Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Cake Cravings

There is a hilarious scene in an episode of Sex and the City where Miranda makes herself a homemade chocolate cake. She starts off by eating one thin sliver of the cake and then walks away. The camera frame doesn't leave the kitchen the entire scene. You see her walk back into the kitchen just seconds later and help herself to another minuscule piece of the sinful treat. After she leaves the shot she is once again back within seconds and cuts herself a third helping. This time she is more realistic and portions out a sizable piece of the cake. After her third tasting she covers the cake in aluminum foil trying to make it less accessible. The tin foil wasn't strong enough to keep her out. After a short while she returns to the kitchen and has another piece. This time she covers it with foil and places it in the fridge assuming it to be the final resting place until a later date. Time elapses and she is back once more. She eats another piece; visibly frustrated with her lack of self control she throws the cake in the trash. Miranda thinks this will deter her from ever eating the cake again. In one last desperate scene, they show her back in the frame hovering over the trash can about to make a very dirty decision. She heads over to the sink, grabs the dish soap and pours it all over the cake making it unedible to her tempted tastebuds.

It is a brillant scene and my paragraph above does it little justice. I think the will power struggle she goes through during the short 2 minute scene is captured perfectly and with so much humor. I never could relate to the scene on a personal level because I am not a chocolate lover. I have never had something so rich and decedant tempting me in my own kitchen - that was until this weekend. Although it wasn't the chocolate cake of the sitcom, this pound cake was addictive. I couldn't stop eating it. Everytime I passed the cake stand I lifted the lid and helped myself to a sliver. I felt like I was headed down the Miranda dish soap road very quickly. I made sure to cut up slices to bring to work on Monday in an attempt to get the cake out of my house so it didn't end up in the trashcan drowning in Palmolive.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Southern Living November 2001

Yield

1 (10-inch) cake

Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups butter, softened at room temp
  • 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temp
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (do not over beat);

gradually add sugar, beating well.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until combined. Crack eggs into a bowl first before adding to the mixture to make sure you avoid shells in the cake mix.

Sift 3 cups of flour. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla from the huge 1 liter Mexican vanilla bottle my mother in law shared with me.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.

Smooth the top of the cake or bottom of the cake (depending how you look at it) with a spatula to even it out.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack. My pound cake had a crazy crusty layer on the bottom that I just peeled off. It was like candy, it was so sweet and cruchy but it wasn't pretty so I just threw it away.

250 comments:

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Anonymous said...

I lost count how many time I have made this cake, it is amazing. I have requests from family, friends and neighbors all the time for this cake, Its been name Crack Cake because its so addictive. I once froze the cake so I wouldn't eat it but it tastes wonderful frozen. The key is to have everything at room temp when mixing the batter. If this cake had caffeine in it I could live on nothing else.

Unknown said...

I absolutely love this recipe! I also added almond and lemon extract like another poster and changed my temp to 350.... I make this at least once a month and my family and friends love every bite. Thank you for sharing this!

Sara said...

This is the absolute best pound cake and we have been making it in my family for years and years! The only difference is that we use lemon flavoring instead of vanilla. It is AMAZING!! Also I like to slightly under cook it so it is gooy near the outside edges and crust is just crunchy enough.

Anonymous said...

I baked this cake for our family fish fry on yesterday. My first time and I followed the recipe to a T and it was DELICIOUS. This is definitely a keeper.

Anonymous said...

I tried it. Omg..soooo good. You can't taste tangyness but the cake is moist and you will get the creamy flavor.

Anonymous said...

The part that wasn't pretty that you threw away is the best part of a pound cake!!! Please send it to me if you aren't going to eat it! Lol

Anonymous said...

I used this receipe yesterday and something went wrong. Not sure what it was as I followed it exactly. I usually bake sour cream pound cake, but since I had a package of cream cheese in the fridge, I decided to try something new. It actually tastes pretty good, and it rose to the top of the pan. Yet, it seems heavy, not a good texture at all. If anyone knows what happened, please tell me.

Anonymous said...

I have made a version of this for years, without the cream cheese. When I bake it "plain" with just the regular vanilla, it is a great thing to have around for breakfasts, strawberries or unplanned company. It freezes well. I have changed it up on occasion by adding a different flavoring instead of the vanilla, i.e...lemon, almond, orange etc. I've also substituted butter, margarine or butter flav. crisco. So when I came across the cream cheese addition I was ready to go. But I felt in the mood for orange so I added fresh orange peel and used a tablespoon of Grand Marnier instead of vanilla.
Heavens, Heavens, Heavenly.
P.S. My mom and I were confused when you said you threw away the "candy crust", this is the crown of our cake and takes some skill to flip it out onto a plate then onto a cake stand.

Anonymous said...

HELP! My cake over flowed then sank! What a waste of good ingredients. Any suggestions?

Anonymous said...

Looks great. But not good for you at all - and I'm certain 99% of the ladies drooling over this are overweight. Kinda sad.

Unknown said...

To answer anyone who may have asked about leaveners...this cake rose like a ROCK STAR without them.

I'm as surprised as you are.

Seriously, follow the darn recipe.

Linda M said...

I tried this on Sunday, followed directions to a tee. I don't know what happened but it was the worse cake I ever baked. It was hard like a rock, I greased pan & floured it, could not even get it out took me 20 minutes & top fell apaprt. Was awful.

Anonymous said...

Just made this tonight. I saw this on Pinterest. Very delicious.I used Greek yogurt cream cheese instead. still came out moist. the only thing I would change is amount of sugar. I found it a little too sweet. But it was still delicious. Thank you for posting the recipe

cathy said...

Just made this for my daughters bridal shower. The cream cheese enticed me. I'm making trifle desserts. What a great recipe! Thanks.

Unknown said...

This recipe sounds Wonderful & I will be making it for our Family for Easter Sunday Dinner! Thanks to all you people that Share your Yummy recipes with us. I dont understand why people feel the need to make negative comments or blame you when it comes out bad because they didnt follow directions!! Lolol A little Crazy if u ask me! I say IGNORE them you have so many Good comments to read��

Connie Johnson Foster said...

Following this recipe to the letter, it turned out GREAT. I'm baking another one for church tomorrow. My husband is a pound cake man. He loves this recipe and so do I. It's easy to make and taste good. I especially love the thick crust around the edges. I didn't remove it and sure as heck won't throw it away. Thanks again for sharing.

Unknown said...

I made this...it's in my oven baking now..yay.. Can hardly wait.!

L. Collins said...

This cake was very easy to make. It tasted fabulous! This was my first attempt at a pound cake. I am sure that I will be making one again soon. It was a huge hit with the family!

Karen said...

Thank you for posting this recipe Elizabeth. I was looking for a plain cake, something as a base for fresh strawberries and blueberries and this was exactly what I needed. I followed the recipe exactly and could not be more pleased with the result. The cake is not only delicious, but came out of the pan "picture perfect" following your instructions. Great recipe and very versatile for any occasion.

Molly said...

This cake is in my oven at the moment - I was wondering about how the cake will rise also, however, after reading other comments I do not have any concerns!

How can a cake with this amount of tasty ingredients be bad? :)

Anonymous said...

Frosted mine with melted Hershey Bars. Use a double boiler to melt, and spread over cake. Decorate with strawberries.

Unknown said...

I'm speechless. I think I could eat the whole cake by myself. Seriously.

Unknown said...

I'm very excited to try this recipe!! I bake 'special' treats for medical and cancer patients, so this recipe will be sure to delight! Thanks so much for sharing!

Nicole said...

Do you think this would work in 2 loaf pans?

Unknown said...

Can I make this with less sugar? Will that change the flavor too much?

ing said...

hi... can i bake this using a small toaster oven? and what would be the proportion of the ingredients if i would just want to bake a smaller cake? thanks.

Cathy said...

I made this cake last night and it was amazing! I made it exactly as described and it could not have been any better. I put strawberries on it when I served it and my guests loved it and asked for the recipe. I have a convection oven and I thought it might cook faster but at 300 degrees it took all of the 1 hour 40 minutes plus maybe another 10. I keeper of a recipe! :)

Anonymous said...

Nope , no baking soda or powder

Anonymous said...

No baking soda or powder .

Anonymous said...

No baking soda or powder .

Anonymous said...

This is a recipe I have used for years...it is the BEST! It is heavy like a pound cake should be with a little bit of crust on the outside....it gets better with time if you put it in an air tight container. I have tried other recipes and keep coming back to this one!

Michelle said...

This looks great, will try tomorrow! One question I don't see anything about the glaze I see in the picture, I would like to glaze mine ��

Karen said...

I Just mixed this pound cake by hand (no machine) and my right arm muscle is now bigger than the left arm. LOL The cake is in the oven. I am excited and will be bringing it to Christmas dinner this afternoon. I will report back the results from the family. Merry Christmas Everyone

Maggy said...

I made this lovely cake this evening and it is absolutely great! The smell was awesome and we couldn't wait to try the cake. Everyone like it!

Anonymous said...

I have made this cake for years. Everyone loves it without any icing. Good for breakfast with coffee. I do use a 12 cup Bundt pan as I find it is a large cake.

Anonymous said...

Just made the pound cake. Excited to see how it turns out. Thanks for posting the recipe.

Lil said...

I was surprised it doesn't have any leavening in it. I will bake it for my next Bible Study on Tuesday.With all the good comments, I am sure it will be fantastic.Thank you for sharing.

Eli said...

Wow this looks so delicious and easy to bake!!

Anonymous said...

Can I replace some or half of the sugar with granulated Splenda?

Unknown said...

Made this cake several times. It's really good but a little too sweet for my taste, so I put 2 cups of sugar instead of 3 and it's perfect.

Unknown said...

Made this cake several times. It's really good but a little too sweet for my taste, so I put 2 cups of sugar instead of 3 and it's perfect.

Unknown said...

looks awesome......All I have is an angel food cake pan. Will the batter be thick enough to use that?

Anonymous said...

Don't you dare throw that crust away. It is the best part. You invert the cake twice leave the Crusty top and place plastic wrap over it so it doesn't crack off. It will settle on and it will look just fine. I've been making this recipe for at least 30 years with one exception which I won't go into. People beg for this cake and always have.

Unknown said...

This post is very useful. Thnks for sharing it.
Edible Cake | Edible Cake Printers

Unknown said...

What happen to my poor cake? The cake cracked in half,from bottom to middle. I sifted flour, baked 300 degrees for 1 hour 40 min. Anyone else have this problem?

cjenkinson1 said...

Amazing pound cake! I've tried many pound cake recipes without success, this one is a keeper!

Anonymous said...

Making it now!

Ellen :) said...

This is a go-to cake for me. I'll be making it again on Friday when I host my book club. It's incredibly delicious, difficult to screw up (even for a non-baker like me) and makes a gorgeous, elegant presentation with just a little powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I'm glad it'll likely be gone when my company is, as your description is spot on--it's simply impossible to not eat this cake. :)

Unknown said...

I just made this cake, it smells wonderful!! I cannot wait to taste it!!

Unknown said...

This cake turned out delicious... although I think it weighs more than a pound... lol. I wish I could get a picture to post, it is a beautiful golden color, & flipped out perfectly. I sprayed Bakers Joy spray very well in the pan, & when done, I let it set for 10 minutes before turning it out... perfect results!!

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