28 Days of Soul Food: Day 2

Pound cake has been around for generations in the Black community, yet its origins are not easy to pin down.

“What’s the difference between a Bundt cake and a pound cake?” I once asked my mother as a child. “Butter and sugar,” she responded, “and lots of it.”

That excess of butter and sugar in the pound cake recipe always made it the moistest cake at any potluck, cookout, or other special occasion at Black households. And to be honest, I preferred it as simple as possible. Just a simple layer of lemon, chocolate, or caramel icing was all it needed.

Pound cake may have been a childhood favorite, but as we continue to miss out on gatherings because of the pandemic, it’s one of those foods some of us crave. It’s just one of those things that reminds us of simpler times.

But where did the pound cake originate and how did it become a classic soul food dessert? Apparently, it was created in the early 1700s in Great Britain, but by the time it had made its way to the Black community, the recipe had dramatically changed.

Here’s a timeline of the pound cake, which includes acknowledgement of two original recipes by Abby Fisher — a former enslaved woman who authored What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking (1881), the second cookbook by an African-American woman (Malinda Russell’s Domestic Cook Book: Containing a Careful Selection of Useful Receipts for the Kitchen was published in 1866). Though Fisher could not read or write, she dictated the recipes to friends who also helped her get the book published. It’s important to note that Fisher’s book was soul food focused, while Russell’s was not; therefore, Fisher’s was the first soul food cookbook by a Black woman.

According to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, what set Fisher’s pound cake apart from those that preceded it was the use of egg whites, “the best yeast powder,” and her technique: “Just imagine beating a pound of butter into something light and fluffy using only a wooden spoon.”

Yep. That’s exactly how I remember my mother making it because I always got to lick the spoon!