Pound Cake

Everyone in the Deep South must at some point bake a Pound Cake. It's just basic. Pound Cake goes with just about anything. That's especially true this time of year. Bake a Pound Cake. Then dip out a little Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. Or if you're really into a classic experience, make your own ice cream. Then pick fresh strawberries. Puree them with a little sugar. Pour the strawberries over the ice cream. Serve with the warm Pound Cake. You'll be on a sugar high for a week but who cares?

This recipe comes from my mother by way of my aunt. So many really good recipes in the South come that way. Allow plenty of baking time. Then invite a few neighbors overto enjoy.

Pound Cake

1/2 lb. butter (softened) (2 sticks)
3 cups sugar
3 cups cake flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Crisco oil
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together. Be sure to use real butter. No substitutions! Pour the batter into a tube cake pan. Mother always cuts a piece of wax paper to put on the bottom of the pan. Be sure to grease the bottoms and sides of the pan really well. The idea is for the cake to eventually come out of the pan in one piece.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes at 325 degrees.

Remove from the pan. Just turn it upside down on a plate or rack and remove the pan and waxed paper. Carefully. Then put the serving plate where the pan was and flip over. Carefully. It is easy to get burned or just lose the whole cake.

It's worth the effort. There's nothing quite like a little warm Pound Cake to make the troubles of the world go away.