Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Rum Glaze

Cream Cheese Pound Cake with(out) Rum Glaze - made April 4, 2020 from Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri

One of the ironies (to me) of the pandemic is I've been baking less while I see all my friends baking more. And not just them, if I go by the shortages of flour, sometimes sugar and often yeast. I've been baking less because I'm not sending out homemade cookies and brownies in military care packages for now (due to expected long shipment times) and instead have been sending out storebought packaged treats like oreos, Biscoff cookies, Speculoos and any other munchies I can find at Trader Joe's when I go grocery shopping.

I can't as easily explain the increased amount of baking everyone else is doing but presumably keto and low carbing have gone out the window and everyone is discovering what I've known for years: baking is comfort and we all need all the comfort we can get these days. More (baking) power to all of you; welcome to the club.

I did, however, finally did bake something a couple of weeks ago. It was mostly because I had an 8-ounce block of cream cheese I bought back in January and its expiration date was coming up. I hate letting any food go to waste, especially these days, so I turned to this recipe from Nick Malgieri that I've been meaning to try out for months.

All I can say is I'm sorry I waited so long. This was delicious. If you like pound cakes, this is a good one to try in terms of both taste and texture. Some pound cakes can be a little heavy (if not beaten enough when you cream butter and sugar together, if you use too much flour, or if you don't bake long enough) or dry (if you use too much flour and/or bake too long). The addition of cream cheese in the batter will mitigate those risks and gives the cake a nice mouthfeel.

The tang of the cream cheese is muted by the sugar. I recommend eating this warm (not hot) for the best texture. As you can see from the pictures, I skipped the glaze as I prefer pound cakes plain. This was so good it doesn't really need a glaze but I've included the recipe for it for anyone who wants to add it.

Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large eggs, room temperature

Rum Glaze
3 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons white rum
2 tablespoons water

One 12-cup tube or Bundt pan, buttered and floured

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder; set aside.
3. Place the butter, cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed with the paddle attachment until very light, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in 4 of the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour, then another egg, beating until smooth after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in another third of the flour then, after the flour has been absorbed, the last egg. Scrape again and beat in the remaining flour.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. 
6. Bake for 65-75 minutes, or until cake is well risen, cracked on top, golden color and a toothpick inserted in the thickest part emerges clean.
7. Cool the cake in the pan for a few minutes then unmold it onto a rack and turn right side up to finish cooling.
8. Make the glaze: combine the sugar, rum and water in a medium saucepan and heat just until lukewarm. Drizzle over the cake with a spoon or pour glaze over to cover the entire cake.