When my latest issue of Southern Living arrived, there was a headline on the front that said, “Our best pound cake ever.” That’s all of the prompting I needed to turn to the page and check it out. Since I have been on my clean eating program, Mr. Right hasn’t had many homemade desserts from me. All of our desserts lately have been fresh fruit, so, I thought he needed a special treat for being such a team player. I haven’t tasted this cake, but he says it is really good. It’s strawberry season in a lot of southern states right now and will continue to the north as spring turns into summer. This would be a great cake to turn into a strawberry shortcake.
Ingredients
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup half and half
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees and make sure an oven rack in in the center. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
- Beat sugar, butter, and cream cheese with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium high speed until very fluffy and pale in color - about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed just until yellow disappears after each addition. Add egg yolks, half and half, and vanilla, and beat on low speed just until blended.
- Stir together flour and salt in medium bowl; gradually add to butter mixture in 3 batches, beating on low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed.
- Spoon batter into prepared pan, and gently tap pan on counter to release any large air bubbles.
- Bake in preheated oven until cake is golden and a long pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes;remove cake from pan, and cool completely on wire rack before slicing and serving, about 2 hours.
This is a great cake to dress up or dress down. You can add berries, sauces, and whipped cream. Or you can do what Southern Living and I did, and just add some powdered sugar.
Take care.
The crazy thing about this cake is there are no additions of baking soda or baking powder, so it has a nice, dense texture. You can top it off with a dusting of powder sugar or a glaze. Enjoy with some freshly picked berries or just some you buy at the market.
Take care.
