The Perfect Pound Cake

We have spent years trying to find and tweak recipes to find the "perfect" pound cake.  Lucky for you, you don't have to spend years searching because here it is....

Ingredients

2 sticks (1cup) butter, softened, plus additional for buttering pan

3 cups sifted cake flour, plus additional for dusting

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups sugar

7 large eggs at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

*Remember these tips*

Do Not preheat the oven

Use Cake flour, and do not skip sifting... these 2 things are extremely important

The bundt pan I use is 12 cups and if all batter is put in it can overflow, either but a pan on the rack below in case it overflows or take out about 3/4 cup of batter before pouring it in the pan

Check cake at 50 minutes, it may take 5-10 minutes longer

Butter pan and dust with flour, dumping out excess flour

Sift cake flour *do not skip*

Sift together cake flour and salt into another bowl.

Repeat and sift cake flour and salt back into original bowl.

(flour will be sifted 3 times total)

Beat together butter (2 sticks) and sugar with your mixer set at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. About 5 minutes in a stand mixer (using paddle attatchment), 6-8 minutes with handheld mixer. 

 Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Then beat in vanilla

Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, mix well



Add all of cream, mix well

Add rest of flour, mix well

Scrape down side of bowl, then beat at medium-high apeed 5 minutes.

Batter will become creamy and satiny

Spoon batter into pan

*remember if using 12 cup bundt pan like seen here, take out 3/4 cup of batter or place pan below cake in the oven*

Drop pan against counter a few times to release air bubbles

Place pan in cold oven

Put oven temperature at 350 degrees

Check cake at 50 minutes, it may take 5-10 minutes longer.

Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in middle of cake comes out with not many crumbs

Enjoy!

The cake is really best just eaten plain but I fancied it all up for the picture.

I hope y'all love this recipe as much as we do!

I'm linking up at

Tatertots and Jello

Bacon Time

I Heart Nap Time

Under the Table and Dreaming

This Chick Cooks

Blue Cricket Design

Penne in Sausage Sauce

I had it all planned out that I was going to make a somewhat fancy shmancy recipe out of one of my bazillion cookbooks.  But today didn't quite go as planned.

Maybe it was that I woke up to find not 1, not 2, but 5 places my cat threw up this morning. (One of them being on the coffee table)

Maybe it was that there weren't any cold cokes and I had to settle for dr. pepper.

Maybe it was that after I warned my whole family that the basement door wasn't unlocking when you turn it so Do Not close it behind you, that I did that exact thing and then was locked out of the house.

Or maybe it was the fact that all the recipes I wanted to try required white wine which we didn't have in the house... and I can't really go pick some up...

 

So instead of fancy I went simple...

Penne in Sausage Sauce



Ingredients

Italian Sausage

Penne Pasta

Crushed Tomatoes

Tomato Sauce

Cream (sorry forgot to put it in the picture)

If like me you just grabbed the sausage links because it was closest, remove them from their casing.  (I used all 5 links that were in the pack because it was 1 pound but if yours is more just use enough to equal about a pound)

Cut them into little chunks (My apologies for such technical terms...)

Put a little oil in a large pan (or pot? which is this?)

Once you have cut up all the sausage add it to your pan

Cook until brown

Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce

I added a little brown sugar to cut the acidity

Add italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste

Add your cream... I think I added about 2 tablespoons but just depends on taste and how creamy you want your sauce

Add your penne

Mix all together

Toast up some crusty bread and you are done.  Quick and easy, just what I needed and YUMMY!

I'm linking up at

Tatertots & Jello

Flamingo Toes

Under the Table and Dreaming