Ina Garten's Secret For Pound Cake With A Crispy Edge

Pound cake is one of those timeless and easy-to-make cakes with a signature tender, moist, and melt-in-your-mouth texture. It's been around since the 18th century, and it's such a simple recipe that it even got its name from the weight of each ingredient used to make it. Despite its simplicity, there's a bit of a challenge in making its exterior crispy. Even a well-made pound cake — one that follows the original recipe for this dessert — does not guarantee a slightly firm edge. However, Ina Garten, who previously shared an irresistible, no-bake chocolate cake recipe, has found a clever way to make a pound cake's sides crispy every time. Her secret? Turbinado sugar.

On her Food Network show "Barefoot Contessa," the celebrity cookbook author shared that in order for her to achieve a crispy edge for her pound cake, she coats the entire inside surface of her pan with turbinado sugar before pouring the batter in. The coarse, granulated brown sugar forms into a crisp, crunchy, and crackly crust on the sides of the cake as it melts inside the oven. As a result, this thin and crunchy layer provides a delectable contrast to the tender and buttery crumb of the cake. The best part is, this hack doesn't require professional skill, special tools, or complex ingredients to pull it off.

While pound cake is very versatile and can be served with different toppings and ingredients — adding cheddar cheese makes it extra flavorful — Ina Garten's sugar hack is just as adaptable. The crusty layer of turbinado sugar can work with many other baked goods. You can do the technique when baking banana bread, so the pastry will have a crackly, golden edge. You can also do the same to muffins. Topping the batter with the granulated sugar will make crunchy domes once baked. Even plain coffee cakes or snack loaves will look and taste more toothsome if you prepare them with this extra layer.

The reason this simple hack works so well lies in the properties of turbinado sugar itself. Since the large sugar crystals don't dissolve as quickly as fine-grained sugar, they hold their texture longer during baking and don't combine with the batter. By the time the sugar granules melt and start to mix together, the batter has already taken form as bread or cake. As such, you get a crunchy caramelized layer instead of the melted sugar being completely absorbed into the bread or cake. By following Garten's technique, you can upgrade your favorite recipes without adjusting baking times or ingredients.