#DessertDiaries are back! The only time I make pound cakes at random is when I am in a somber mood and need to do some mental purging. More introverted as I age in the sense of spending the majority of the day (when Austin is in school), inside my own head thinking a million and one thoughts. This butter cream cheese, vanilla pound cake is the result of me mourning and grieving the death of strawberry shortcake and many other desserts I've put to rest. Yes, I know using words like "mourning" and "grieving" is a bit dramatic, yet it’s the only way I can describe the feelings behind baking this wonderful cake. This is the aftermath/by-product of what I was feeling last week. And one thing about me is my dishes taste the best when I am either my normal happy self, my overly happy self and when I am feeling miserable, gloomy, melancholy, blue etc. You can expect outstanding, tasteful dishes and desserts. The only time my moods affect my cooking is when I am angry. Similar to my mood at the time I was baking this cake, a pound cake is very dense, but light, tasty but not too sweet, also versatile with its flavors. Meaning I was feeling sad, but not really, feeling down about letting go of the past but still happy and hopeful for the future.
A true pound cake recipe has simple ingredients such as flour, baking powder, eggs, buttermilk (or regular milk), sugar, butter, (an extra fat element if you are as extra as I am), and vanilla. That’s it, literally. Just like any real woman, I require the basics in a relationship. The cake is not hard to make but requires patience, love and passion. From my partner, the main things I require are patience, love and a lot of passion. The way that my food tastes whether I’m baking or cooking all taste like it was made with extra love and I’ve passionately whipped it together. I take my time, especially with baking. Deep sigh …
As I was making this pound cake with my Ninja Bear fighting crime in the background (he’s into Mortal Kombat right now), listening to Jhene Aiko on my phone, I couldn’t help but think about the many chances I had stupidly given strawberry shortcake. I kept thinking about what parts of me are always attracting people that need saving, repeatedly baking dishes I could bake with my eyes closed, and what parts of me need healing to feel that I need to be playing captain save a hoe out here! I am big on self reflection and this cake made me look on the inside of me.
What I discovered is that I LOVE, LOVE. It’s what I was raised around and it’s all I’ve seen my entire life. I am what some would deem a hopeless romantic and I will always be that way. I think about love and my future husband, whoever he is, alllllll the time and it makes me so happy to do so. I LOVE when I see other couples laughing together, getting engaged, starting families and just being in tune with one another because I know one day, that WILL be me and I refuse to settle for anything less than that. I WILL have MY version of a fairytale. I would much rather be single than to be alone in a relationship or apart of a roster of women, NOT and will NEVER be my thing.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out while the cake was in the oven, is why I RE-open the door for the past when it comes knocking. I couldn’t figure the shit out and maybe I will the next time I make a pound cake. I reflected on all the good times, and the bad times between myself and strawberry shortcake and every time I landed on more bad than good and I couldn’t see the strawberry shortcake in my future as a chef or person. I reminded myself of everything it has done to me in the past and the way it made me feel and I still landed on one thing, IT DOES NOT WORK FOR ME, so I will learn about and bake other desserts and continue to expand my palette.
Anyway, as I finished the pound cake I felt like I had gone through an intensive therapy session and judging by how insanely incredibly mouthwatering and tasty this regular butter, cream cheese pound cake tasted I knew that the therapy session went exactly as planned. I felt a little lighter and I felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders, THANKFULLY. And that folks is why #WednesdaysAreReservedForBaking in my kitchen.
Let's get straight to it!
Ingredients:
3 cups cake flour (NOT all-purpose flour this time)
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 package 8 oz cream cheese
1 cap full vanilla
6 eggs
Instructions:
1.) Pre-heat oven to 325 and grease a bundt pan
2.) Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar
3.) Add in vanilla
4.) Add in ONE egg at a time until fully encorporated
5.) Sift together cake flour, salt, baking powder
6.) Add half the dry mixture, then half of the buttermilk to the wet mixture (butter, sugar, cream cheese) and alternate in that order until full incorporated
7.) Once batter is all together and somewhat smooth, pour batter into greased bundt pan
8.) Place in the oven on the middle rack for 65 minutes or until a fork/knife comes out clean when you check it
9.) Let cool for 10 minutes
10.) Plate and serve