A few weeks ago, I was on a frantic mission to buy a new tube pan for a recipe I wanted to make. I mean, I had to have this pan. So, I found the one I wanted, bought it, and brought it home. The trouble was I couldn’t remember which recipe I wanted to make. I knew it was a cream cheese pound cake, but I had no idea which cookbook it was in.
I won’t go into my desperate attempts to organize my recipes more effectively. I’m sure we all have those problems. Finally, I rediscovered the recipe in The Southern Living Cookbook and decided to go ahead and make it before I lost it again.
What appealed to me about this cake was the pecans (oh, how I love them) in the batter and the crust. Most pound cakes I’ve ever had didn’t include nuts of any kind. Of course, the presence of cream cheese is always a plus for me as well.
As cakes go, this one was relatively simple. Mix it all up together, put it in a pan, and bake it. First, grease/flour/spray a 10-inch tube pan, and sprinkle 1/2 cup of pecans in the bottom. Cream together (with either a hand mixer or a stand mixer) 1 cup of softened butter and 8 ounces of softened cream cheese. Add 2 & 1/2 cups of sugar gradually. Mix until light and fluffy. Add 6 eggs, one at a time, to this mixture. Next, add 3 cups of sifted cake flour and a pinch of salt. Add 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 cup of pecans.
Pour batter into pan, and bake in a 325 degree oven. I baked the cake for an hour and twenty minutes - ten minutes shy of the recommended baking time. This is the part where I remind everyone that all ovens are not created equal. Baking times are dynamic. Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove it to a wire rack to finish cooling.
We could hardly wait to try a slice. The smell was incredible. We were definitely not disappointed. This cake is quite good. The cream cheese adds a wonerful, rich flavor. The best part is the crust and, more specifically, the pecans in the crust. There is a level of difficulty added by trying to get crust in every bite.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Nicole // Aug 14, 2006 at 3:27 am
Wow this looks really good! It makes me want to dig out a recipe of my mom’s for sour cream pound cake that also has pecans in it along with cinnamon and some other yummy things
I’ll definitely be holding on to your recipe too! Thanks
2 Ellie // Aug 14, 2006 at 6:24 am
That is amazing! That crunchy crust looks delightful in a beautiful, homely way - the perfect comfort cake
3 VeuveClicquot // Aug 14, 2006 at 7:09 am
Yum! May I ask which tube pan you ended up buying? I’ve been on a search for one too!
4 jennifer // Aug 14, 2006 at 9:05 am
I bought a Wilton tube pan. It worked well, and it was reasonably priced.
5 Duane // Aug 15, 2006 at 9:53 am
Sounds good. I love anything with cream cheese.
6 Riana // Aug 24, 2006 at 11:37 am
Ooooh, I think I’m gonna love this one. Gonna try it one of these days..
7 deb // Aug 25, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Wow, this sounds delicious. I think cream cheese (as well as buttermilk or sour cream) improves all baked goods. Can’t wait to try it.
8 Shelley // Oct 13, 2006 at 9:19 pm
This sounds really good! Any idea if it would mail okay or would the cream cheese make it a bad option?
9 jennifer // Oct 14, 2006 at 6:26 pm
Thanks, Shelley. I’m certainly no expert on mailing food. The cream cheese is baked in, so that shouldn’t be an issue. I would think this cake would survive in the mail, although I might make its trip as quick as possible.
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