Back in the good old days, a pound each of basic baking ingredients was quite literally mixed in a bowl to get what became known as the pound cake. One can never go wrong with an old-fashioned pound cake. Soft, pillowy and yet firm when warm from the oven, a pound cake tastes even better unadorned and stale a couple of days later. With the Aussie grape season fast coming to a close in the end of May, I tend to buy grapes even more and use them liberally in salads, pickles, smoothies, jams and even a lassi. Grapes fare well when paired with ingredients that tone down their sweetness and in doing so accentuate their glorious taste. Having tried every fruit out there as a topping for my pound cake, a grape pound cake seemed like the next logical thing to do.
I have used my basic pound cake recipe and livened things up by adding a generous amount of citrus zest. I have used coconut sugar for this pound cake which not only imparts a beautiful caramel tone quite fitting for autumn but also marries well with the juicy grape topping and sour base notes. As always, a gentle dusting of icing sugar suffices for this dense cake which was made for baking, packing away in a container and bringing along to a picnic in the sun.
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CARAMEL GRAPE POUND CAKE
A dense old-fashioned cake baked with coconut sugar to render golden caramel tones is offset with the sweetness of the juicy red grape topping and the tartness of lemon zest.
Serves -8
Ingredients
250g butter, softened
1 ½ cups (240g) coconut sugar
5 large eggs (325g)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (235g) sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla powder/extract
zest of 1 large lemon
2 ½ cups (375g) plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup (150g) red seedless grapes
2 tablespoons flour to toss grapes in
icing sugar to serve
Method
Pre-heat oven to 180C. Line a 25 X 9 cm base measurement loaf tin with baking paper. (My tin is 10 cm high).
Combine sugar, eggs, salt and butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric beater until pale and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add sour cream and beat for another minute until mixed and smooth. Add flour, baking powder, vanilla and zest. Mix with a wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter in the prepared loaf tin. Place grapes and the extra flour in a small bowl. Toss to coat the grapes lightly with flour. Place grapes evenly over the top of the cake batter.
Bake in the pre-heated oven at 180C for approximately 45 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 170C and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden on top and cooked through when tested with a cake skewer down the middle. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin.
Serve with a dusting of icing sugar.
Will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Notes
Coconut sugar can be substituted with rapadura or raw sugar.
For a truly indulgent celebration cake, drizzle with caramel sauce.
If you have smaller sized loaf tins, divide the batter into two tins equally and bake for slightly shorter duration than mentioned in the recipe.
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Note - This recipe was developed for Aussie Grapes.
Thank you for this Sneh! I was looking to make a pound cake today and your recipe looks amazing! (a pound of butter scares the crap out of me... glad that we have things like sour cream and greek yoghurt these days to mix it up a bit?!) Grapes are indeed to so yummy at this time of year, I'll be sad when they're all gone!
Lovely! Love how the grapes cooked through. Can't wait to try a slice or two - each hehe...
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
Love this recipe Sneh! Not many recipes call for grapes - they're underrated as an ingredient. Might make a healthy twist of this into muffins - perfect weekend project! Sal x
Hi Sneh
I have the caramel grape pound cake baked this afternoon.
the cake is become very tasty.
I didn't have enough ordinary flower and so i have more and have 200gr almond flour used.
What size baking pan do you use?
The baking Tin mine was 23 cm so I divided the batter about 2 forms.
I wish you a good weekend, greetings from Gerie Te Velde
Gerie I have just added the tin measurements in the recipe. Mine was similar to yours. I am glad it turned out great for you with the almond flour. Happy weekend! x
This cake is exquisite! I'm always looking for ways to bake with grapes and the coconut sugar and lemon here sound superb. What a beauty. (Also I'm in love with that long plate!)
I love a good pound cake sometimes, as you say, the simplicity of such a dessert is irresitible. Especially when fruit is added. So gorgeous.
This poundcake is so gorgeous, Sneh. Absolutely lovely. <3
I love how creative this is! I've never considered adding grapes to the top of a cake, but it makes so much sense! I love your styling and photography too. Gorgeous!
A wonderful fall cake. I really love the idea.
Cheers,
Rosa
These cake must be so delicious with grapes. Yum!