My family really enjoys a simple cake to have with their evening cup of tea. Even more so when we have time to spend together. With Thanksgiving around the corner I made a lovely Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake just for our tea. I’m a little concerned though, perhaps I should’ve made two!

Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake by Diverse Dinners

I’ve experimented quite a bit to find what I consider a great pound cake, here’s the rules I stick to:

Use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. You’ll get a much lighter cake.
Sour cream is a necessary addition for moisture and flavor.
The butter must be room temperature before using.
Same for the eggs. I leave the whisked eggs on top of the warm stove for approx. 5 mins when I’m heating the oven. Not on any direct heat, just in a warm spot on top of the stove. If I forget to take the eggs out of the fridge, I leave them to warm for 10 mins.
Never over-whisk the butter and sugar, you want both ingredients to combine, but not to the point that you end up with a shiny, greasy, gloopy consistency. The creamed butter and eggs should be the same color as the butter before you combined it with the sugar.
After creaming the butter and sugar, fold in the balance of the ingredients. Too much air in the cake batter will make it rise too quickly and likely sink when it’s removed from the oven.

The swirl in this Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake is a preserve made with fresh strawberries, orange juice and zest, light brown sugar, water and Saba. If you don’t have Saba you can simply leave it out, but I highly suggest you get some soon. Saba is a wonderful addition to fruit, fruit sauces, fruit salads, salad dressings and much more. Go online and buy some soon.

Only a small amount of preserve is needed for the cake, the rest can be served on the side with ice cream. This combo is a great movie night treat for you and your partner, or after dinner treat for the kids.

Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake by Diverse Dinners
Print Recipe

Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake

Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours

Ingredients

Strawberry Preserve

  • 1 lb fresh strawberries hulled and halved
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 2 tbsp Saba
  • 1/2 cup water

Pound Cake

  • 3 large eggs room temperature & whisked
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 sticks butter room temperature
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 2 cup cake flour
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt
  • 1/3 tsp baking soda

Equipment & Utensils

  • Small saucepan
  • Hand or regular blender
  • 9 inch loaf tin
  • Handheld whisk
  • Long toothpick or small skewer

Instructions

Preserve

  • Add preserve ingredients to a small saucepan and place on a high heat.
  • Lower heat when ingredients begin to rumble and stir until hot and flavors combined.
  • Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
  • Place pureed fruit back onto medium heat and allow to reduce by 1/3 while stirring.
  • Skim any residue from top of fruit and set aside to cool.
  • Once preserve is approx. room temperature, begin preparing the pound cake.

    Pound Cake

    • Coat loaf pan with butter then sprinkle with flour and tap the loaf pan until all sides are coated with flour, then set aside.
    • Whisk eggs and vanilla extract together then set aside.
    • With a hand held mixer, cream butter and sugar until combined.
    • Add sour cream and fold in until combined.
    • Combine flour, baking soda and salt, then add half to bowl using a sieve.
    • Add half of the whisked eggs and then fold in until completely combined.
    • Sieve in remainder of flour mixture and add the balance of the eggs, then fold in until completely combined.
    • Place 1 cup of cake batter in a bowl and add 1/4 cup of strawberry preserve and fold until combined.
    • Add half of the plain cake batter into the bottom of the loaf pan, then tap on the counter to create a level layer.
    • Add another layer using the cake batter mixed with preserve, then finish off with the balance of the plain cake batter.
    • Run a toothpick or skewer lengthways up and down through all the layers of cake batter.
    • Place loaf tin in a preheated oven at 340 and cook for approx. one hour or as soon as you are able to prick with a toothpick and it come out clean.

    Notes

    Do not be tempted to add more than 1/4 cup of preserve to your cake batter as any more will thin out the batter and result in a soggy sunken cake.