Saw a recipe that stated to bake the cake by starting in a COLD oven. Does anyone know why or if there are advantages to starting a cake in a cold oven?

was it a unique or different type of cake?

Never heard of that, mine always want a preheated oven.
I did a search and came up with several cold oven pound cake recipes. No one seems to know why the cold oven, except it doesn't work right if the oven is preheated... - http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/dessertex/msg0817123925840.html

Found this online:

The only cakes that should be baked in an oven that is not preheated are very dense cakes such as fruit cakes, jam cakes, and pound cakes. The purpose of the preheated oven is to allow a light cake to raise quickly then immediately kill the leavening ingredients so that the cake doesn't bubble out all over the place. Since the heavy cakes take longer to raise, they are fine in a cold oven.

Jodie

Jodie, great info! I always knew we should but never knew why. Thanks for finding this!