Pound Cake From Scratch

It’s that time of year again – the holiday season. That means I’ll be doing a lot more baking from scratch which I love to do. I recently partnered with my friends from Amazon Home to get some kitchen essentials for the holidays to make some of my favorite recipes.

This means it’s time to make my favorite – pound cake from scratch.

I have always loved pound cake. (I’ve always been smart.) It is so good – with vanilla ice cream, with whip cream and berries, all by itself. It’s just buttery, sugary deliciousness. My family loves it. I have to make my father in law one for him alone. So just warning you, when you make this, your family will ask you to make it over and over and over again.

Now, when you get to the directions below, you’ll notice that I tell you to mix ingredients in a certain order – this is important. It literally determines how moist your cake turns out. If you just throw all your ingredients in a bowl and mix, it will disappoint you. And whoever eats it.

To get started you want to get your ingredients together. Measure everything accurately and ahead of time (to save time!) – I love these measuring spoons and this measuring cup – remember that baking is both science and art. I love using these bowls to make sure I separate everything accordingly before getting started. Then I start mixing everything in my favorite mixer ever. Because I like peace of mind, I make myself a cake release concoction in a little bowl to brush into my bundt pan to make sure the cake comes out perfectly.

My favorite part (aside from eating it) is putting the cake in a beautiful glass cake dome so everyone can lust after it whenever they walk in the kitchen.

Here’s how I make my pound cake from scratch:

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups plus more for pan all purpose flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) plus more for pan butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)

DIRECTIONS

With a mixer, cream butter and shortening together. 

To the bowl, add sugar a little at a time. Then, add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. 

In another bowl, stir dry ingredients together then add to mixer alternately with milk, starting with the flour and ending with the flour. Mix in vanilla. Pour into a greased and floured bundt pan and bake for 55 to 75 minutes depending on your oven (until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.)

Watch above to see how I made my pound cake using essentials from Amazon Home.