POUND cake

I love waking to the smell of coffee. All I really do is turn on the coffee pot. I have a fabulous hubs who sets everything up for me the night before, so all I really have to do is push the button. :)

This week I had most of the week off. I don't know know why, it just worked out that way. I work in a specialty Italian wine store and this week the manager wanted to take a few extra days, it just so happened they were my days. Worked out great for my baking.

I made a delicious pound cake. Made from an original recipe, using a pound of all the ingredients. It turned out to be a fabulous pound cake! I love breads. I love cakes. My girlish figure is a great example of HOW much I love them. LOL

If you are baking in small tins, you will want cut baking time in half. And always adjust your baking time for the pans you use. You know your pans better than anyone else, so you should be able to adjust accordingly. I particularly like using my stone loaf pan. A lot of my friends have complained about their stones and how they don't like them but if you season them properly and care for them in the correct manner they really make for better dishes.

No my loaf pan is not dirty, just very well seasoned. To season a stone you rub softened butter on all sides and bake at 350°F. for about 20 minutes. Then just clean as directed. For deeper pans such as the loaf stone, muffin stone or bundt cake stones you may need to lightly spray with non-stick baking spray before putting batter in. But if you have never tried baking in a stone I HIGHLY recommend it.

This recipe can be easily halved so that you don't end up with 3 pound cakes and you can also freeze the cake after baking. Whats more you can slice it up and freeze the individual slices so that when you got a hankering for some pound cake all you have to do is thaw out one slice!

Original Pound Cake

2 cups butter, softened
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8 x 4 inch loaf pans, then line them with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the flour alternately with the milk, mixing until just incorporated.
3. Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes. (if using a stone loaf pan check after 50 minutes.) or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean.
4. After removing them from the oven immediately loosen cake edges with a knife. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove. Remove parchment paper. Cool completely on wire racks.