Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Holidays
  • Cooking 101
  • Healthy Living
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More Next
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More Next
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More Next
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    • New Year, New You
    • Super Bowl
    • Valentines
    • Easter
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • Shop
  • News
  • Good.Food.Fast
  • CL Diet

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Register/Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

CookingLight diet CookingLight diet
  1. Home Chevron Right
  2. Eating Smart Chevron Right
  3. Pound Cake: Recipe Makeover

Pound Cake: Recipe Makeover

By Sidney Fry, MS, RD
December 01, 2011
Skip gallery slides
Pin
Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
Heart-healthy canola oil helps lighten a classic dessert, while an ingenious technique deepens flavor and adds richness.
Start Slideshow

1 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Less-than-a-Pound Pound Cake

Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
Dense, moist pound cake gets its name from the classic recipe of a pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. No surprise that a slice weighs in at more than 700 calories and a day's dose of saturated fat. Can anything replace the richness of a block of butter—and still maintain that treasured tender crumb?

Yes: After testing cakes that were dry, crumbly, or spongy, we found that a deft combo of butter and canola oil was the fix, with the help of a smart trick. See, canola oil may be righteously heart-healthy, but it's also bland—until you steep a vanilla bean in it. This magically transforms the oil, giving it a creamy texture and rich flavor. We happily break with tradition, cutting half the calories and 80% of the saturated fat—in a cake that can stand proudly beside the original.

The Classic: 
• 707 calories per slice
• 39.6 grams total fat
• 23.7 grams saturated fat

The Makeover: 
• 294 calories per slice
• 12.6 grams total fat
• 4.7 grams saturated fat

1 of 5

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Essential Ingredients

Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
Butter/Canola Oil Combo
Subbing vanilla-infused oil for some of the butter saves 174 calories and 15g of sat fat per serving.

Two Eggs
We reduced the traditional pound of eggs by 75% and cut another 47 calories and 1g of saturated fat per serving.

Nonfat Buttermilk
The thick, tangy milk makes up for our drastic fat reduction by balancing the cake with richness and moisture.

2 of 5

3 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 1

Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
Warming a split vanilla bean in canola oil infuses the oil with deep vanilla essence as the seeds spill out and mingle in the liquid. This is a simple, quick step that is well worth the little bit of time and effort.

Lay the vanilla bean flat on a cutting board. Using a small, sharp knife with a tip, split the vanilla bean down the middle lengthwise, end to end.

3 of 5

Advertisement

4 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 2

Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
Heat the oil with the vanilla bean to speed up the infusion process. Bring the oil to a simmer, remove from heat, and allow to come to room temperature before proceeding.

4 of 5

5 of 5

Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Step 3

Credit: Photography: Johnny Autry
When the pod is cool enough to handle, scrape out any remaining flavor-packed seeds, and stir into the oil. Tip: Store the scraped pod in your vanilla extract to enhance flavor.

5 of 5

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Sidney Fry, MS, RD

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 5 Less-than-a-Pound Pound Cake
2 of 5 Essential Ingredients
3 of 5 Step 1
4 of 5 Step 2
5 of 5 Step 3

Share options

Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
Cooking Light

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • Cooking Light Diet this link opens in a new tab
  • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Cooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Statementthis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

View image

Pound Cake: Recipe Makeover
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.