Snickers Crispers Pound Cake

05/11/2022 by Living the Gourmet 32 Comments

Rich, moist, and buttery, this pound cake is decadently dense, while remaining plump and tender – the qualities that define any good pound cake. While the cake itself is ‘classic pound cake’ through and through, this recipe features a candy crumb topping, one that takes the decadence up a fair few notches.

The topping, in my opinion, is the real star of the show. Crisp, crumbly, and deliciously sweet, the topping is a mix of brown sugar and crumbled candy bars, brought together with a simple flour and butter base. The end result is a simple-yet-delicious combination.

This recipe keeps well, and pairs nicely with things like homemade ice cream, various dessert sauces such as rum or your favorite variety of fudge. The best pairing, however, is a simple coffee, or even a not so simple coffee if you’re feeling fancy.

The Checklist – What Need For This Recipe

Eggs. These are what give the poundcake its dense texture. You’ll need a hefty half dozen eggs for this recipe. While that might seem like a lot, the quantity of eggs more or less ‘make’ the poundcake. The eggs keep the cake moist, and give it a ‘custard like’ flavor – the hallmark qualities that one expects in a pound cake.
Sugar. Simple granulated sugar is all you’re looking for.
Flour. Pound cake is meant to be dense, and so I recommend using standard all-purpose flour. Baking flour will result in a cake that is too light, while bread flour will result in an unpleasantly hard and dry cake.
Salt. Plain table salt is all you need.
Butter. Pound cake is not pound cake without a rich, buttery flavor – and that means ‘lots’ of butter. Use unsalted. I also recommend bringing the butter to room temperature. You want the butter soft, but not so soft that it’s become oily or greasy.
Baking Soda. This is what allows baked goods to rise and become fluffy. Simple as that.
Baking Powder. This is a two-phase leavening agent, and the recipe simply doesn’t work without it.
Plain Yogurt or Sour Cream. Plain Greek Yogurt or Sour Cream gives the cake added moisture as well as a nice ‘tangy’ flavor. In either case, I recommend full-fat, as fat is both flavor and moisture.
Vanilla. Vanilla extract or whole beans both work fine.
Lemon Juice. I’m opting for fresh, but bottled will work fine as well.
The Candy. While I’m using Snickers Crisper bars, any ‘crunchy’ candy bar will work for today’s topping.

Poundcake Pitfalls, and How to Avoid Them

Avoiding Dry Pound Cake. If your pound cake cooks up dry, there are a couple of possible culprits, but the most common is also the easiest to fix – overbaking. To avoid overbaking, check your cake for doneness some five to ten minutes early – in case your oven runs hot. However, a dry cake can also be due to creaming the butter and sugar at a high speed for too long. To avoid this, be patient and mix the ingredients at a lower speed to avoid over-mixing.
Avoiding a Tough or Rubbery Pound Cake. The major cause here is failing to sift your flour ‘prior’ to measuring it out, which results in overpacking measuring cups. Another safeguard against this is simply weighing your flour rather than measuring. A tough or rubbery cake can also be caused by over-mixing the batter.
Avoid an Overflowing Pound Cake. This one is almost always caused by using self-rising flour. Do ‘not’ use self-rising flour for this recipe. The other cause here is a lack of ‘rising room’ in the baking pan. Remember, the cake will rise during baking, so there needs to be room for that rising to occur.

Pro Tips for Pound Cake

Room Temperature Eggs. Working with room temperature eggs is preferable for almost all baking applications, as they are simply easier to mix, and this in turn helps to avoid overmixing.
Test For Doneness. I know I mentioned this above, but do be sure to test your cake for doneness some five or so minutes beforehand. Do this with a long wooden or metal skewer or a slender knife. Insert it all the way through. If it comes out clean, your cake is done.
Grease the Pan Copiously. The density of pound cake requires a thoroughly greased pan, or it ‘will’ stick – a lot.
Better yet, use parchment. Perhaps the best solution to keep your pound cake from sticking is to simply line the baking pan with parchment paper.
Pound Cake Keeps for about 5 Days. Just to note, pound cake keeps for about five days in the fridge.