pound cake

butter butter... and more butter.



traditionally, the pound cake recipe calls for 1 lb of butter, 1 lb of sugar, and 1 lb of flour, hence its name. pretty basic. pretty easy. the pound cake is one of those high butter to flour ratio cakes, creating a dense and buttery treat for those occasional cravings. the recipe has been modified over the years to alter the consistency and taste, and really, who wants to eat a pound of butter?

but THIS... this pound cake recipe is heavier than most on the butter and def Paula Dean worthy. don't get me wrong, i'm sure Paula's a lovely lady whose recipes are well thought out and delicious but when her name comes up, the first thing i think of is a stick butter. but i digress...

After 2 different attempts at slightly varied pound cake recipes, i tried the Entenmann's Pound Cake recipe found here. i must say, after my share of Entenmann's as a kid, i am pretty well acquainted with the buttery cakes, and the final result of this recipe came pretty close.

modified recipe calls for:

1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter
2 cups of powdered sugar
3 eggs
1 Tbsp of vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt

heat oven at 325 degrees. spray loaf pan with Pam or butter.

beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add vanilla extract. add eggs one at a time alternating with the flour and beat until just incorporated. i added a 1/2 tsp of salt (the orginal recipe calls for none) as salt tends to bring out the flavors in most sweet foods. be sure NOT to over mix the flour into the batter or you'll get a really dense and dry cake.

pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a tookpick comes out with a few crumbs on it.

excellent served with fresh strawberries (and vanilla ice cream, if you have some)! i probably won't be baking this again though. it was DELICIOUS but too buttery. most definitely not a healthy choice of foods but what baked good is healthy?

hmm.. perhaps that is my next mission: to make tasty AND healthy baked treats!