Perfect Pound Cake - Simple, Plain and it disappeared fast!

I live on the Central Coast of California. We are thankful for the rain we've been receiving, over the last few weeks. The Golden Hills are bursting with fresh green grass... our wisteria plants are already budding. Along with that, I am seeing a thick layer of yellow pollen all over my car! I'm sneezing and congested-- and, it is quite possible that I am fighting the beginning of a cold. Alas, the recipes I've bookmarked throughout the week will need to be put on hold. A stuffed up nose impairs a foodie's ability to taste and smell. *SIGH*

I had every intention of making this pound cake recipe, again, for two reasons-- we loved it, and I had hoped to photograph a slice of cake with a mound of fresh berries (a benefit of living in the agriculturally rich Salinas Valley), with fresh cream. I decided to post the recipe, Plain Jane and undressed to impress, so that I could submit a recipe to my own Sister Blog, "Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman".

Twice a month, fellow bloggers submit recipes from the wildly popular food blog "The Pioneer Woman Cooks". I chose the category "Wild Card", because Ree has so many recipes to choose from! I've already bookmarked a few of her soup and pasta recipes. As soon as my sense of smell returns, I'm going to make her Cajun Pasta.

Let's begin:

The ingredients: butter, flour, eggs, sugar, and 7-UP (not diet...it's canceled out, anyway, with cake). The butter and eggs are room temperature. PW lists butter flavor extract and lemon extract, for this recipe. I could not find butter flavored extract at any of my grocery stores! Then I remembered...

... I ordered a bottle of Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion to make Cinnamon Rolls and Stollen (which I have yet to do). I opened the bottle, for the first time, and took a whiff (last week, before the cold). It smelled like yellow cake mix batter, with a hint of citrus, and I really liked it! I decided to add lemon extract, anyway.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter, add the sugar, 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each addition; then add butter and lemon extracts and mix well. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Easy, so far!

Add the soft drink, then mix together until combined. Scrape sides of bowl, then mix briefly. Pour into a greased Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until the cake is no longer jiggly. My oven reached this point just a hair over one hour. I'm one of those bakers who checks her cakes a little early. Overbaked cakes = dry = "Choke Cake".

This photo looks just like Ree's! The cake did turn out perfectly, and it smelled heavenly-- notes of vanilla, butter and citrus. Mmmmm. Now, how to get the cake out? I flashed back to last April, when I made a Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt Cake. I didn't allow the cake to cool long enough, and my husband got a little aggressive (Damsel in Distress Syndrome) and the cake broke apart.

...like this. I retired this ancient bundt pan and bought a shiny new one. Warily, I flipped the pan over, and let the cake cool completely. This wasn't easy, because the cake smells amazing.




Now, close your eyes and visualize a mound of fresh berries on top, with a dollop of fresh whipped cream.... or a scoop of homemade ice cream with a drizzle of caramel sauce. Did you see it? I did! I did the latter, but night had fallen and I didn't want to photograph with flash light. It was delicious, plain. Next time...

Yes, this is perfect pound cake. It's moist, but dense enough to stand up to whatever topping you might decide to use. I loved the Sweet Dough Emulsion flavor, which had subtle notes of vanilla, butter and citrus. I recommend it-- it gives a terrific flavor, without overpowering the overall cake flavor. I'd like to try using almond extract, as a variation, too.



I hope you are enjoying your weekend,

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