My earliest memories of baking dates back to those days when I could barely reach up to the kitchen table and watch my mom painstakingly mixing butter and sugar with a spoon. She would sometimes ditch the spoon and instead use her hands to attain the right fluffy consistency of the butter, sugar and eggs. Much later when my older brother was capable enough, mom let him do the beating and mix up the batter. As I was the younger child, my turn to mix came much later. The plain sight of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour coming together and becoming something else fascinated my young eyes. Peeking through the oven door and seeing the batter rise and slowly becoming a cake was a pleasurable feeling. It was mathematics and chemistry coming together to create the most beloved treat of our family.
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
 | 2 sticks or 1 cup unsalted butter |
| 2 cups of cake flour |
| 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder |
| ½ teaspoon salt |
| 1 cup sugar |
| 5 large eggs |
| 1 cup heavy whipping cream |
| 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract |
| Directions | |
|---|---|
| Heat oven to 350 degree F. |
| Grease a bundt pan. I like to dig out my most decorative one. The fact that it’s a simple pound cake doesn’t mean it cannot be pretty. You really need to take the time to grease it well so that the cake comes out of the pan nice and beautiful. |
| Sift all the dry ingredients in a bowl. |
| In a stand up or hand held electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar at medium high speed until light and fluffy. |
| Beat the eggs in the batter, one at a time. I crack the eggs in a bowl before putting them in. You don’t want a bad egg landing directly onto your batter. |
| Add the vanilla and beat in until well blended. |
| Reduce the speed of the mixer to the lowest before stirring in the flour mixture and cream. Mix in flour mixture in three additions alternately with cream in two additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Give the batter a final stir to ensure that everything is mixed in a smooth batter. |
| Transfer the batter to the bundt pan and bake it for 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let it cool before turning it out. |
Note: If you don’t have a bundt pan, no need to run to the store to get one. You can bake it in a basic 9 by 5 inch loaf pan or a 9 inch round pan. But cooking times may vary. This is a very humble cake, but brims with elegance and ease in making. Follow the simple steps of sifting the flour and beating the butter and sugar until fluffy; every time unfailingly you’ll end up with a very pleasurable feeling of successful baking.
Inspiration: Childhood baking memories