Years ago, in a moment of Halloween excitement and questionable judgment, I decided to "improve" Maida Heatter's classic pound cake by tossing in a handful of Halloween Oreos.
The bright orange cookie bits turned this elegant, buttery cake into something that looked like a construction site accident. Delicious? Sure. Dignified? Absolutely not.
Today, I'm giving this incredible cake the respect it deserves.
No Oreos. No gimmicks. Just pure, buttery, vanilla-almond perfection, exactly the way Maida intended.
(Although if you really want to relive the Halloween Oreo chaos, I'll look the other way.)
No-Oreo Version
For those of you who choose not to muck up Maida's cake with Oreos, here's the plain version as I make it. To get Maida's non-paraphrased original version, you'll need a copy of Maida Heatter's Great Cakes.
Pound Cake Tips for Great Results
Pound cake is simple, but a few little details make a big difference.
Make sure your butter, eggs, and sour cream are at cool room temperature — not straight from the fridge, but not warm either. Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed so the cake bakes up light, but without "sad streaks", gummy streaks caused by mixing on too high a speed.
And don't rush the cooling process. Let the cake rest in the pan for about 15 minutes before unmolding to help it hold its beautiful Bundt shape.
Also, use a light-colored metal Bundt pan if you have one to prevent overbrowning.
Recipe
Maida Heatter's Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (330 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter, cool room temp (230 grams)
- 1 ½ cups sugar (300 grams)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 cup sour cream, cool room temp 260 grams
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan.
- Weigh the flour, then whisk in the soda and salt. Whisk until thoroughly blended.
- in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed.
- Beat in extracts.
- Remove bowl from stand and add the flour mixture ½ cup at a time, alternating with the sour cream. Stir or fold with a heavy duty scraper to mix.
- Return to mixer stand and beat with the paddle on medium low just to make sure everything is thoroughly blended.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake tests done.
Natalie says
What a perfect idea for Halloween! I might steal it for my party 😉
Karen says
I've made this recipe from Maida Heatter's book many times, it's delicious. But I've never used the colorful oreos! If I can find them I think I'll make this for Halloween.
PS The glaze for this cake is really good, 6 oz semisweet chocolate, 2 ounces butter, 1 Tbsp cream.
Kristen says
This is such a good idea! I made a cake like this with regular oreos not too long ago... adding the halloween oreos is brilliant!
Anna says
I don't know what a chili dump is and am scared to look for that on Google ;).
Anyway. Good news, Jennifer! I sliced this cake up this morning and sent it off to my husband's office. It sliced perfectly. Wait a few hours or overnight, though. I think it slices better after it rests.
Jennifer says
I'm going to a "*chili dump" in a couple of weeks and am planning to make this for dessert. One question, like most bundt cakes, does it hold up well to slicing and eating sans fork?
(*everyone brings ingredients and it all gets dumped together to make a big pot of chili)
Lisa magicsprinkles says
This sounds so good, it's Spoooooky!
Mary says
Anna,
I love Maida Heatter's recipes and this looks like so much fun. Wish I were a kid again! Fuzz is one lucky little girl.
giz says
Kids just make you have more fun. And that's why I don't ever want to grow up. You're having wwwaaayyyy too much fun with this cake - I wanna play too.
Anna says
Oh yeah! They are normal flavor. They are, however, more like Double Stuff and the filling is softer than regular Oreos.
clumbsycookie says
Such a fun cake! Those are just normal flavour oreos but orange? Wouldn't it be awesome that they were pumpkin? I can't wait to hear all about the Halloween party!
Erin Mylroie says
I love hosting a Halloween party every year. I already have those Oreos just sitting in the cupboard...waiting.
Katrina says
Yum! You know I'm all about Oreos in everything right now! 😉 Bring on the Halloween ideas!
Anonymous says
All of your recipes look AMAZING! I have a long list of ones to try!
Didn't you say/write that you can just eat one or two bites of all these yummy sweets? I don't have such will power and cannot imagine what would happen with all these sweets in my house!
Debbie G says
I am definitely making this one. What a great idea!
bakingblonde says
I would not have thought to add oreos to a bundt cake! Love it!!
Rina says
October sounds exciting - are you planning to visit Levain? I hope so!
VeggieGirl says
So cute!! Good luck planning Fuzz's party!!
Sara says
Looks delicious as always!
Jennifer says
Wow, that looks great! I really, really like pound cakes/bundt cakes. And I (unfortunately!) love OREO's.
Jennifer