This recipe is adapted from Damon Lee  Fowler’s “New Southern Kitchen.”

Is there anyone who doesn’t love pound cake?  I mean seriously!  Who can say that they don’t love that dense, rich, buttery, sweet flavor?  Because pound cake is universally loved, it makes a perfect accompaniment to any dinner or gathering.  Toast it and it is avant-garde. Add fruit and a sauce and it becomes high-class.  or just cut a big slice and eat it with a glass of cold milk and be transported back to childhood.

This is a delicious take on the old classic

(A note: Pound cakes can be a bit temperamental, and one of the keys to their

success is to start baking them in a cool oven in order to allow the

batter to come up to temperature gradually.  This well also cause the

cooking time to vary depending on how fast your oven heats, so be sure

to check the cake for doneness as directed in the recipe.)

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp  baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb butter at room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 8 large eggs
• 1/3 cup milk (whole milk for best results)
• 1/3 cup bourbon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

 

1. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Fold in half the flour, then fold in the milk, then the remaining flour, followed by the bourbon and vanilla.
4. Pour the batter into two lightly greased and floured 9-inch loaf pans and run the blade of a knife through the batter in an X pattern from corner to corner of the pans to eliminate air bubbles.
5. Place the pans in the center of a cool oven, leaving a space between them.
6. Turn the oven to 325F and bake for about 1 hour, until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Turn off the oven and let the cakes cool in the oven for 10 minutes.  Open the oven door and cool for 30 minutes.
8. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 2 cakes to serve 12 to 18.