A butter pound cake mixed in a bowl and baked on the machine's cake cycle, scaled to the four cups of batter a bread pan can safely hold. Two teaspoons of baking powder to two cups of flour, which is the ratio the internet keeps getting wrong.
3/4cupunsalted buttersoftened to about 65F, so it dents under a finger without slumping
1cupgranulated sugar
4largeeggsat room temperature, added one at a time
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
Flour and Milk
2cupsall-purpose flourabout 8 1/2 ounces, spooned into the cup and leveled, never scooped
2teaspoonsbaking powderone teaspoon per cup of flour, and check the date on the tin
1/2teaspoonfine salt
1/2cupwhole milkat room temperature, or it will seize the creamed butter
Prevent your screen from going dark
Instructions
Mix the Batter in a Bowl
First, lift the pan out of the machine and grease it thoroughly, base and sides, then fit the paddle. Greasing before the paddle goes in keeps the shaft clear.
Next, beat the softened butter and the sugar together for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and noticeably lighter. The machine's paddle stirs rather than creams, so this has to happen in a bowl.
Then beat in the eggs one at a time, waiting until each disappears before adding the next, and stir in the vanilla.
After that, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a second bowl and add them to the butter mixture in three goes, alternating with the milk and finishing with flour. Stop as soon as the last streak vanishes.
Bake, Test and Turn Out
Pour the batter into the greased pan, scrape the sides down, and check that it sits about two thirds of the way up and no higher.
Set the pan in the machine and start the Cake or Quick Bread cycle. Keep the lid closed for the first hour, since a thin metal box loses heat fast and a cake that is cooling will sink.
Test at the end of the cycle with a thin skewer through the center and an instant-read thermometer. You want a few moist crumbs and 200F to 205F. If it is short, run Bake Only for another 10 to 15 minutes rather than the keep-warm setting.
Finally, lift the pan out with mitts, stand it for 10 minutes, then turn the cake onto a rack and work the paddle out of the base while the crumb is still warm enough to release it.
Notes
Cycle: Cake, Quick Bread or Batter Bread. If your machine has none of those, use Bake Only for 60 minutes and check from there. Never Basic, White or Quick, all of which knead and rise.Pan fill: four cups of batter, about two thirds up the pan. This recipe makes roughly that. Do not double it.Doneness: 200F to 205F in the center, and a skewer with a few moist crumbs on it. Machines vary, so add 10 to 15 minutes on Bake Only if it is not there.Never finish on keep-warm. It holds about 140F, which dries the crust and leaves the middle raw.Storage: 3 days wrapped in foil at room temperature once completely cold, or 3 months frozen, whole or in parchment-separated slices.Nutrition values are an estimate.