Mmmm, Cake!

 

Arguably the most important part of a party is the cake. That is, if you like cake. Otherwise, maybe it’s pie or cookies… When we got married in 2001 we were pretty strapped for cash and generally very unsure of how we were going to pay for the party we wanted to give our family and friends. We were hugely blessed by a sweet lady from our church who offered to make us our cake for free. FREE! (PS the thought, “Hey, I should post a picture of my wedding cake!” Led to “Hey, where are my wedding pictures?…Hey, I don’t actually have a scanner, but how about I take photos of the photos…HEY, let’s post them to Facebook and embarrass everyone we know and love!” and thus the post from the other day was born. All because I wanted to write about a cake. It’s very much the If You Give A Mouse A Cookie syndrome.) Are you tired? Yeah, me too. It’s hard work reliving history. That sweet little gem up there was our wedding cake. It was delish. I think we ate the topper when we got home from our honeymoon because we didn’t want to cook. Or not. It was almost 10 years ago, I don’t remember.  But I do know we did eat it long before the one year anniversary because I didn’t want to cook. Not much has changed in 10 years…

{Martha Stewart }

If we were made of money, I’d have this cake. But since we are not and unlikely to be by the time our anniversary rolls around (in July) I think that we are going to have an assortment of cakes and treats made by family and friends from their own recipes. Something more like this:

Which is danged adorable! If we do that we will have my Granny’s AMAZING Holiday Pound Cake. Yeah, I don’t care that it’s going to be July. It’s so good that I think you all should have the recipe, especially since you stuck around this long. Make it and then you can thank me later. It is worth every calorie.

Granny’s Holiday Pound Cake (It looks really lovely in a bunt pan like those shown above, via Martha Stewart.)

1 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Shortening

3 Cups Sugar

5 Eggs

3 Cups Flour (unsifted) may use additional 1/2 cup

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp each extract: rum, brandy, vanilla, lemon, almond

Preheat oven to 325F. Cream butter and shortening until like whipped cream. Do not underbeat. Add sugar, beat well. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift dry ingredients into mixture and mix well. Add flour first and last alternately with spur cream. Add flavorings, mix well. Bake in greased and floured angel food cake pan or decorative bundt pan for 1 1/2 hours. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Granny (above) added a few notes in our family cookbook (which she wrote herself and gave to each of us kids in 2000 and now new brides in the family get them.): This has become a family favorite  particularly during the holidays. Friends who taste it invariably ask for the recipe. And my Aunt Vienna adds: My most requested recipe! My husband’s family often ask me to bring this cake when we visit them in France. It’s a great compliment. This is a great basic recipe!

Bottom line: Simple cake. Always Impressive, even in France.