food processor over a stand mixer, and more!

---

---

A method to the testing madness

I tried two different methods to start - the birthday cake used a method of whipping the egg whites separately to keep the cake white in color and give it a better rise and more air bubbles. The other muffin I tried used a food processor to grind the flours down to a finer consistency that more closely mimicked all-purpose flour. I do this often times because, no matter how “finely ground” the package of almond flour says it is, it’s never as finely ground as all-purpose. After testing both, we went with the less fussy version - the food processor. The texture was spot on, and the initial rise and cracking of the top of the cake was perfect.

After testing it a few more times for taste and sweetness, I sent the recipe to Danita. After hearing her response, I went back in and changed the sweetener to only maple syrup. I suspected the coconut sugar was turning the loaf a deeper amber color, and I wanted to achieve a whitish-golden hue that pound cake traditionally has. 

“It was light and airy. Not heavy at all. I really enjoyed it and so did the non-Paleo eaters who tried it. The taste was really good and it wasn’t too sweet.” -Danita

I love where we landed, and I hope you do too! 

---

Becoming a paid subscriber allows me to continue developing brand new recipes and creating instructional videos for you, free of all ads and sponsors!

---

Pound Cake Leftovers? Unlikely!

I doubt you’ll have leftovers, but if you find yourself with some pound cake to spare, it is fabulous cut into cubes and used in a trifle with whipped coconut cream, or honey-sweetened yogurt and layers of fruit.

It also worked beautifully in my Baked Blueberry French Toast recipe from my very first cookbook Against all Grain (page 48).

Not all ingredients are created equal : My favorite grain-free baking brands

I always get lots of questions about the brands I use when I make a new recipe. Some flours are finer than others, and some brands are more absorbent or more dry than others. If you want it to turn out exactly like mine, here are a list of the specific brands I used for testing:

• Almond Flour

• Coconut Flour

• Arrowroot Powder

• Cashew Based Dairy Free Butter Sticks 

• Lactose-Free Sour Cream 

• Maple Syrup 

I can’t wait to hear about all your baking adventures this week!

xo

Danielle

---

So many delicious recipes are going to be hitting your inboxes soon, I can’t help but give you a sneak peek! Here’s a taste (see what I did there?) of what you can expect in the weeks to come:

• Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

• Instant Pot Pesto Pasta

• Chili-Salmon Citrus Salad

• Chocolate Protein Pudding

---

• Nut-Free Yello Cake (Celebrations, p. 155)

• Paleo Fudge Jar Cakes

• Aila’s Birthday Cake

• Cinnamon-Swirl Cake

---

Grain-Free Pound Cake

Servings 12