The highlight of this Indian pound cake recipe is an ingredient indigenous to the Americas: cornmeal. A staple of the Native American diet, cornmeal is ground from dried corn. The first recipe on record for Indian pound cake can be traced back to 1828 when it was published in Eliza Leslie’s Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats. This is considered America’s first baking cookbook and the first to organize recipes by listing ingredients at the beginning, separate from the directions. Indian pound cake is like a sweet cornbread and could be enjoyed with jam or another American Indian recipe, wojapi.
Recipe Servings: 10
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 45 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 55 minutes
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal
Ingredients
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with shortening.
- Whisk together the cornmeal, flour, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs together in a separate bowl. Set the mixture aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar using an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until fluffy and lighter in color.
- Add half of the flour mixture and continue mixing on low speed. When mostly combined, pour in half of the eggs. Beat for 30 seconds.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and eggs. Continue mixing on low speed until incorporated, then increase speed to medium and beat for 3 minutes. The mixture should be fluffy and light.
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Set the loaf pan on a baking sheet in case batter overflows.
- Bake the cake for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Place a foil tent over the cake for the last 30 minutes to prevent burning.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
- Turn the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
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