Pound Cake 101

I've made Justin a Rice Krispie Treat cake. We've made the overly used by so delicious yellow cake and chocolate icing for his birthday. He's had a Harvey Wallbanger cake from his mom. Fried Ice Cream last year after celebrating a The K.

He doesn't have a particular favorite and isn't a huge fan of sweets---guess it's where Logan gets it from and man do I wish I didn't enjoy sweets as much as I do.

Anyways, you can't have a birthday celebration without cake and within the last few years I have gotten a little more adventures with my cakes. I made Kaden's 5th, and 7th birthday cakes and then made Logan's 4th and 5th birthday cakes so why not do something for Justin too.

I decided to go with a pound cake. I had never made one before but though that a good pound cake paired with fresh strawberries and whip cream might just be something Justin could get on board with.

So I bought the bunt cake pan. & late Friday night I went to work--figured I would bake the cake on Friday night and then finish it up on Saturday. I didn't realize that it needed to cook for an hour and a half so starting it at 9:30 made for a pretty late night as it wasn't ready to go into the over till closer to 10 pm.

The recipe I used was Best Sour Cream Pound Cake In the World from Food.com and it was everything the name said it would be. The recipe was 7 easy ingredients, most all of which are probably on hand at home all the time.

- 1 cup butter
- 3 cups sugar
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups sifted flour -- I used bread flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 8 oz. container of sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla

I creamed the butter and sugar, added the eggs, sifted he flour and baking soda in and then added the sour cream followed by the vanilla. Placed it into a generously greased bunt pan and baked it. For what seemed to be FOREVER in cake years.

Although it was completely worth it. It came out looking beautifully.

I tipped it upside down on top of a serving plate and there it sat until the following morning. I eased it out of the bunt pan--remember, generously greased pan & then added some powder sugar to the top which covered the imperfections on the "bottom" side of the cake.

I also made a simple strawberry reduction to serve on top by cutting up some strawberries fairly small and then adding sugar and lemon juice to a sauce pan. I brought it to a boil and then reduced it to a simmer so that it could thicken. While that was happening I cut up some additional berries--strawberries, blueberries, blackberries. The boys love berries. I do too.

& then I thought, why not add the berries to the center of the cake. Any juice will be absorbed by the cake and that can only be a good thing--so I filled the center of the cake with berries until it started to overflow.

The boys helped by adding some candles and there you have it. My first pound cake. It won't be the last either--it was a huge hit at the party with everyone.