Welcome to Between the Layers! I’m glad you’re here for the weekly recipe and conversation! Skillet Pound Cake, Trust & Why Guys Love Cast Iron - No. 8And Happy Pub Day to American Cake paperback!
I remember that afternoon when I poured pound cake batter into my 12-inch Griswold cast iron skillet. I am not sure what motivated me to bake a pound cake in cast iron, but I had some nice fat, fresh raspberries and could already taste those berries on that cake! I had greased the skillet first with soft butter, but honestly, I was scared I’d never be able to scrape a stuck cake out of that pan. It rose up beautifully, got all crackly and crunchy on top like pound cakes do, and then, as I inverted the pan over the cooling rack, the cake slid out of the pan onto the floor and split into warm pieces. I’m not sure who was more surprised - me or my dog! But before Ella could investigate, I slid a cookie sheet under the cake and swooped as many pieces as I could could off the floor. Why was I worried? The cast iron skillet has been around as long as the pound cake. And that crust was just so good, and the cake itself was so moist, and with the berries, the memory of it is saved forever in my mind. I learned to trust the iron skillet with everything from cake to biscuits to steak to carrots. And the results were impeccable. In fact, the high heat that cast iron craves and the resulting caramelization and sears made my cooking better.
For a year, I cooked my heart out in an old Griswold - cakes, steaks, and everything in between. That skillet was my muse.Then I bought a couple new Lodges and a Smithey and Butterpat. My SIL warned me I might pull a muscle lifting and heaving those heavy skillets in and out of the oven. But in a way, I liked the heavy-lifting. The Skillet Love book project became my workout. I trusted the skillet to not only feed me but make me strong. And I learned much. That you can cook a better steak at home in an iron skillet than you can order at a restaurant. That my indoor skillet-seared filet rivals my husband’s on the grill. That the skillet is clearly is the only way to fry chicken and okra. It’s the best way to make a Dutch Baby, a pizza, a big warm chocolate chip cookie to share, and especially a fruit pie or cobbler. What I didn’t know when I wrote Skillet LoveBut the sad part about writing a cookbook or a letter or anything else you put to words and time stamp is that after the letter or book is over, you don’t stop thinking and learning. In the case of the iron skillets, they earned new status in my kitchen and I didn’t stop cooking and cleaning them. So there came new discoveries… I now know the best way to clean the skillet is not to clean it with soap. And I know I sound like your granny saying this, but it is true. And no matter how sticky the bits get when you make a cobbler or cake in a skillet, you can pour some water in the skillet and place it over the heat, and with a wooden or plastic spatula scrape up those bits and discard. And then you can use this fabulous chain-mail sort of scrubber called The Ringer my friend Bob Henry gave me and run it across the surface to get any of the bits you missed. Rinse the skillet under hot water, place it back over the heat to dry out, then turn off the heat and add a thin rub of vegetable shortening or oil. That skillet is ready to rest. And that beautiful black veneer that has layered up from the combination of heat and oil is left untarnished, unblemished by soaps and scouring pads. It’s building up for the next meal, for the next generation. Why men love cast ironI know now, too, that carrots, summer vegetables, whether roasted or fried, are all better in cast iron. And that men, in particular, gravitate to iron. It’s heavy, it reminds them of camping and Boy Scouts, so I am told, and you know what else? Men take good care of skillets - just like they do their cars. So there really isn’t a better Father’s Day gift than an iron skillet or a meal cooked in one. Steaks, the combination of outdoors grilling and the skillet. This is how I feed my guys when they’re hungry. They love skillet pizza on the grill.
Before Skillet Love, it was mostly women who came to my book signings. But with a book on cast iron skillets, it was different. Men weren’t dragged to the signing under the ruse of “date night.” They didn’t just come for the samples. They came because they were interested in the subject. And when it came time for Q&A, they were happy to chime in with their know-how. They told me they care for the family skillets, and in fact, they don’t let the women in the house clean them. When my 23-year-old son left to move out West for the summer, in addition to camping gear and clean clothes, he packed a copy of Skillet Love and a 12-inch Lodge I had gifted him. “Just in case,” he said, “I get to cook outdoors.” Just in case you get to cook outdoors this summer, take an iron skillet with you. Make ratatouille. Go to the shore and fry flounder. Grill a hamburger. Pan-fry Silver Queen corn. Make pan con tomate and other tartines with ripe summer tomatoes. Bake a peach and blueberry upside-down cake. Salute local tastes, coast to coast, with recipes old-school and new. The iron skillet is ready. Believe me, you can trust it. What do you love to cook in an iron skillet? Fear most about an iron skillet?American Cake launches today!
If you want to read even more about pound cakes and all kinds of American Cake, or gift a copy to Dad or a cake-baking friend, my book is now in beautiful navy paperback. Here’s how to order: This week in Subscriber Friday:Father’s Day. My dad. Skillet-fried okra and how to bake the perfect biscuits in cast iron. Not a subscriber? No problem! We can change that…
And now, that Cast Iron Skillet Pound Cake recipe…This is the first pound cake I baked in an iron skillet. It is the late John Egerton's pound cake recipe, made with heavy cream, and I just love the pure and unadulterated flavor. But if you like lemon or almond in your pound cake, do make any flavor substitutions you like instead of all vanilla. Some pound cake baking rules do exist even with skillet cakes. Make sure your butter and eggs are at room temperature before you begin. Use a stand mixer to best incorporate. And use what flour you have on hand as long as it is not self-rising. I’ll give you a pass on the flour because I have baked this cake with unbleached store-brand as well as King Arthur. I’ve made it with White Lily. It is always good. Always moist and delicious. Enjoy! Makes 12 to 16 servings Prep: 20 to 25 minutes Bake: 1 hour, 5 to 10 minutes Soft butter for prepping the pan 1 cup (8 ounces; 2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature Pinch of salt 3 cups granulated sugar 6 large eggs, at room temperature 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 cup heavy cream 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 12-inch cast iron skillet with the soft butter. 2. Place the butter and salt in a large mixing bowl, and beat with an electric mixer on medium-low speed until the mixture is creamy, 1 minute. Add the sugar, gradually, while beating on medium-low. Increase the mixer speed to medium once all the sugar has been incorporated, and beat until pale in color, 1 minute. While the mixer is running on low speed, add the eggs, one at a time. Beat until each egg is throughly incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 3. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and cream alternately, until combined, beginning and ending with the flour. Blend in the vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven. 4. Bake the cake until the top is golden brown and crackly, 65 to 70 minutes. Remove the pan to a wire rack to cool at least 1 hour. 5. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, give the pan a good shake, then invert the cake once, then again, so that the cake rests right-side up on the rack. Let it cool 1 hour before slicing. To store, wrap in aluminum foil or place in a cake saver, and store for up to five days. Or wrap in foil and freeze for up to six months.
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