A trip to Grandma’s house was not complete without her famous pound cake. The first thing I would ask after the long eight hour car ride was “when can we start making the pound cake?!” My grandma taught me her recipe when I was little, since she knew I loved her cake so much. We would make it together every time I came to visit; then, it would be gone by the next day because it was so delicious we all could not help ourselves from eating slice after slice. (This is probably why I was such a chubby kid.) Honestly, pound cake was the only kind of cake I would eat for years, and my grandma’s recipe is still to this day the best pound cake recipe I have ever tried, which is why I am sharing it with you. However, I am warning you, this is not by any means a healthy cake, but it is absolutely delicious.

Step 1: Getting Started

Here are a few things you will need:
Round angel food cake pan
Mixer
1 ½ cups of stick butter (three sticks)
8 oz of cream cheese
3 cups of sugar
6 large eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
3 cups of cake flour
1/8 tsp salt

My grandmother is very particular about her brands and insists that certain brands make a better cake than others. Everyone has their favorite brands, so if you would like to use your own for the cake, then go right ahead! My grandmother always uses Land O’Lakes stick butter, Kraft Philadelphia original cream cheese, and Swans Down cake flour. To make the stick butter easier to handle, set them out on the countertop for a few hours to soften them. You may also do this with the cream cheese.

Step 2: Pre-mixing

Measure out the ingredients into separate bowls. This makes it easier to add each ingredient while mixing. Mix together the salt and flour in one bowl. Then preheat a conventional oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 3: Mixing

Beat the three softened sticks of butter and eight ounces of cream cheese together in a large mixing bowl on medium speed for about two minutes or until the mixture is even and creamy. You may use a stand mixer or a hand-held mixer.

Continue beating the mixture on medium speed and gradually add the three cups of sugar. Make sure the small doses of sugar are mixed in completely before adding the next dose. This should take about five to seven minutes.

Step 4: More Mixing

Add eggs one at a time while still beating the mixture on medium. Again, make sure all of the yellow is gone before adding the next egg, and this will also take approximately five to seven minutes.

Next add one and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract, mixing well.

Beating at low speed, gradually add the flour and salt mixture to the butter mixture. Mix each addition just until blending, and then add the next increment. This may take a bit longer than the eggs or sugar. When all the flour is has been added and mixed in well, stop beating the mixture.

Step 5: Into the Pan

Take the round angel food cake pan and grease the inside of the pan. This can be done with cooking spray, but I prefer to use the stick butter wrappers, wiping them along the sides and bottom of the pan. Next take small bits of flour and sprinkle it on the insides and bottom of the cake pan. Now pour the batter into the cake pan.

Fill a glass oven proof bowl with about two cups of water. Put the cake in the preheated oven, and put the glass bowl of water in the oven next to it. This will make the cake nice and moist.

Step 6: Bake

Let the cake bake in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour and a half. Keep watch over the cake after the first hour and fifteen minutes, for it may not take that long, or it may take longer. The cake is ready when you can put a toothpick in the cake, and it comes out clean.

When the cake is done, take it out of the oven and let it cool in the pan for ten to fifteen minutes. Then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely and enjoy!

Step 7: Strawberry Sauce Topping

Sometimes pound cake on its own can be too bland, so I always make a strawberry and honey topping to go with the pound cake. All you need is strawberries, honey, and a bit of sugar! Cut up the strawberries into very small pieces and put them in a bowl. Then sprinkle some sugar on the strawberries and mix in the amount of honey you would like. Refrigerate the strawberries, and you have a delicious strawberry sauce to go on your pound cake.