Cold Oven Pound Cake

About 7 months ago I came across an interesting cookbook titled "America's Best Lost Recipes." I knew from one recipe that was published a few years ago in a newspaper that this cookbook was something I would like to have. Unfortunately the book's price on line was too steep for my budget. However, recently I searched for the book on Amazon and the price was right...under $10 after shipping and handling. So after examining the recipes cover to cover, I decided to try this recipe first. It sounded extremely rich, but with 8 ingredients, I thought it would be an easy start when tackling this cookbook.

Cold Oven Pound Cake*
America's Best Lost Recipes

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim or 1% milk*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated, room temperature
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups sugar

1.   Adjust an oven rack to the middle position. (Do not heat oven.) Grease and flour a 12-cup tube pan. Whisk the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk the milk, vanilla, and egg yolks in a large measuring cup.
2.   With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Beat the butter, shortening, and sugar together on medium-high speed until fluffy, (about 2 minutes.) Reduce the speed to low, and add the flour mixture and milk mixture alternately in two batches, beating after each addition until combined. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg whites. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and place in the cold oven.
3.   Heat the oven to 300 degrees and bake the cake for 45 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325 and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the cake, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely, at least 1 hour. Serve. (The cake can be stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

*Note: Starting the cake in a cold oven sounds like a recipe for disaster. But instead it helps the cake develop a nice crust and delicate crumb. We tried baking the cake in both a slightly warm oven (the oven had been used for a previous recipe) and a preheated oven. The truly cold oven cake had the sturdiest crust of all. It is important to use skim or 1% milk for this recipe. Using 2% or whole milk will result in a heavier cake, with less height.

Making this pound cake was relatively easy (just a lot of dirty dishes to clean). But that didn't matter in the end, because the taste was excellent. I would make this cake again.