Pound Cake into Tipsy Cake It’s a funny old world when your ‘tipsy’ but not ‘drunk’ . . . No I am not sat on my veranda quaffing copious amounts of a nice dessert wine . . . well I might be, but that’s besides the point! Why ‘pound’ cake? It was named originally because this cake was made with one pound (as in the old imperial measurement) each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, creating a dense, moist loaf. In this recipe, I use some grated lemon rind for added flavour and some baking powder to aid in the leavening. Ingredients unsalted butter 500 gm castor sugar 500 gm lemon zest 20 gm salt 5 gm soft flour 500 gm baking powder 15 gm eggs 500 gm Method     1.  Cream together the butter, sugar, lemon rind, and salt.     2.  Sift together the cake flour and baking powder.     3.  To the butter mixture, add the eggs alternately, in three stages with the flour     4.  Pour into greased and floured cake tins (or lined with parchment paper)     5.  Bake at (170ºC) until cooked     6.  Remove from the cake tin, turn upside down and place on a cooling rack Chef's Tip     To find out more about lining cake tins, how to tell if they are cooked and tips on cake baking <click here> Tipsy Cake The variations on this cake are endless and the history of it even more so. Every country it would seem has its own variation on the theme. For mine, I have based it on the oldest version of it I could find on researching it; circa 1745 and it is not so much a cake as we know it today, but more like a version of the English trifle. Tipsy cake, it would seem, as with trifle was designed for using up any stale pound cake. The only recipe that is needed is the one above for pound cake, after that it is very much a case of using the ingredients to taste. Method     1.  Cut the pound cake into slices and soak generously with a sweet dessert wine or sherry     2.  Arrange these slices around the sides of a wine glass (leaving a 2 centimetre gap to the top)     3.  Place an amount of finely chopped almonds in the bottom of the glass     4.  Cover with a spoonful of jam or mincemeat mix (as for Xmas mince pies)     5.  Fill the glass to 1 cm of the top with warm custard: for a fresh Crème Anglaise recipe   Crème Anglaise - Vanilla Sauce  6.  Top with whipped cream and garnish with blanched almonds Chef's Tip     Try replacing the wine/sherry with rum, Kahlua, Grand Marnier or another of your favourite spirit or liqueur. Chef Jos Wellman Tutor, author and restaurateur New Zealand   Read also: Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe  Super Chocolate Cookies Recipe Chocolate Ganache   Most Perfect Chocolate Cake Recipe Tiramisu Recipe     Jewish Coffee Cake Recipe