Grandma’s Southern Poundcake

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Handing down family recipes is an important tradition all over the world.  I admit, I’ve not been a big collector of heirloom recipes, but the more I cook, the more I’m realizing I should be.  We all have certain cherished food memories and one of the strongest food memories I have of visiting my grandmother’s house in Georgia (aside from the Lima beans, which I still love) is her pound cake.  I would reach into the big flip top storage freezer and pull out slices of pound cake, scarcely being able to wait even a few minutes before getting another.  When discussing this with my mother in recent weeks, the part I told her I remember most wasn’t the flavor or the texture, but actually the crust–so naturally, the first test as to whether or not I pulled this family recipe off correctly was the sweet crunchy crust.  I’m pleased to say it was a success!  The cake flour gives it an extremely fine crumb that is strangely dense and impossibly light and airy at the same time.  Of course, the crust was just as I remember it.

Like all southern recipes, it’s not for the faint of heart when it comes to healthy eating, but treat this recipe with gentle love and respect–it’s a true heirloom!  The recipe that follows is almost exactly as my Grandmother wrote it down on her recipe card.

Grandmother’s Southern Pound Cake

• 1  8 oz package cream cheese
• 3  sticks butter
• 3  cups sugar
• 6  eggs
• 3  cups cake flour
• dash of salt
• 1  teaspoon vanilla butternut flavoring OR
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract + 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring + 1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
2. Cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar
3. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each egg
4. Fold in flour and salt a little at a time
5. Add flavorings
6. Pour batter into an angel food cake tube pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours; it should be golden brown on top and the crust will likely be cracked in a perfect ring right around the middle.