Whether it’s called a loaf cake, tea cake, poundcake or one of those slyly named “breads” of the banana-pumpkin-zucchini variety, if I can bake it in a 9-by-5-inch pan, it will find a place in my lockdown kitchen. There’s something about loaf cake’s sturdy, bricklike shape that makes it feel like a bulwark against the chaos of the moment.
Luckily there seem to be a vast number of varieties to try, which will easily keep me in loaf cake for the rest of the quarantine … I hope.
This week, I made a snickerdoodle sour cream loaf, which doesn’t require any fresh fruit, or fruit at all. And like all loaf cake recipes, it’s extremely and wonderfully adaptable, as long as you have the flour and eggs.
You will need a mixer. But creaming the butter and sugar gives you a fine, tender crumb that’s a little like a poundcake but not quite as rich.
Start by heating your oven to 350 degrees, and beating a stick (1/2 cup/115 grams) of softened butter with 1 cup/200 grams sugar in your mixer. I used dark brown sugar, but light brown or granulated would be good, too.
Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well. Then add 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon each salt and baking soda, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or a shot of rum or Bourbon, or a dash of almond extract). A teaspoon of grated citrus zest would be nice here, but not necessary. And if you have cardamom, add ¼ teaspoon to round out the cinnamon.
Once that’s smooth, beat in 1/2 cup sour cream (or Greek or plain yogurt, mascarpone, crème fraîche, buttermilk or whole milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed in). Then add 1 1/2 cups/190 grams flour, beating until smooth, and pour into a buttered loaf pan.
For the topping — and this is the best part — mix 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar with another teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl, breaking up the brown sugar with your fingers, then sprinkle the mixture on top of the cake. It looks like a lot of topping. It is a lot of topping, but in a happy, more-is-more kind of way.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly pressed. Let it cool in the pan completely before starting to slice off slivers until the thing is gone.
This tender cake will accept any add-ins you like. Use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chopped nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chips or some combination of the above. I kept mine plain to satisfy the members of my household who inexplicably don’t like nuts in their cakes (or brownies, for that matter). But if I were going to eat the whole thing myself, pecans or walnuts would have been perfect.
This is part of a series in which Melissa Clark teaches you how to cook with pantry staples. See more.