I was reading reviews on a pound cake recipe I use quite often. I'm not a huge pound cake fan so I was reading the reviews to make sure my cake is good even though its not one of my personal favorites. haha.

It does have rave reviews...a few comments were that they would reduce the sugar a bit...cake being a bit too sweet...and then some said it was "eggy".

Now I do think some of that "eggy" taste is what I don't like...its very vague though and I'd have never thought of it as "eggy" without someone saying so, if that makes sense.

The recipe calls for 7 eggs. What would happen if I used 5 eggs and 2 whites? The cake would rise up just the same as before, although it would lose some "egginess" right? Some with the reviews said they just omitted an egg but to me, I think that would not be good...another reviewer did say that omitting an egg made it a tad more dense, and not as fluffy (for pound cake, that is, its still a heavy cake.) I would think it would be wiser just to leave out a yolk or two?

Thanks!!!!

What recipe are you using?

I've never found any pound cake recipe to be "eggy" but I always make sure I have large eggs on hand when I'm baking.

Perhaps, using X-large or Jumbo eggs instead of large (unless the recipe specifically calls for a different size) causes this problem.

My favorite pound cake recipes are Elvis Presley's Favorite, Powdered Sugar (which I've lost) and Cream Cheese.

HTH

Yep its the Elvis one.... I was thinking about reducing the sugar a bit and removing a yolk to see if I liked it better...but then I'm just not a pound cake lover I guess, I don't like pound cake much...now, when I make it into LEMON pound cake, I love it!!!!

Well I reduced the sugar in the Elvis recipe by 1/2 cup and also removed two of the egg yolks and I do like it much better! Its not so overwhelmingly sweet and there indeed was an "eggy" flavor that was diminished a bit without the extra yolks.

Texture is still just as nice.

Is there a site where I can see that Elvis recipe?

Yes, look in the CC recipes section.

At a real quick glance of the recipe I can see it is not a true pound cake.

A pound cake is called that because the eggs, flour, sugar and fat weigh the same. It used to be one pound, thus the name. But you probably already knew that.

The weight of the cake flour, assuming no sifting before measuring, is 4 ounces per cup - so this is 12 oz. The sugar is 21 ounces. The eggs are 12.25 so that is close enough to the flour. The butter is 8 oz.

I think to be a true variation of a pound cake something would have to altered. Off the top of my head I would say lower the sugar and up the butter all to match the 12 oz mark.

There is also the Baker's formula for balancing a recipe.

Here is a link to a great article written by Shirley Corriher for balancing a cake recipe. She also wrote a book called Bakewise that goes into a much great detail, especially about the pound cake. She discusses exactly what you are trying to do. It might be available at your local library, which is where I found this book before I bought my own.

http://www.finecooking.com/articles/ratios-for-great-cakes.aspx

Yolks will add richness, whites are a drying agent.

LOL I know, its technically a "butter cake" but its okay, its called "Elvis' favorite pound cake" so its close enough for me. haha. Besides I like true pound cake even less than I like the Elvis one!

And with the bit less sugar and a few less yolks, I'm thinking I like it pretty well, for "pound cake"....

I'd give up pound cake completely if I didn't live in the Northeast where its a staple!!!!!

Thanks for the link, btw!!!!