Cream Cheese Pound Cake - Southern Cakes

Cream Cheese Pound Cake - made October 12, 2010 from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott

This cookbook is turning into a nice little find. Although the two frosting recipes I've tried from it = FAIL, the cakes themselves have been turning out pretty well. They're simple, basic cakes that I think anyone can make well and sometimes simple is best. I can't try anything fancier than Bundt cakes or 9 x 13 cakes right now since almost all of my baking pans are packed but I'm looking forward to making some of the layer cake recipes once I settle in.

What I like about this cake is it has a nice crumb and a typical pound cake texture. You can't really taste the cream cheese though so if you're a cream cheese lover, you might be disappointed. I have another cream cheese pound cake recipe from Sticky Messy Chewy Gooey that I could've sworn I'd blogged about before but nothing's coming up when I search for it on the blog so I might have to post that in another update. That one is a bit richer. This one is good plain but if you want to dress it up, you can add a vanilla glaze to it.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
One 8-ounce package (1 cup) cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat the oven to 325˚F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan, or two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans.
2. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl and stir with a fork to mix well.
3. Combine the softened butter and cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat well with a mixer at medium speed to transform them into a soft, fluffy mixture. Add the sugar and continue beating 2 minutes more, stopping once to scrape down the sides. Add the eggs, one by one, beating after each addition to mix it in well.
4. Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating after each addition at low speed only until the flour disappears. Scrape down the bowl 2 or 3 times as you work. Stir in the vanilla, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. Bake at 325˚F for 1 hour and 15 minutes (55 to 60 minutes for loaf pans), until the cake is golden brown, pulling away from the sides, and a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack or a folded kitchen towel until it is at room temperature. Then gently loosen the cake from the sides of the pan with a table knife and tirn it out onto a cake stand or serving plate, top side up.