The Pound Cake Hack For The Ultimate Dessert Grilled Cheese

Who says a grilled cheese has to be savory? At its core, a grilled cheese hinges on two pieces of bread, sandwiched — then grilled — with your choice of filling. With that general structure in mind, you can swap out your favorite sourdough and cheddar combination for two pieces of classic pound cake. Opt for your favorite fillings, and you'll have the dessert grilled cheese of your dreams. 

Pound cake works particularly well for your sweetened grilled cheese because it mirrors bread in structure. Unlike other cakes that are crumbly and therefore more likely to fall apart, you don't need a fork to enjoy a pound cake. Rather, you can eat the vanilla-tinged dessert with your hands, as its texture is traditionally dense and tender. As such, it's more likely to withstand the responsibilities of a sandwich and can handle interior fillings in grilled cheese format. 

To see this success in action, simply cut your pound cake into slices wide enough to stay together. Then, you'll want to choose your fillings. Pound cake is relatively neutral in flavor, and you can get experimental with not only your cake's flavor but also your favorite fillings. Options for the sandwich's interior range from sweet cheeses to sweeter substitutions that loosely interpret the nature of a grilled cheese. 

To keep your recipe as close to a grilled cheese as possible, you can adhere to a cheese filling. Mild, sweeter, and softer cheeses tend to work best alongside cake. In fact, some pound cake recipes already use ricotta in the cake batter, so the fresh cheese is a particularly great starting point if you're stuck on how to start your sandwich. Alternatively, consider adding brie, goat cheese, or camembert. Any of these pair well with the addition of jam or honey, which will boost your sandwich's sweetness and add even more flavor. Cream cheese is also a great choice.

Alternatively, you can steer clear of cheese altogether and make a dessert grilled cheese in structure rather than ingredients. If you choose this route, you'll have all the more options for fillings, which may include marshmallow fluff, Nutella, slices of citrus, and layers of jam. Basically, you'll be able to fill your  sandwich with anything you'd use to elevate a pound cake – and get as creative as you please. All that's left is to grill your pound cake sandwich and warm up those delicious fillings.