Mom In The Kitchen

My mom and dad were visiting this weekend and though we had the best intentions of making marvelous things in the kitchen we just didn't get around to it. Sigh.  I really miss cooking with my mom.  We don't get a chance nearly often enough.  I suppose we will have to wait to the next visit.  I was so disappointed by not cooking together I knew I had to do something myself.

As with everything else lately it needed to be something fresh and warm weather inspiring.  One of Mr. J's all time favorite desserts is strawberry shortcake. Now he likes the biscuit kind but I am much more of a pound cake kind of girl. With a new cookbook and a recipe for cream cheese pound cake I knew exactly what I was going to make.

Now this is no diet recipe.  I had a go to pound cake recipe from Southern Living magazine way back when and it consisted of 1.5 pounds of butter, 6 eggs, and lots of sugar. It was so good but just knowing what the ingredients were deterred me from making it too often.

This recipe cut back on the butter and added some cream cheese. I, of course, decided this was the healthful version. Add some vanilla and you have one delicious cake on your hands.

 
 I folded in the flour myself adding some exercise into my baking adventures. It was good, really good.  The recipe calls for a 9x5 loaf pan which I don't have.  I filled a 8x3.5 loaf pan and made 4 cupcakes. Added bonus is the cupcakes cook faster and we had (more) instant gratification.  Mr. J still had time to run out to the store for his special spray can whipped cream. 

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

by Joy the Baker

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

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Ingredients (serves 8)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9×5-inch baking pan and dust with flour. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together softened butter and cream cheese. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the bowl and make sure that the butter and cream cheese are evenly mixed. Add the sugar to the butter and cream cheese mixture, and beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes.

Stop the mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On medium speed, beat in one egg at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in vanilla extract.

Add dry ingredients all at once. Beat on low speed until dry ingredients are completely incorporated.

Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating once or twice during baking. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, or with just a few crumbs.

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