Toasted Pound Cake with Berries and Whipped Cream starts with a tried-and-true Bundt cake recipe that can be made ahead. Sarah Kieffer used Nordic Ware's Kaleidoscope pan for this version.

My family loves that I’m a baker, and 99% of the time I enjoy baking for them. There are those occasional days, however, when it would be nice if someone else pulled out the stand mixer. My birthday comes to mind. This coming Sunday would also be a great day to not think about baking. (Quiz for the kids: What day is it on Sunday?)

The trouble is, and I say this with all the love in my heart, that my husband and kids don’t know how to bake that well. And since baking nonstop has been my job for the past decade, I know I can easily whip something up that we will all enjoy eating and won’t be a possible kitchen disaster. So what to do?

I found a compromise that has worked for all of us: I make my favorite pound cake a day or two ahead of time (and it actually tastes better as it sits!) then, on Sunday, after sleeping in as long as I want (oh wait, I have cats, I don’t get to do that) I get up and have a delicious treat almost ready for me — all my family has to do is toast a couple slices of the cake in some butter and top it with whipped cream and berries. I may even let them use store-bought whipped cream if I didn’t get around to making any.

Some Bundt pan tips:

Grease and flour your Bundt pan well! Use a pastry brush to “paint” on soft butter, making sure to get every ridge and crease, then dust with flour. Baking spray with oil and flour in it also works well.
Knowing when to flip your Bundt cake is the trickiest part of baking one. If the cake cools too long in the pan, the sugars will begin to set and harden, and this can make removing the cake more difficult. Ten minutes is a good time frame for resting Bundts.
Cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. When you cream the butter and sugar together, you are incorporating air into the butter, which in turn helps the cake rise and gives it a good texture. Take your time, and remember that cooler air temperatures and a cold metal mixing bowl can add a few minutes to your mixing time.
Even the best stand mixer can leave a little pocket of unmixed ingredients at the bottom. Your ingredients should be completely combined before pouring the batter into a pan, so use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom often.

Toasted Pound Cake with Berries and Whipped Cream starts with a tried-and-true pound cake recipe that can be made ahead.

Toasted Pound Cake with Berries and Whipped Cream

Serves 4.

This is a great way to use up leftover Bundt cake. Store-bought pound cake and whipped cream will also work great here if you want to make things extra easy. Recipe serves 4, but you will have enough cake, whipped cream and berries to make many more servings. I love cardamom here, but you can omit it, if desired.

For the pound cake:

3 c. (426 g) all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ c. (120 g) sour cream, at room temperature
½ c. (120 g) whole milk, at room temperature
1 ¼ c. (2 ½ sticks or 283 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 c. (600 g) granulated sugar
1 tbsp. cardamom
1 ¼ tsp. salt
6 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the whipped cream:

1 ½ c. (360 g) heavy cream
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For assembling:

4 thick slices of pound cake
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Whipped cream
6 oz. (170 g) fresh raspberries

Directions

To prepare the pound cake: Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan (see Note below).

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda.

In a medium liquid measuring cup, whisk together the sour cream and milk until combined.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Beat in the granulated sugar, cardamom and salt, and continue beating until very light and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until incorporated, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the vanilla and oil and beat on low speed until combined. Add half the flour mixture until combined. Add the sour cream mixture and mix again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the remaining flour mixture, and mix until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 15 to 20 seconds.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth out the top. Bake until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 50 to 65 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack to finish cooling. The cake can be wrapped and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

To prepare the whipped cream: Place a bowl and whisk attachment from a stand mixer in the freezer for 10 minutes (or in the refrigerator for 20 minutes). Whisk together the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla on low speed for 30 to 45 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the cream has thickened and nearly doubled in volume, 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and continue whisking by hand with the whisk attachment or a handheld whisk for a few more seconds, until the whipped cream is the desired consistency. Whipping by hand gives you more control and makes it more difficult for you to whip the cream too much. Whipped cream is best used right away, but it can be made up to 2 hours ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

To assemble: Cut four thick slices of the pound cake. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Place the cake slices in the pan and toast until light golden brown on the bottom, about 3 minutes. Flip the slices in the pan and toast the other side until golden, about 2 minutes more.

Place the cake slices on individual plates and top with whipped cream and raspberries. Serve and enjoy.

Recipe notes

I recommend a 12-cup Bundt pan here, but did use a 10-cup Bundt pan for the photo, and it worked fine (I used the Nordic Ware Kaleidoscope 10-cup pan). The batter did come up all the way to the top, but I didn’t have any trouble with spilling in my oven.

If you are using White Lily flour, please note that it is a low-protein flour and doesn’t absorb liquid the same as regular all-purpose flours. Check the back of the flour bag for instructions on substituting it for regular all-purpose flours. I know it is not common here, but I have had people use it in this recipe without looking at the back of the bag and it was disastrous.

Sarah Kieffer is a Minnesota baker, cookbook author and creator of the Vanilla Bean Blog. Follow her on Instagram at @sarah_kieffer.

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Sarah Kieffer

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