Main Ingredients:
Low-gluten flour: 90g; Whole egg liquid: 90g (original recipe 75g); Aluminum-free baking powder: 2g (I didn’t add); Rum-soaked dried fruits: 120g (variety as desired); Roasted nuts: 120g.
Additional Ingredients:
Fermented butter: 90g (or unsalted butter); Salt: 1g (not in the original recipe); Lemon juice: as needed; Caster sugar: 60g (original recipe 90g); Water (B): 25g; Caster sugar (B): 15g; Rum (B): 35ml (I used homemade blueberry liqueur).
Flavor: Other; Technique: Baking; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Moderate.
【Improved Dried Fruit Pound Cake】: Detailed Cooking Steps
Prepare all ingredients, sift the low-gluten flour 2-3 times in advance;
Take out the rum-soaked dried fruits in advance, place them on kitchen paper to absorb surface moisture as much as possible;
After softening the butter, beat it slightly with an egg beater until it becomes smooth and has edges, then add half of the caster sugar and salt, continue beating at high speed;
Continue beating until the butter turns white, the texture is fluffy, and clear lines appear (key step);
Add the separated egg yolks into the beaten butter one by one, while placing the egg whites in another clean, oil-free, and water-free container;
Mix the egg yolks and butter evenly, the butter mixture should turn light yellow at this point, the texture should be smoother, still fluffy with edges;
Add lemon juice and continue mixing evenly;
The butter and egg yolk mixture is ready, cover with a lid or plastic wrap and set aside;
Add a few drops of lemon juice to the egg whites, beat until coarse foam forms, then gradually add the remaining caster sugar, beat the egg whites until they reach a state close to stiff peaks, where lifting the beater creates peaks that slightly droop;
At this point, invert the mixing bowl and the egg mixture should not flow out;
Take 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and fold them into the egg yolk butter mixture;
Combine them evenly using a cutting and folding method. Some lumps may appear at this stage, which is okay;
Sift in 1/3 of the low-gluten flour;
Fold in the flour evenly with a spatula, at this stage, the cake batter should resemble a cooked salted duck egg that has been flattened;
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Continue to fold in the beaten egg whites into the flour and butter egg yolk mixture in batches. The image shows the state after the second mixing, which has become very smooth;
The image shows the state of the cake batter after mixing. When lifted with a spatula, the batter should flow down like satin, with a very good gloss;
Add nuts and dried fruits, fold in with a spatula evenly;
Line the mold with parchment paper, pour the cake batter into the mold, and smooth the surface;
After preheating, place the mold in the oven, with both top and bottom heat on, at 180 degrees, bake for 45-50 minutes. Around 15-20 minutes into baking, you can take it out and make a cut in the middle of the cake with a buttered knife. While baking, prepare the sugar water for brushing the surface: mix sugar and water, boil and cool, then add rum, mix well;
Once the cracks have colored, remove the cake from the oven, tear off the parchment paper around the edges while still hot, place it on a cooling rack, and brush with the sugar water. Brush the sugar water repeatedly while hot, covering the top and sides completely;
Then let it cool naturally on the rack, seal and store in the refrigerator, the flavor is best after 2 weeks, but at least let it sit for 2-3 days.
