Bay Laurel Pound Cake
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A moist, buttery pound cake recipe with a tender crumb, infused with the herbal scent of bay leaves.
When I first visited San Francisco, I was walking down a shady little avenue somewhere and looked up.
I was under a fragrant canopy of trees, all with dark, shiny green leaves I recognized as bay laurel. Amazing!
My whole life I’d only seen those leaves preciously packed in small glass jars in the spice aisle, and here were literally millions of them just growing wild on the street.
At the time, I had a 4-inch pot in my apartment back home containing a struggling wisp of a bay laurel plant.
It was a sickly skinny stick with maybe a handful of leaves on it when I bought it. One by one, the leaves withered away and then the plant died.
I tried a few more times to grow my own little tree as a houseplant, each time while living in various places that had lots of things going for them but for the unfortunate lack of a Mediterranean climate.
I’ve since learned that the plant I was trying to grow was the not Umbellularia californica I saw in abundance in that state, but Laurus nobilis – same species, different variety.
Both kinds thrive in the kind of climate where olives, rosemary and artichokes also thrive (as I’m absolutely sure I would, too).
David Lebovitz‘s really beautiful book, My Paris Kitchen includes a recipe for Bay Leaf Pound Cake. It made the top of my to-make list. Most of all because of my kids — I let them eat cake 🙂
That way I can sample a bit and they take care of the rest before I do major damage.
I made my version of the cake without the gorgeous glaze and grated citrus that David uses in the original, just to simplify it even more.
David points out that California bay leaves are twice as strong as the imported ones (which are sometimes labeled “Turkish”), and they will make this cake even better because of it.
I used the puny dried ones I had on hand, and they still managed to infuse the cake with a subtle but enchanting aroma of eucalyptus.
The cake is simple to mix by hand using just a few bowls. Another nice touch is piping butter down the center of the batter, which makes a nice bakery-style crack in the baked cake.
On another note, My Paris Kitchen is the first ebook I’ve ever purchased. I embrace technology of all sorts, but I’ve been swearing up and down that I will never give up on actual books, with their front and back covers, pages to turn, distinctive printed smells and ribbon bookmarks.
I saw the actual book while browsing at a bookstore the other day, and I picked it up. I was taken in by the beauty of the design and the stunning photography in a way the e-version doesn’t even come close to. Plus it’s so annoying to try to follow a recipe on a tablet when it insists on going to sleep while getting ingredients ready.
What do you think? Do you read cookbooks on your portable devices?
More simple cakes to try:
Bay Laurel Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 stick (125 g) plus 1 tablespoon butter, sliced, at room temperature
- 8-10 small to medium-sized bay leaves, fresh or dried
- 1 ⅔ cups (210 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- ½ cup (115 g) crème fraiche or sour cream
- Powdered sugar
Instructions
Yield: 1 loaf cake
- Melt 6 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan. Take the pan off the heat and add 3 bay leaves. Let steep 1 hour. Remove bay leaves and discard.
- Preheat oven to 350 (175 C) degrees. Coat a standard loaf pan with some butter. Dust the pan evenly with flour and line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper (easiest way to do this is to place the pan on the paper and trace all around the bottom edge with a pencil, use scissors to cut it out).
- Dab one side of the remaining bay leaves in a bit of butter and lay them evenly along the bottom of the loaf pan, buttered side down.
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.
- Combine the eggs, crème fraiche, and melted butter in a medium bowl. Gently stir into the flour mixture just until the batter is smooth, without over-mixing.
- Scrape batter into the pan carefully over the bay leaves. Put the remaining butter in a small zip-top bag and snip off one corner. Pipe the butter in a line down the center of the batter. Bake 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and cool 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, then turn the cake out onto a rack to cool completely. Dust top with powdered sugar.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
I recently found some California Bayleaves on a hike and I wondered what kind of recipes I could find with them in mind, I stumbled upon this and I am amazed!!
My one adjustment is I decided to attempt a citrus glaze using 1 1/2 powdered sugar 2 tbsp of water (I used orange blossom water) , 1/4 tsp of orange and lemon zest with a few drops of a lime. It created this delicious glaze that compliments the flavors awakened by the California bayleaves.
Just wonderful!✨
Oh wow, Karen – I’ve only just come across your blog and it is so, so beautiful and inspiring. Such a treat to stumble upon.
Hi Hannah – why, thanks so much! I traveled over to your site as well and glad to meet you 🙂
I like your post very much…
Karen, your photos of that cake are stunning. I just want to reach in with my hand and grab a slice. Living in Virginia, I have had the same experience as you trying to grow bay leaf ~ failed miserably. There was a hedge of it near my aunts’ house in Rome and I remember walking by it now and again and pulling off a leaf so I could inhale its fragrance. As for e-books, I was an English major and I never thought I would succumb to a digital reader, but I have a kindle paperwhite and I love it ~ for fiction. I love being able to travel with several books downloaded on my kindle just waiting to be read. But I don’t enjoy cookbooks on the kindle, or even on the iPad. It’s just cumbersome and inefficient, so )at least for now) I’m sticking with print. Nothing beats holding a cookbook in your hands. I’ll have to check out David’s book. Cheers, D
Thank you, Domenica. Now I’m imagining how very nice it would be to stroll by a bay hedge in Rome… And glad we are in agreement about digital cookbooks. I still have a few boxes of books to unpack (there were a few English majors around here too 🙂 – kind of tedious, but still, I’m holding on to them!
How beautiful and creative!
Beautiful cake and just love the idea and use of the bay leaves. I’ve never used it in baking but am looking forward to trying this pound cake and discovering what flavor it lends. I do agree with you that cooking magazines are absolutely gorgeous on tablets. It’s more space friendly too, as you mentioned to not see piles of past mags that start taking up room and get heavy. Magazines like Donna Hay and Delicious are a real treat to read and subscribe to online. 🙂
What a gorgeous cake, I love the unexpected flavor… this would be lovely with tea!