Russian Pound Cake “Keks Stolichniy”
October 14, 2014 by vikalinka 13 Comments
I know what you guys are thinking when you see ‘Stolichniy”. This cake has got Russian vodka! Sadly no but it is indeed a Russian recipe. Stolichniy in Russian simply means “from the capitol” or, in other words, “the best’.
Russian pound cake, in contrast to its American counterpart which calls for equal amounts of butter, sugar and flour, is made from equal amounts of butter, sugar and raisins. I’ve had a dislike for raisins in baked goods since I was a child and unfortunately never grew out of it. Something about moist shrivelled grapes makes me want to run for my life. I always used to pick them out. Now that I am an adult I figured I can do whatever I want so I am skipping this “crucial” ingredient altogether. Instead I added a brown sugar and cinnamon swirl to my pound cake. Now we’re talking!
This pound cake has quite a different texture from what you might be used to; it’s quite dense but incredibly buttery and crumbly and I am afraid it tastes most delicious on the day it’s baked so eat up!
Russian Pound Cake "Keks Stolichniy" Author: Julia Frey of Vikalinka Recipe type: Dessert Cuisine: Russian Serves: 20 Makes 2 loafs Ingredients
3¾ cups-flour 2 tsp-baking powder 1 tsp-salt 1½ cups-unsalted butter, softened 1½ cups-sugar 5-eggs, large 1 tsp-vanilla essence 1 tbsp-brown sugar 1 tsp-cinnamon icing sugar Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Grease 2 9-inch loaf pans. Sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy with an electric mixer. Add eggs one by one and vanilla and beat on high speed for at least 3 minutes. Gradually add the flour mixture and beat for 2 minutes longer. Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Divide the batter into half. Fill the loaf pans with half of the mixture, then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon, add the remaining batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. 3.2.2802
If’ you’ll indulge me a moment, I have one more thing I believe is worth mentioning. Friends of mine are working on a project that is very dear to my heart, supporting the education of girls and women in India. The value of education was driven home just this last weekend, hearing my daughter talk about Egyptians, the topic for the term in history class. She is a passionate little thing, she’s also quite persistent. She talked and talked and talked while we were walking up a windy road to Rochester castle. I look at her and marvel; she is everything I’d want in a little girl-soft, gentle, kind-hearted. She is also very intelligent, fiercely independently and a natural born leader. I can’t imagine taking education away from her in 3 years. That would break her heart… and mine.
Meet Bishu. She was married at 14 and had her first baby at 16. She never had the chance to go to school but has big dreams for her children.
Some voices around her say educating girls is a waste of money but she has successfully sent her oldest daughter to school. She knows education will change their world.
Now it’s time for the youngest, Neema, who has been accepted to nursing school and she can’t afford to send her.
She doesn’t qualify for a bank loan and has limited options. Please help me bless this family by donating to empower and educate Neema.
I have wonderful and caring friends who live and work in India. They set up a fundraiser to help this mum who is so determined to educate her girls. If you are someone who often wonders how can I make a difference, here is your chance to change someone’s life. Please, follow the link and donate. Every dollar counts…quite literally. Thank you so much!
