Grandma Mac's Perfect Southern Pound Cake

• portionen: 12 servings
• aktive zeit: 15 minutes
• gesamtzeit: 1 hour 25 minutes

Zutaten

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable shortening or (1 stick) margarine, softened at room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup whole milk or half and half

2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla or almond extract

2-1/2 teaspoons lemon extract

Anweisungen

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and flour or prepare a 12-cup bundt pan with Baker's Joy baking spray; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the butter and margarine on medium speed until creamy. Add the sugar 1/2 cup at a time and continue beating on medium until mixture becomes fluffy.

Add eggs, one a time, blending each egg in completely before adding the next.

Reduce speed to low and begin to alternately add the flour mixture and the milk into the creamed butter, starting and ending with the flour, until all is fully incorporated.

Add the extracts and blend it in.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread out the top evenly.

Bake at 325 degrees F for about 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Place the pan onto a cooling rack and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out onto the rack to cool completely.

Notizen

My grandmother used Gold Medal flour for her cakes. I use White Lily. Sift flour, then measure. I use also use all butter (3 sticks) and omit the margarine.

Tip: When measuring flour for making cakes, stir or whisk flour in the bag or canister, then spoon it into the measuring cup to overflowing, using a straight edge to level off. Avoid scooping the measuring cup into the flour, which compacts the flour, causing you to use too much and resulting in a more dense and dry cake.

Skillet Peaches: Toss 4 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced (or 1 pound frozen sliced peaches, thawed) with 2 tablespoon lemon juice; set aside. Melt 1 stick butter in a skillet, adding 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of salt and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Blend 1/4 cup bourbon/whisky (may omit) and add peaches, stirring regularly until peaches are well glazed. Spoon over pound cake with a scoop of ice cream on the side. Drizzle pan juices on top.

Sour Cream Pound Cake: Omit the milk, add one additional egg and 1 cup of sour cream.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake: Omit the margarine and substitute 1 (8 ounce) block of cream cheese, softened at room temperature.

Chocolate Pound Cake: Add 5 tablespoons of unsweetened baking cocoa (like Hershey's) and use only the vanilla extract. For an added chocolate boost, add a generous squeeze of Hershey's syrup.

Lemon Pound Cake: Prepare as above, except eliminate the extracts and substitute 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and the zest from one lemon.

Lemon 7-Up Pound Cake: Substitute 1 cup of lemon lime soda (like 7-up or Sprite) and add zest from one lemon. Reserve lemon juice for powdered sugar glaze, if desired.