Well hello there! Sooo pound cake is essentially the only thing I bake, but I bake it just about every week. It's my signature. I think it's good to have things in this world you can count on. If there is one thing you can count on when visiting my house, it's that you are welcomed, regardless of the time of day, with the offer of a cup of coffee and a piece of warm pound cake. It's just my little way of saying come in and stay awhile. I have modified my recipe substantially over the last couple of years to make it my own but, it was originally adapted from my Grandmama’s recipe. If you are in the south, everyone’s Grandma has a pound cake recipe and everyone’s Grandma’s pound cake is better than anyone else’s. It's ok, give this recipe a try and see how you like it! You don’t have to tell Grandma if you like mine better 😉
I use most of the standard ingredients: sugar, cake flour, butter, eggs, sour cream, cream cheese, and vanilla. Where mine may differ from a lot of recipes is that I use both sour cream AND cream cheese, most use one or the other.
Preheat your oven to bake at 350.
Alright, now you have an idea of where we are headed so break out your mixer and let’s get to it! First you are going to want to pull out your butter and let it warm to room temperature. If I plan on making a pound cake, I usually pull the butter out a couple of hours before hand. Sometimes, ain’t nobody got time for that so I just hold it in my hands or put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Just don’t over do it like I did while I was making this very batch and forget its in the microwave for more time than you need… In my defense, I borrowed butter from my Grandmama, because I forgot to get it at the store. She freezes her butter, WHO DOES THAT?! I certainly have never heard of it. I overcompensated with more time in the microwave. Obviously this baking session was on the struggle bus from the start. Rant over. Thanks for listening.
I did a little research since initially doing the baking and writing for this post because the whole butter dilemma was bothering me. I started looking for a better way to soften butter but not melt it. This is the best method I have found. Grab yourself two microwave safe glasses, pour boiling water in them and let them heat up. Then dump the water and put the heated glasses over the butter and within a minute or two your butter will be perfectly softened. GENIUS! Why did I not know this before?!
ANYWAYS… mix on low to medium speed 2 sticks of room temperature butter with 3 cups of sugar until the butter is incorporated into the sugar. I like to use the paddle attachment on my Kitchen Aid.
Next, mix in each of the 6 eggs one at a time. I have found that by the time I can crack an egg, drop it in and throw away the shell it is about time to add the next egg. It goes pretty quickly.
After the 6 eggs, I let the mixer do its thing for about 30 seconds on medium to high speed. Typically about a 6 on the Kitchen Aid. Side note, I cannot wait for these little ladies to start laying their eggs because farm fresh eggs seriously make everything taste so much better! More posts about chickens to come!
IMPORTANT*******TURN OFF YOUR MIXER******** Before you add the flour. I can neither confirm nor deny that I know what happens if you forget to turn off the mixer. Let’s just say “I have this friend” who knows.
Add 1.5 cups of cake flour then turn your mixer on to a very slow speed until then flour in incorporated. Then add the entire brick of cream cheese. I found this awesome part Greek yogurt/cream cheese mix. As you can read on the label it has a ton more protein and half of the fat! I can’t taste the difference and I have cut off a cube of it for quality control. I don’t even buy the full strength stuff anymore.
Next *** turn off the mixer*** (I’ve got your back, not letting you forget that). Then add the other 1.5 cups of cake flour. Turn the mixer back onto low and let the flour incorporate. Then add ¼ cup of sour cream and the 2 tsp of Tahitian Vanilla Extract from the savory spice shop. If you want more info on my love of the savory spice shop look here. If ever there was a secret ingredient to my pound cake, the Tahitian vanilla is one of the main things that gives it a WOW factor. Of course if all you have is regular, it still is yummy.
Let the mixer do its thing for about 30-45 on a high speed. Typically, around an 8 on the Kitchen Aid. While its mixing, grease your pans with Pam for baking or you can do the old butter and flour method. Your choice.
I always use 3 loaf pans of the 8.5 in x 4.5in persuasion. I do this because I keep one loaf for the house and give the other two away to people who I may see during the week. They make great hostess gifts.
Divide the batter evenly between the three pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 42-44 minutes. If you use the traditional bundt pan, I would cook it for one hour then check it with the toothpick method to see if it comes out clean. For that matter, check your loaf pans with the toothpick method as well because everyone's oven is a little bit different. Pull it out and let it cool before removing from the pans! Enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
6 Large Eggs
3 cups Sugar
½ lbs Butter (2 sticks)
3 cups Swans Down Cake Flour
8 oz Cream Cheese
¼ cup Sour Cream
2tsp Vanilla
Pam for Baking
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the Oven to 350° and set out butter to bring to room temperature.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer on a low to medium speed.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Allow to mix until smooth.
4. Turn off the mixer and add half of the cake flour. Mix on low until combined.
5. Add the cream cheese and mix.
6. Turn off the mixer and add the other half of the cake flour. Mix on low until combined.
7. Add sour cream and vanilla.
8. Grease your pans with the pam for baking. **I typically use three 8.5in x 4.5in loaf pans**
9. Divide evenly between three 8.5in x 4.5in loaf pans.
10. Bake for 40-42 minutes. Let them cool before removing them from the pans.
11. Enjoy!
