Pound Cake

I love summer for many reasons. No school, no blizzards, and strawberries! (There are other reasons, too, but those are probably the top three.) I picked up a nice pound of strawberries at the store and wanted to make a dessert to highlight them, so I opted for a simple pound cake. I've made Greenspan's pound cake before, which was delicious, of course, but tried a new recipe. This recipe is a little different in that it requires cake flour, the butter is melted, and a food processor or blender is suggested to combine all the ingredients. It turned out very moist and buttery with a fine crumb and a well-browned crust. Be sure to save enough to you can toast it and eat it for breakfa... err, a snack after you've eaten a well-balanced, nutritious breakfast.

Easy Pound Cake
from The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and hot

1. Adjust an over rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2-inch load pan. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl.

2. Process the sugar, eggs, and vanilla together in a food processor (or blender) until combined, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, pour the hot melted butter through the feed tube in a steady stream until combined, about 30 seconds. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.

3. Sift one-third on the flour mixture over the egg mixture and whisk to combine until just a few streaks of flour remain. Repeat twice mroe with the remaining flour mixture, then continue to whisk the batter gently until most lumps are gone (do not overmix).

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smoother the top. Wipe any drops off the side of the pan and gently tap the pan on the counter to settle the batter. Bake the came until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan to 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake to loosen, then flip in out onto a wire rack. Turn the cake right side up and let cool completely, about 2 horus, before serving.

Variations: Citrus zest and juice can be added, or almond extract and slivered almonds can be added at the same time as the sugar, eggs, and vanilla into the food processor.

Well, that's all for now. I'm off to a wedding, so I'm going to take tomorrow off. Enjoy the beautiful weather and eat some strawberries!
Another thing I love about summer: Going to weddings and hearing my husband singing Gilbert and Sullivan in the shower (with the female parts in glorious falsetto!).