Pound of AWESOMENESS

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

I know I'm not alone.

I know that some, if not MOST, of you have spent considerable chunks of time on Pinterest.

I'm no different.

It's somewhere I go when I'm not feeling too great, because it holds my interest and diverts my attention away from whatever is ailing me at the time.

The other night I ran across a recipe for pound cake. It promised to be the MOST awesome pound cake. Ever.

In the history of pound cakes.

E V E R.

So, I had to try my hand at it. HAD TO.

I consider myself a decent cook and fairly good at baking. So, today, I made this presumptuously-purported penultimate pound cake.

Guess what?

It's as good as it boasts.

Here it is right out of the oven...hot!

and here it is out of the pan cooling.

And now, I'm gonna give you the recipe!

Perfect Pound Cake

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract (OR you can just use 2 tsp vanilla total)

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with hand mixer until light-colored and fluffy.
2. Add sugar gradually and beat again until light-colored and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, 1 at a time, and beat JUST UNTIL you can't see the yolk anymore.
4. Add flour and milk--ALTERNATE adding them...start and end with FLOUR. Add 1 cup of flour, mix until just incorporated, then add 1/4 cup milk, mix until just incorporated, continue alternating flour and milk additions in same manner.
5. Add extracts and mix in completely.
6. Spoon batter into prepared (greased and floured) tube (Bundt) pan...the batter is REALLY thick and won't pour.
7. Spread batter out evenly with spatula. 
8. Bang pan hard on counter several times to force air bubbles to surface.
9. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 C) for about 1 hour and 40 minutes (100 minutes). Check at 1 hour 20 minutes (80 minutes) for done-ness...a toothpick will come out clean when done. The top will have a "canyon" (crack) running around the middle. This is NORMAL/desirable.
10. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove from pan and complete cooling on wire rack.

Just look at how fine the crumb is! It's dense and buttery and has a lovely almondy flavor. Next time (and there will be a next time) I will make it without almond extract and only use vanilla. My favorite way to eat pound cake is to spread some butter on a slice...then brown it (on both sides) in a skillet. O M G is it good like that!

Bon appetit, y'all!