Pound Cake Cupcakes are a perfect excuse to eat cupcakes for breakfast. Light, buttery pound cake topped with the berries of your choice and smothered in a lot more than a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
There’s a great local brunch buffet place in my home town. A few years ago, they started serving cupcakes alongside their waffles and pancakes. Not pastries or glazed muffins, full on chocolate and vanilla buttercream cupcakes like you’d eat at a birthday party.
It offended me greatly at the time for reasons still I cannot name (though it doesn’t stop me from eating a bite of one every time), so it is hilarious (and the height of hypocrisy) that today, February 29, in the year of our Lord 2016, I’m posting a recipe called “Cupcakes for Breakfast.”
To be fair, I feel like fruit and whipped cream over pound cake cupcakes is a little more breakfast appropriate than chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles, but to each his own. And you don’t have to eat these for breakfast. They are delicious any time of day, but when I was thinking about situations in which I’d serve them, aside from sun-drenched afternoon tea parties, all roads kept leading back to brunch.
And what a brunch that would be. These cupcakes are a real treat. Soft, with a dense crumb on the inside and ever so slightly crisp on the outside. When you add the sweet tartness of the berries and the richness of the whipped cream, you’ll know you are starting your day off right.
I usually like to post sweet recipes on Fridays, but this recipe is being posted on a Monday because we are going to be using these pound cake cupcakes a couple times over the next few weeks as part of a four-recipe cupcake series that starts on Friday. Keep an eye open for that first post, I’m excited for you to see it! (Update: Those posts are now all live! Go check out my Tagalong Cupcakes and Samoa Cupcakes which both use these pound cake cupcakes as a base.)
More Sweet Breakfast Recipes
- The Best Cinnamon Toast
- Small-batch Cinnamon Rolls
- Pancakes for One
- White Chocolate Mocha
Ingredients
Pound Cake Cupcakes
- ▢ 1 cup ( 100 g) sifted cake flour
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ▢ 1 cup ( 200 g) superfine sugar*
- ▢ 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ▢ 1/3 cup heavy cream
Whipped Cream
- ▢ 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- ▢ 1 tablespoon 1 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon vanilla optional
Toppings
- ▢ 1 1/2 cups berries of your choice
Instructions
Pound Cake Cupcakes
- Line your cupcake pan. Do not preheat your oven.
- Using two large bowls, sift together salt and flour and then return flour mixture to sifter and sift once more.
- In a stand mixer (or with a hand-held electric mixer), with the paddle attachment, on medium-high speed, beat softened butter and sugar until visibly lightened in color, about 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
- Scrape sides and bottom and with the mixer on low, add half of the flour, mixing until combined.
- Add all of the cream and then the rest of the flour. Mixing well after each.
- Scrape sides and bottom and beat on medium-high speed for 4 minutes until batter is smooth.
- Fill cupcake cups 2/3 of the way full and tap tray on the counter a couple of times to remove any air bubbles. This should make exactly 12 cupcakes.
- Place into a cold oven and set to 350°F. Bake for 20-27 minutes (depending on how fast your oven heats up), until golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Whipped Cream
- If making by hand, place your (preferably) metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 minutes until they are very cold. Once chilled, remove bowl and add cream, sugar, and vanilla. Go to town whisking until soft peaks form.
- If making in a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until cream reaches desired consistency, about 3-5 minutes.
Assemble
- Spoon a thin layer of whipped cream over the center of your cupcakes. Place berries over the top and then spread a generous spoonful of whipped cream over the berries.
- Garnish with one more berry and serve.
Notes
Nutritional Information Poundcake Recipe Adapted From: Epicurious
Small-batch Instructions: To halve this recipe, just remember that 1/2 of 1/3 cup is equal to 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons. Freezer Instructions: Cupcakes can be individually wrapped in foil and frozen together in an air-tight container for up to 2 months, though tops may become slightly crumbly. To defrost, unwrap and allow to come to room temperature on a wire rack (so the bottom doesn’t become soggy) for about an hour. I don’t love to freeze whipped cream for use on baked goods, but if you have leftovers, you can freeze the excess in dollops to put in coffee and hot chocolate.
Saturday Morning Snapshot
Hey, Spring, it’s not your turn yet…
State of the Blog
We closed out February this week with some more of my favorite recipes. Monday, in honor of our February Soups and Stews Series , we had my very favorite side to pair with soup. Wednesday, I posted the last recipe in that series, an old family favorite, and Friday we had a fun, jam-filled cupcake recipe that I adapted as a gift for my youngest sister.
Next week, we have two(!) cupcake recipes (posting all these back to back cupcakes was a bit of a scheduling error on my part) and a quick and healthy side dish that I think you are really going to enjoy.
Recipes/posts released this week were:
Cayenne and Cheddar Cheese Scones – Warm, buttery cheddar cheese scones with a kick of cayenne. The perfect side for any soup or salad. Mom’s Sunday Beef Stew – Completely from scratch delicious and hearty beef stew, just like Mom used to make it. Victoria Sponge Cupcakes – Adorable light and airy sponge cupcakes filled with raspberry jam and topped with buttercream frosting.
Pop-culture Corner
Did anyone else make it through London Spy on BBCA? I love London, and I love spies, but man did this show feel like two hours of plot stretched out to five depressing, painful episodes. Such a bummer!
Regarding another show staring fantastic Brits, I caught up with Agent Carter this week and Peggy and Jarvis, bosom buddies are officially my everything.
From the trailer , I don’t know if Bastille Day looks like a good movie, but it has Idris Elba and Richard Madden doing his best Sebastian Stan impression, so I’m all in.
Finally, The Oscars are tonight! Will you be watching? Have any favorites to win? I don’t have much of an opinion as I’ve only seen a handful of the nominees, but I am perversely rooting against Leo. He’s run a good campaign, but I just love my #LeoWantsAnOscar memes too much.
Meal Planning
Saturday: Scrounge Night Sunday: Ribs (moved up from last weekend) Monday: String Bean Chicken Tuesday: Garlic Chicken Cobb Salad Wednesday: Salsa Chicken Thursday: Pork Chops Modenese Friday: Zuppa
Panko and Parmesan Broccoli is an easy, cheesy broccoli side dish. Healthy, quick, and perfect for busy weeknights.
I have another quick and easy vegetable side dish for you today. Like I mentioned in my No-fail Butter and Garlic Green Beans post, I have some strict requirements when it comes to the veggie sides that I cook regularly. They have to be easy. They have to be quick. And they have to taste good while still being healthy.
Long, complicated, heavy sides are fine for the weekend, but on busy weeknights, I know myself well enough to know that I’ll just skip my veggies if it takes too much work to make them. And while mayonnaise-laden pasta salads and things like Loaded Baked Potato Salads are everything good and beautiful in this world, I shouldn’t be eating them every night of the week.
This broccoli fits all three of those bills. It’sSO easy–if you buy pre-cut broccoli florets, you don’t even have to cut anything. It’s fast, and it’s so, so yummy. I’m not kidding, if you are making this dish with other people in the kitchen, you have to watch closely to make sure they are not stealing bites of it!
The broccoli is tossed with a little olive oil then sprinkled with panko, Parmesan, Italian spices and garlic before going into the oven for 10 minutes. When it comes out, your broccoli is perfectly cooked and coated in a crunchy, cheesy coating that everyone will love.
And fun fact, do you know the correct way to pronounce panko? It’s pan-KOH. As a Japanese person who speaks just enough Japanese to know better, I had been pronouncing it PANG-ko for years! I feel that it’s now my duty try and correct the damage I have done. 😉
Pound Cake Cupcakes
Ingredients
Pound Cake Cupcakes
- 1 cup ( 100 g) sifted cake flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup ( 200 g) superfine sugar*
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
Whipped Cream
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon 1 1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla optional
Toppings
- 1 1/2 cups berries of your choice
Instructions
Pound Cake Cupcakes
- Line your cupcake pan. Do not preheat your oven.
- Using two large bowls, sift together salt and flour and then return flour mixture to sifter and sift once more.
- In a stand mixer (or with a hand-held electric mixer), with the paddle attachment, on medium-high speed, beat softened butter and sugar until visibly lightened in color, about 3 minutes.
- Scrape down the sides and bottom and add the eggs one at a time, beating after each. Add the vanilla and beat until incorporated.
- Scrape sides and bottom and with the mixer on low, add half of the flour, mixing until combined.
- Add all of the cream and then the rest of the flour. Mixing well after each.
- Scrape sides and bottom and beat on medium-high speed for 4 minutes until batter is smooth.
- Fill cupcake cups 2/3 of the way full and tap tray on the counter a couple of times to remove any air bubbles. This should make exactly 12 cupcakes.
- Place into a cold oven and set to 350°F. Bake for 20-27 minutes (depending on how fast your oven heats up), until golden and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
Whipped Cream
- If making by hand, place your (preferably) metal bowl and whisk in the freezer for about 15 minutes until they are very cold. Once chilled, remove bowl and add cream, sugar, and vanilla. Go to town whisking until soft peaks form.
- If making in a stand mixer, using the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium-high speed until cream reaches desired consistency, about 3-5 minutes.
Assemble
- Spoon a thin layer of whipped cream over the center of your cupcakes. Place berries over the top and then spread a generous spoonful of whipped cream over the berries.
- Garnish with one more berry and serve.
