Thursday, May 9, 2013

Pound Cake (Ghana style)

I've always been the cooking type wasnt really into baking but I was bored on one Sunday & decided why not give that a try. So instead of buying the box mix to make it easier for me. I decided to ask my mom how she did her cakes back when we were in Ghana & I was surprised to see how simple it was

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups butter (4 sticks,16oz)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
Ps: As a preservative, so that the cake won't go bad(because of all the eggs you have in there), add 1/4 cup of brandy(any of your choice)to the cake.

Method:

  1. Grease a cake pan of your choice
  2. Preheat oven at 350 degrees F(177 degrees C)
  3. Mix your dry ingredients, flour,baking powder and nutmeg.
  4. Then in a separate bowl,cream your sugar and butter till is completely mixed, beat in eggs one at a time still stirring.
  5. Add in your vanilla extract, then mix in your dry ingredients slowly, making sure that everything is fully mixed.
  6. Pour into greased pan and bake for about an hour or when you stick a toothpick in and it comes out clean. (When you put the cake in the oven don't open it to check on it, let the cake rise well before you do so otherwise it would fall in and you would have a flat cake.....hopefully this makes sense...Lol)


Ps: If you are trying to have yours with the coloring that I have in some of the pictures below. Just take about 4 tablespoons from the batter, add the food color of choice(about 1/3 teaspoon....not too much color) then mix it well,then pour it in your greased pan with the rest of the batter. For the chocolate mix I used 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder in a small mixture of the batter. 


The process of making the pound cake. (I don't have a cake mixer yet so it was all by hand...lol)

Finally got a cake mixer (as a graduation gift...yay) so everything was a bit easier

I used green,purple and pink food coloring for this trial cake. Loved how it came out

Wanted a vanilla and strawberry flavor so I used this with a little bit of batter from the original
Something blue lol
How it looked like lol (Something blue)
Something blue is ready lol

The end result. (Sorry I don't have a before picture for the chocolate one, but I will update as time goes on)
For some interesting reason the cake looks like red,yellow and green after it was done haha. (But I had some left over batter so I made cupcakes with them)
With a little of chocolate in the middle

Plain old pound cake with a dash of vanilla & strawberry flavors
Baking for christmas 

Very colorful lol

Ghana colors, representing my motherland!!! 







Soft and yummy 



With a little chocolate hidden inside


21 comments:

  1. Am so happy to see there is a Ghana recipe for making cakes. Our kids in the u.k can now learn how their African grandmothers cooked. Thanks so much to the one who posted this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am glad you are happy to see this! I never got to meet my grandmother but I heard she was an amazing cook.....I guess I got it from her since I was named after her too! :-)

      Delete
  2. Thanks for sharing/posting!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great work done... Please do not forget to include milk it helps with flavor more the buttermilk will help for best preservation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the suggestion! Will try that next time I make this. However this was the recipe my grandma taught my mom. So will try your method next time.

      Delete
  4. hi, i wanted to know if the cakes made using the Ghanaian recipe are as soft and moist as cakes made with cake mix

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For me they have always been soft and moist just like the cake mixes. You can give it a try and let me know.

      Delete
    2. thanks, i definitely will :-)

      Delete
  5. Thank you Theedee for this recipe. I was searching the net for cake recipes that I use to enjoy in Ghana when I was a kid. I remember this lady use to sell cakes in a wooden box with glass panels which contained these small to medium sized cakes, all in various shapes. They were so flavorful. I so desperately wanted to re-create them. I will definitely try your recipe. Thanks again for sharing your family recipes with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember those ladies selling the cakes in the wooden box too. Glad I could help. Enjoy and let me know how it goes.

      Delete
  6. Hi the sticks of butter is confusing me.can you give me in grams or kg. Thanks for the recipe can't wait to try it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, sorry for the confusion. 1 stick of butter = 115grams

      Delete
  7. Hi, i really wanna try this recipe but i cnt have alcohol. Is there anything else i can use for preservation please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello, As suggested by one of the comments previously buttermilk could be used as an alternative for preservation if you don't want to use the alcohol.

      Delete
  8. Thanks alot! I will def try that. Not to be a pain pls but what amount do you think i should add based the measurement of the ingredients in your recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Right! Awesome. Thanks again

    ReplyDelete
  10. Please by how much do I multiply the measurement for 6 pans of cake.(Small rectangular pan)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Akua i just love your blog. I come here so often to get recopies.
    Thank you!

    Thanks,
    Aya

    ReplyDelete
  12. Please what is the measurements for the milk?

    ReplyDelete

Angwamu ni toolo beef(Rice w/ oil & salted beef)

Heeyyyy! Look who it is AGAIN!!! Haha! Yes, I am trying to keep my word. Today I wanted to share one of the commonest rice recipes that wer...