Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

 I found this recipe on Mary Kay Andrews website. She writes fiction and she can cook. Who knew? She apparently uses this recipe to bake poundcakes and sendv them to New York. Can't believe they don't have poundcakes in New York. She says folks up there think of poundcake as a Southern Thing. She may be right. I've been trying to remember but I don't think I ever saw poundcake listed as a dessert option. They sure are missing out!

Here's what Mary Kay Andrews says: Turn off the phone and shut out any other distractions when making this cake. It’s a bit of work, but the results are definitely worth it. I usually bake two cakes at a time when I get started, one to serve (or give as a gift) and one to pop into the freezer. Since it’s such a large cake, you can always slice and serve half, and freeze the other half for later. Another note: the whipped egg whites mean the cake batter may spill over the edges of the pan, so make sure you have a large bundt pan--or place your pan on a cookie sheet to catch any overflow.

LEMON CREAM CHEESE

POUND CAKE

Preheat oven to 325.
Spray bundt pan with floured baking spray

2-1/2 cups unsalted butter
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
¼ cup vegetable oil
3-1/4 cups granulated sugar
5 egg whites
7 egg yolks—yes, this means you’ll discard the two extra egg whites unless you’ve got plans for ‘em.
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups cake flour
¼ tsp. salt

Beat five egg whites until stiff and set aside

In mixing bowl, beat together butter, cream cheese and vegetable oil. Add in sugar and cream well. Beat in lemon extract and vanilla. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat well. In smaller bowl combine flour and salt, beat into batter, adding flour mixture by thirds. Fold in beaten egg whites, pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes—check for doneness with wooden toothpick. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan onto cooling rack and finish cooling.

Wrap tightly with plastic wrap or store in large ziplock bag for freezing.

You may choose to add a lemon glaze, made with one cup of confectioner's sugar and 1-2 Tbsp. of fresh lemon juice.