Send to KindleI don’t make cakes from scratch very often so when I do, I like to make a big friggin’ to-do about it. So check it out…look at me…I.MADE.A.CAKE.FROM.SCRATCH.
Yeah, so that’s enough of a to-do for now. There are a couple of cakes that really make my lady parts tingle when they’re homemade: angel food cake and pound cake. Angel food cake can be a bit tricky, what with all those egg whites and all…but I really like the fresher flavor that you get when it’s made from scratch. Pound cake from scratch is kind of a no brainer just because it’s so easy to make. You know one of those things that you can dump everything into the mixer, pour it into a pan, bake it and eat it…that’s what I mean when I say “easy pound cake.” Don’t get me wrong…I do love me some Entenmann’s though…and sometimes I have been known to stash the box and pass it off as my own (but that’ll be our little secret).
A while back I told you about a family cookbook I have that’s from the early 1900′s. I made a great little sponge cake, that was the chef’s favorite cake. I decided it had been too long since I made something from that book so I dug into it again and found the recipe for this easy pound cake. I’m a total sucker for easy and like the sponge cake, you can do so many things to dress up a pound cake: grill it (it is summer after all), eat it plain, smother it with berries or ladle on the chocolate sauce (drizzling is for sissies). Since I had a ton of fruit piling up, I opted to make an oven roasted fruit compote of blueberries and peaches.
Roasted Peaches and Blueberries
As soon as I took the cake out of the oven, I threw in the blueberries and peaches for a quick roast with just a sprinkle of raw sugar. In 15 minutes I had roasted fruit that was ready to dress the pound cake and make the perfect ending for a long summer day. (Cue the music for the Summer’s Eve douche commercial…gah…I can’t believe I just ended with that last sentence.)
Relationship Advice
While a bunch of the self-proclaimed tech geeks have their plaid boxers all up in a wad because they didn’t get their Google Plus invite, Google’s latest tool for the social networking world, while it’s still in beta…let’s talk about how the rest of the universe will be using this piece of modern technology to further convince themselves of their superiority over others.
Now you have the opportunity to create “circles” of friends, much like in real life. You know, people you hang out with and like, people you hang out with and secretly loathe but they can get you into places, and people in your life that you truly can’t stand but have to talk with every once in a while (like family members or ex’s). But wait, there’s more. Now you can also “hangout” with your peeps. No, not in a physical way…who would want to do that? You can hang out with them online via video – YAY! Of course, there is the possibility that someone from one of your “not so cool” circles could creep their way into your hangout group, but you can always just ignore them…just like you do when you’re out at the bar and they come over an try to talk to you.
So now that you can really take your offline world into the virtual world what else could you do with this fantastic technology?
Women can now create circles based on the particular attribute that she likes in a guy (bedroom eyes, lot’s of muscles, big member) and guys can take their little black book to the virtual world by creating circles like (hot but needy, always ready, perfect date for family functions but nothing else). This will all make things so much simpler for the cool people with lives. Now, that they have one place for all of their dating and social needs.
It’s about time that technology has finally begun to catch up with our busy sex lives. When can we expect the virtual world to completely catch up with our hot and bothered selves so that we can actually have virtual sex and not have to worry about gonorrhea super bugs, unwanted pregnancies and ugh…actually having to touch another person?
Recipe: Easy Pound Cake with Roasted Blueberries and Peaches
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 8 Ounces Unsalted Butter (separated)
- 4 Large Eggs
- 1 3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract (divided)
- Pinch of Salt
- Pinch of Fresh Ground Nutmeg
- 5 Peaches (halved and pitted)
- 2 Handfuls of Blueberries
- 2 Tablespoons of Raw Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
- Either line a 4×8 loaf pan with parchment paper or butter and flour the loaf pan and set aside.
- Cream 7 ounces of butter and the sugar together until mixture is light yellow in color.
- Add in 1 egg at a time, blending well before adding next egg.
- Add flour, in thirds. This keeps the flour from flying out of the mixing bowl. Just mix until the flour has been dampened before adding the next bit of flour to the mixture.
- Add in baking powder, vanilla, salt and nutmeg. Blend well.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick, inserted in cake, comes out clean.
- In a small baking dish, add the peach halves cut side down then add the blueberries to the dish.
- Sprinkle the raw sugar over the top of the fruit.
- Cut 1 ounce of the butter into small cubes and spread the cubes evenly over the top of the fruit.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven and add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Slice the peaches into small pieces and stir the fruit mixture together.
- Slice pound cake and serve with the roasted fruit compote.
Quick notes
To test the doneness of a pound cake, insert a toothpick just to the side of the large crack running down the middle of the cake. This is where you want the toothpick to come out clean. A lot of times, the center of a pound cake is very moist and if you you insert the toothpick there, and it comes out dry, the rest of the cake might be dry as a brick.
Variations
If you find that the fruit is very juicy after you roast it, you can thicken it up by heating it over medium high heat and stirring until the liquid evaporates. You could also mix 1 teaspoon of corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water (do this in a small cup or container) and then pour over the fruit. Stir and you will see the fruit thicken up almost immediately.
Preparation time: 20 Minutes
Cooking time: 40 Minutes
Number of servings (yield): 8
Culinary tradition: USA (General)
My rating
This looks so good! I’ve actually never made one before but I’ve been wanting too. This looks perfect.
I love peaches and blueberries…making this ASAP!
This is a perfect base for any summer fruit! And…it’s easy.
I love that roasted fruit with your lovely pound cake! Haven’t tried the google thing yet- I can hardly keep up with the technology I use now.
I could eat this dessert for breakfast lunch and dinner
Looks brilliant!
Love that roasted fruit compote. I mean really this is a total win, cake & fruit sauce. perfection.
I wasn’t invited into anyone’s black book or Google +. But there’s always your cake that looks more than willing. And what a hunk!
You need to make cakes more often!
Pamela, you always crack me up!! First – the cake is divine and any summer fruit will always be a favorite! Second, how many more balls must I juggle???
This is so my kind of summer dessert – easy and bursting with summer fruit flavor!! Can’t say I am as thrilled with Google plus though – I truly wonder how many of these “wonderful tools” we can really use in a 24 hr. day!!