Whipped Cream Crunch Cake, or what I like to call Sesame Crunch Cake, is an old and often overlooked recipe from The 1969 Pillsbury Bake-Off. It’s a whipping cream pound cake made with sesame seeds toasted in butter. Its creator, Frances Alkire of Rolling Hills Estates, California, called it “Whipped Cream Crunch Cake” to highlight the whipped cream in the batter and the crunch from the "unusual" ingredient of sesame seeds.
I really need to take a new and better picture of the cake. This is a great pound cake and the boring picture doesn't do it any favors. The original cake is double this, baked in a Bundt pan and has a glaze so the presentation is definitely more impressive than above. But for us, the loaf pan size was just the right amount. Not that it's a smaller loaf -- an 8x4 inch. This size loaf pan is getting harder and harder to come by, as larger loaf pans are more popular. The disposable ones are often 8x4.
You should try this one! We really liked it, so I'll make it again and post a new photo soon. I may make it as a half cake again, but use a six inch Bundt instead of a loaf pan.
Recipe
Sesame Crunch Whipped Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
- ¼ cup sesame seeds
- ½ tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 cup divided use granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 11/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons 7.2 oz all-purpose flour
Glaze
- ¾ cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla
- ½ tablespoons softened butter
- 1 ½ tablespoons cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray an 8x4 inch loaf pan with flour-added cooking spray.
- In a small saucepan or skillet, combine the sesame seeds and butter and cook over medium, stirring often, until sesame seeds are aromatic and just starting to brown. Remove from heat and let cool.
- In a mixer (I used the stand mixer) beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and continue beating until whites are stiff. Scrape egg whites into another bowl and use the stand mixer bowl for the next step.
- Add the 1 cup of cream and remaining ½ cup of sugar and beat for about 4 minutes or until thickened. Beat in the vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the baking powder, salt and flour. At this point, the batter is pretty thick. Fold about ⅓ of the beaten egg white into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest, doing your best to keep the batter airy. It’s a thick batter, so this is tricky. Stir in the toasted sesame seeds.
- Bake on center rack for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely.
- Make the glaze. Combine all glaze ingredients and beat until smooth, adding the cream as needed.
Anna says
Hi Emily!
I'm so glad I was able to help you find something you've been missing. Feel free to email me if you need me to type up the full version and send it to you.
Emily DeJan says
Hey, girl! I collected these cook-off cookbook/magazines when I was a kid. The whipped cream sesame crunch cake was the cake I became known for as a young baker and everyone always requested it from me. It is the most delicious and awesome cake. I've been looking for the recipe for years as many of my old recipe books have just disintegrated from use and I never thought to copy my faves down. Thanks so much for posting it (even halved). I can't wait to try it again and see if it still is as great as it once was (you know ingredients aren't always the same as they were years ago). Thanks many times over !! 😀
Katy says
I love sesame seed bagels... so I'm willing to bet I'd love this too!
I found my 8x4" loaf pans at a Ross (overstock store very similar to TJ Maxx) - they are Chicago Metallic with the "folded" ends, not rounded. So you might try looking at one of those places first, saves a lot of money sometimes! (That's also where I find vanilla bean paste, baking emulsions, sprinkles, all sorts of things depending on the latest stock - what a deal!)
Anna says
Gloria, I've been researching pans. It seems my little foil pan is 8x4 at the top, but only about 7x3 at the bottom. It's smaller than my others, but it seems to be the perfect size for recipes that are half the size of a Bundt or tube pan or older recipes that make two loaves. At any rate, I think it gives me a nicer, higher, more rounded loaf than the pans that are 9x5 at the top and only 8x4 at the base. I may order this one. It has great reviews and seems to be about the same size as the little foil pan.
http://www.amazon.com/Parrish-Magic-Line-Inch-Medium/dp/B001TH8YU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1305382538&sr=1-1
Rebecca, thanks for the tip about using the spice/coffee grinder. I thought about doing that, but decided against it since I knew I'd be adding whipped cream and berries to the cake anyway. It's a good tip, though.
Nancy, I get my best cookbooks from Todd. He likes to browse the Half Price Books store at lunch and manages to find treasures. The best ones are the little Pillsbury books, but those are collector's items that I rarely see at Half Price Books. I usually get those from actual collectors who've bought them over the years and are kind enough to share extras since they know I'll take good care of them.
Nancy Baggett says
I, too, love looking through old cookbooks. The product promotion ones from the early 20th century often show the cook (always a woman) in a dress, apron, high heels and pearls, and the children, usually girls, are dressed up and in aprons, too. And you're right, the recipes are always interesting to look at.
BTW, loved your post about your daughter making skillet cookies. I spent many hours as a kid making cookies with my cousin next door--brought back great memories.
Rebecca says
Sesame seeds, yummy!
I've had good luck making my own powdered sugar out of regular granulated sugar by using my food processor to make larger amounts and my spice grinder for smaller amounts.
Yet another Anna says
Oooh! I love the flavor of sesame seeds. Need to try this one. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Anna says
Gloria, yes! You can really taste the sesame flavor. As for pans, I am having a really hard time finding metal 8x4 pans at local stores. I need to order one off the Internet, but I keep forgetting. As for brands, I like Chicago Metallic a lot, but I haven't checked to see if they make 8x4 inch loaf pans.
Gina, I liked it because it was simple but interesting. Plus it was a Bake-Off finalist which is always a good thing.
Gina says
An interesting twist on pound cake. Sounds tasty!
Gloria says
I like the idea of adding sesame seeds-they are healthy for us plus it reminds me of the sesame candy we used to eat as kids! Was the sesame flavor detectable?
I had to throw out my 8x4 pans-they were cheap metal and rusted after about 4 months! Do you have a recommendation for a type of pan? After I retire in June I plan on taking inventory of just about everything including my bakewear.