National Pound Cake Day!

 

It is another Friday which means, I am celebrating another food. Today, March 4th, is National Pound Cake Day! There is only one way to celebrate this day….

If you guessed make a pound cake, then you are correct! I am not sure how long March 4th has been known as pound cake day, but the concept of this type of cake has been around since the 1700s. The cake earned its name from the ingredients and amounts originally used. In their earliest forms, Pound Cakes were made of 1 pound flour, 1 pound butter, 1 pound eggs, and 1 pound sugar. These 4 ingredients in equal proportions makes this dense and flavorful cake. Well today the cake has evolved slightly, but still is influenced by its traditional ingredients.

My Mom loves pound cake. When she was growing up, it was the cake that my grandmother would always make for her birthday. When I was dreaming up the National Food Friday Project, and told her Pound Cake was on the list, she told me she wanted to have a shot at this one. Well here you go Mom. Here is my mom’s recipe for pound cake.

 

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Pound Cake

Adapted from Charleston Cake Lady: Teresa Pregnall

2 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup self rising flour

3 sticks butter

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

1 1/4 cups butter milk

2 tsp vanillaextract

1 tsp almond extract

1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

 

DO NOT PRE HEAT OVEN. Grease your pan with non stick spray or butter.

Sift together the AP and self rising flours together in a medium size bowl.

In a large mixing bowl,  mix with a mixer on low speed, the butter and sugar together For about 7 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and mix until egg is incorporated before adding the next egg. Continue mixing and add the flour and buttermilk in thirds, alternating between flour and buttermilk. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts followed by the nutmeg.

Turn oven to 325 (oven should not be preheated to 325) Pour batter into the greased pan and bake until done. This should take around 70 minutes but may vary depending on shape and size of pan. When done, a cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean. Let cake cool in pan before removing. Enjoy.

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A slice of pound cake is delicious on its own, but why stop there. My favorite way to eat pound cakes is on the dessert side…..

 

 

 

When my Grandmother would make this for my Mom’s Birthday they would eat it toasted and topped with ice cream and hot fudge! This tradition stuck around and when I was younger and when we would go eat Thanksgiving or a family meal at my Grandmother’s old house, this was the go to dessert. It is really hard to go wrong with toasted pound cake, hot fudge and ice cream.

On a side not. For those of you who are interested in photography, the pictures you see in this post and many others on my blog are shot at night with artificial light. Next week I will show you how I shoot at night. Have a great Pound Cake Day and a great weekend!