Parmesan Pound Cake

I have obsession of sorts with cheese. I love it so much, I would just gnaw on a block of cheddar or Parmesan instead of grating it over my pasta like a normal person. I would also add so much cheese to anything I cooked (risotto, macaroni) that it would stretch from the spoon to my plate. I even love fake cheese - you know, the kind some fast food chains put on your potato wedges or fries ? Yeah. I always ordered so much extra of the cheese topping that a friend of mine said I ate the cheese with a side of wedges. I even bought a spray can of the cheese to eat with some crackers/veggies/more cheese/directly from the can because I was craving for it so badly.. I hope you're not making a disgusted face at me at the moment - what can I say, I do love my cheese. So when I saw a recipe for Parmesan pound cake - of all things - at this site here, I bookmarked it immediately and went shopping for a block of Parmesan cheese right after.

The recipe along with said block of cheese sat in my fridge for a week (the cheese, not the recipe. The latter was scrawled on a piece of paper and stuck to my fridge) or so until I finally had the chance to bake the cake. It did feel a little weird at first, putting a savory cheese into a pound cake but then I've seen Parmesan cookies and ice cream so I just went ahead with it and I must say, the smell of the cake baking is divine. Kind of like potato gratin and pound cake all merged into one, which, I guess is what makes up the cake anyway. It baked up nice and flat, I guess from the hefty amount of cheese I put into it, and the color was reminiscent of yes, baked potatoes with cheese. Yum.

I did alter the recipe a little though, because the recipe made a huge pan and I was afraid it wouldn't be well received by my taste testers, ie my family. I halved the recipe and made it in a loaf pan and prayed that the top would stay flat so I could take some pretty pictures of the cake. I also made some substitutions because I am a dunderhead and in the excitement of buying some cheese, I forgot to buy creme fraiche or any sour cream. Luckily, I had some yogurt stashed away in the fridge so into the batter it went. Don't be like me. Check you have everything first before you start baking. Anyways the recipe below is written the way I made it, but you can refer to the site for the original. 

The top puffed up a little after it came out of the oven but it flattened out nicely after it cooled. I was so giddy with excitement I wanted to smoosh my face into the pan and inhale all that golden goodness.

But I held out. Then I made some Parmesan fricos (just grate some cheese and dry-fry it in a nonstick pan over medium heat until it browns. Works like magic.) and cut a fat slice and attempted to take some pictures.

And then I ate it. And so did my family. The taste might seem different to you at first, because it definitely doesn't taste anything like your average pound cake. It's moist and dense and velvety and packed with all the cheesy flavours I just adore. Next time, I making the full recipe.

Parmesan Pound Cake

Adapted from the one I found on LunaCafe.

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup (4 oz) butter 

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup full fat yogurt

2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

1. Line a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 350C.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Whisk in the grated Parmesan.

3. Cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy, this might take up to 5 minutes. With the mixer running on medium speed, drizzle in the eggs a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. If the batter looks like it's about to curdle, turn up the speed and add the egg more slowly. Beat until smooth.

4. On low speed, add 1/4 of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated. Add 1/3 of the yogurt, them mix until just incorporated. Add another 1/4 of the flour mixture and another 1/3 of the yogurt, repeating until both have been used up and ending with the flour mixture. Stop the mixer and fold in the remaining flour by hand. Do not over mix !

5. Pour the batter into the lined loaf pan and rap the pan on the counter once or twice to get rid of any large air pockets. Pop in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack.

6. Slice the cake as you would a normal loaf cake. Store it, well wrapped with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.