7-Up Pound Cake
/7 Up Pound Cake
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a moist lemon pound cake. For me, it is comfort food, one that I fondly remember devouring as a chubby girl in Winnipeg. My favorite was the store bought, refrigerated Sara Lee Pound Cake. I don’t know why, but I could never duplicate its sweet satisfaction in any of the recipes I tried. That is, until last summer, when the Wall Street Journal’s food section featured two recipes that caught my attention. Both included soda pop as one of the their key ingredients. One was for Root Beer Chocolate Cake, and the other for 7 Up Pound Cake. I decided to hold off on the Root Beer, but indulge in the 7 Up. The result was an unbelievably moist pound cake with undertones of lemon lime, making it a true rival of Sara Lee’s!
Total Time: 1½ hours Makes: Two 8-by-4-inch loaf cakes
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
*substitute dairy free margarine for a non-dairy cake
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Zest from 1 lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
7 ounces 7-Up
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting cake
What to Do
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans.
- In a large bowl, cream butter with an electric mixer or a stand mixer with paddle attachment. Mix in sugar and beat until combined.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition until fully incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
- Add 1 cup flour mixture, lemon zest and juice, vanilla and 3 tablespoons of 7-Up to butter mixture and beat until just combined. Continue alternating additions of flour mixture and 7-Up until batter is combined, taking care not to overbeat.
- Divide batter between loaf pans and bake until golden or a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely in pans.
- Serve at room temperature, dusted with confectioners’ sugar.
