April 23, 2012

The Most Incredible Poundcake Recipe EVER

UPDATE: Welcome pinners. This has become my most popular recipe to date! Wow, you all are really looking for a good great poundcake. I can tell you, you've found it. I hope while you are checking this one out, you'll poke around some other recipes. One easy way to do this is by season. Click on the seasonal link in the cloud list on the right hand sidebar and see what you can make right now. Or you may be interested in the other cakes I've made, including some fun birthday cakes. Either way, I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment or shoot me an email. tochickenville {at} gmail {dot} come. Thanks for visiting!

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Secret Recipe Club alert!! Why "secret"? In the Club we are assigned another food blog from the members and then secretly make one of their recipes. This month, I was assigned Anne From My Sweet Heart, a blog laser focused on desserts. Just so happens this is a GREAT time for me to make a cake. My aunt, my mother-in-law, brother, AND sister-in-law (she of the Kickin' Vinaigrette dressing) all have birthdays in April!! The kids spend at least two days making all of their cards and sometimes I get to spend some time in the kitchen cooking up a celebration dinner. This month, I got to make dinner for my brother and his wife for their birthdays. My parents joined us for the evening. It was loud  (actually our house is always loud with four kids) with lots of laughing and fun. The big kids put on a gymnastics's show AND a theatre production.

Mom and Dad brought the main dish, a pork loin, which I seasoned and my husband grilled. As usual it was moist, delicious and perfectly delicious. You cannot miss with my Disappearing Pork Loin recipe. I made Kohlrabi-Carrot Bake, Broccoli Salad (which I did not get enough of on Easter), homemade Honey Wheat Seeded bread, cheese grits, a green salad and the afore mentioned delicious pound cake.

This cake is moist and held a perfect crumb. The bottom crust was crispy, but the inside was soft. I served it with strawberries macerated in sugar (directions in the recipe below) and Breyers vanilla bean ice cream. My husband went back for a plain piece because he said the berries just got in his way of tasting the amazing cake. I swapped out a little of the vanilla in the original recipe for some almond, which took it over the top (this does not make it almond tasting, it only adds a little depth of flavor). Whatever you choose, make sure it's good quality, pure extract, not imitation, because it will be the dominate flavor.

This recipe turned out to be the best poundcake I've ever tasted!! Right up there with my favorite cake - Famous Fresh Strawberry Cake. I'm not kidding you folks, this was really THAT good. Find an excuse to make this cake and you will be a hero to your family.

Cream Cheese Poundcake
From My Sweet Heart

3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract (my preference or you could do lemon, more vanilla, or something else)
6 large eggs
3 cups of sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat your oven to 325°F. Spray a bundt pan with cooking spray and then sprinkle some flour over the spray. Shake it around until the flour covers the oil and then tap out the excess. It should look like this. If you don't have a bundt pan, you can bake it in two 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch loaf pans for 60 minutes.
In the mixer bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together until creamy. Gradually add the sugar with the mixer still running, and continue to beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the salt and extracts. Add the eggs to the mix, one at a time. Beat well after each addition. This is easy when you have a little helper.

Stop the electric mixer and sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. With a rubber spatula, gently stir the flour into the mix, until no traces of flour are seen and the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Bake on center rack for 75 minutes. The top should be golden and become slightly cracked; and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.  Transfer to a wire rack and let the pans cool for 15 minutes. Carefully turn the cake out of the pan onto a wire rack for cooling.

To serve with strawberries. While cake is baking, wash, hull (remove the stems) and cut up the berries. Sprinkle with sugar. Let stand in fridge, every once in a while, give them a stir. You want them to sit for an hour or so. When they are ready, there will be a nice juicy, sweet syrup in the bottom of the bowl.

The most perfect Poundcake recipe EVER. Happy Birthday Nadia and Jason!!

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44 comments:

  1. Oh, how I adore a good pound cake! If only it didn't add pounds to my hips I would eat it every day. Love the recipe, cream cheese is a wonderful addition. But most of all I love the picture of your son with the smile!! It says it all.

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    1. I think the cream cheese is definitely the "secret" ingredient. My kids go love to cook and for the boys, if it involves smashing things in the mixer, so much the better.

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  2. Wow, I can't wait to try this. It looks and sounds incredible!

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    1. Teri, you MUST try it. Pin it for later, you won't regret it.

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  3. I love a good pound cake. This looks fabulous!

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  4. I never saw a pound cake with cream cheese before, but maybe that's what makes it so delicious.

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    1. I really do think that is what makes this cake so seriously awesome. I've never seen a pc recipe with it either.

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  5. What a beautiful pound cake! Great choice and I'm going to try it soon!

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    1. Thank you. Pin it for later so you don't forget. Then pull it out for your next celebration. It's a keeper.

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    2. I pinned it as soon as I saw that gorgeous picture! I'm making it for my niece's bridal shower. Thanks, you're awesome!

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  6. What a moist pound cake! This sounds amazing and I do love pound cake!

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    1. Very moist, but still the crisp crust. Absolutely perfect. Try it Kate.

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  7. Oh wow-with that much butter, sugar, and cream cheese I bet it's amazing!

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    1. I know, don't think about it and have a very small slice (if you have great will power)!

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  8. Pinning this one as I adore pound cake...and it makes a really great strawberry shortcake. Bundts are perfect for potlucks and parties...which seem to be on my calendar a lot as the Texas weather warms up!!

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    1. Wendy, I thought the strawberries and ice cream were perfect with it, but as I mentioned, my husband thought it got in the way of the awesomeness of the cake. I've never made a pound cake that can't really stand up to being alone, but this one does.

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  9. What I love most about trying new recipes is when you come across that one that knocks your socks off! Your cake looks perfect. I'm flagging this...it looks like a perfect summer cake.

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  10. Aimee...thank you so much for your kind comments. I love this simple pound cake...for that crunchy crust and it's just so moist! I'm so glad you and your beautiful family enjoyed it. : )

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    1. No...thank you Anne for bringing me in touch with the World's Greatest Poundcake. The entire cake is G O N E and it was just as good the second and third day. Really, it is the best cake ever.

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  11. What a beautiful looking cake, thanks so much for a new recipe to try.

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    1. I was pretty proud at how good it looked until I tasted it - then I was blown away!

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  12. I always love cream cheese in poundcakes, it takes them to a whole new level of decadence.

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    1. You are way more "hip to the scene" than I am, because I never knew that one ingredient would change the whole thing!

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  13. Made this on a whim today .. In between painting more sections of my fence. It turned out perfect. I Mi flipped it too soon, so you know there are a few spots, but its Delicious!!

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    1. Jackie, You are seriously industrious!! "In between painting the fence"??!! Wow, I vaguely remember being that productive back in my former life. The fence looks great btw and I'm glad you like the cake.

      I think the trick to the perfect release is really the combo of the spray oil AND the flour shaking. That works for me everytime, even in those intricate bundt pans.

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  14. I was getting excited for this recipe until I saw it had cream cheese in it. I'm still excited to try it because it sounds DELISH but my main motivation for making pound cakes is to find a good one to enter into the fair. So far I've only gotten a third place ribbon. They don't allow cream cheese in baked goods (it's so stupid!!!!) so I'm going to have to come up with a different recipe for them while we enjoy this one at home. The texture looks PHENOMENAL!

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  15. I've been away from blogging and visiting my favorite blogs for a while now, and I am SO glad to come back to this!!! The pound cake sounds phenomenal and is going into my 'must-make' list right away! Looks gorgeous :) Thanks for sharing :)

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  16. I made this last weekend and it was divine. My daughter would like to have it for birthday as a lemon pound cake. I want to incorporate lemon zest and lemon extract. I'm not sure on how much of each to add. Would you recommend I eliminate the almond extract or reduce the amounts of the almond and or vanilla extracts?

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    1. I would replace the almond with lemon extract (leave the vanilla) and then add 1/2 tbsp zest. I think I might also serve it with a lemon glaze over the top just to kick it up. Let me know how it turns out.

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  17. Thank you for the advice on the lemon. I am excited to try it. I just loved the recipe you posted. We shared the cake with the neighbors and everyone loved it. Thank you for sharing the recipe & again for the advice on the lemon. Her birthday is next month. I will let you know how it turns out. I will definitely do the lemon glaze, too.

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  18. What type of flour does this recipe use? Plain? Self rising? Cake flour like Swan's Down?

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    1. All purpose flour. Poundcakes are an old recipe before we ever had those choices. In fact the original recipe called for a pound of each ingredient, hence the name. :)

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  19. Mrs Christian: I've gotta make this cake to take to a meeting in a couple days, my question is would cream cheese frosting interfere with this over the top cake? Thanking you in advance...nita

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    1. I've just now seen you comment - so sorry for the delay. If you haven't made the cake yet, I would say hold off on the frosting. It will probably be too sweet. You are better off with a lovely whipped cream from scratch and if you like fresh fruit. You could add a glaze to the cake: sugar, flavoring, and a little warm water. You could even add orange zest and turn the whole thing more citrusy.

      Hope that helps.

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  20. I made this cake (from Orangette) - it was fabulous. My family fell over themselves to eat it. Definitely going to make it again!

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  21. I made this cake Sunday to test it out for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Yummers!

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  22. First of all, thank you so much for your recipe! I´m writing you from Spain, so sorry for my English ;-) I have a question, could you help me please? I don´t understand when you say "when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs", I usually bake my cakes and I know that it´s done when the toothpick comes out dry... Is it OK?

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    1. Yes, that's exactly it. You just don't want to overbake it since it's a pound cake. Hope it turns out beautifully!

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