NATIONAL POUND CAKE DAY

Did you know that March 4th. has been designated National Pound Cake Day? Well, I just found out, so it was news to me, too. Yet another made-up holiday -- But who needs a holiday to eat pound cake? It's an easy dessert to make and rich enough to be considered company worthy.

I want to share two of my favorite pound cakes with you today. One of them ("The Best Homemade Pound Cake I Ever Ate") is included on page 116 of "A Pinch of This ... A Smidgen of That" cookbook, but I will include the ingredients and directions for those of you who may not have a copy of the cookbook yet. The other recipe ("Decadent Coconut Pound Cake") that I want to share isn't in the cookbook, so I will provide a tutorial below. 

 

But first, let's learn more about National Pound Cake Day:

 Facts about National Pound Cake Day
It may come as a surprise, but these cakes have been around ever since the early 1700s.
Although the original recipe has been modified slightly over the years, this cake still remains one of the most well-loved and easy to bake among cakes.
It is due to all these reasons that a day has been dedicated to the Pound cake.
The 4th of March each year is designated as National Pound Cake day.

 

Things to do on National Pound Cake Day
The first and most obvious thing to do is to bake at least one pound cake.
The next thing is to call your friends over to enjoy your cake and honor your baking efforts.
If you cannot bake at home, then you can buy a cake on this day.
You could even take a pound cake to office make pound cake day a day to remember at office by sharing it with everyone there.
Whatever you do, remember to have lots of fun with pound cakes on National Pound cake Day.

 And, just in case someone asks, you can be ready to answer about the history of National Pound Cake Day, if you read about it here: http://www.altiusdirectory.com/Society/national-pound-cake-day.html.

So, get your ingredients together for a Decadent Coconut Pound Cake and CELEBRATE!

This is what you'll need:

 4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp coconut extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 to 2 cups flaked coconut
1 can Cream of Coconut (optional topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and coconut extract and beat well.

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda

and add to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour.

Mix well. Fold in coconut and stir until thoroughly combined.
Pour into tube pan and bake 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. 

(OPTIONAL: Remove cake from the oven and poke holes in the top using a meat fork.

Drizzle well mixed Cream of Coconut over the top and allow to sit a few minutes before removing from the pan.)

 Cool completely and store covered. (This is delicious served with hot fudge topping! Tastes like a Mounds candy bar. You can get the topping recipe on page 162 of "A Pinch of This ... A Smidgen of That" Cookbook.)

EnJOY!! And don't forget to print or save both recipes (below) in your recipe file.

 


DECADENT COCONUT POUND CAKE

INGREDIENTS
4 eggs

2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 tsp coconut extract
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 to 2 cups flaked coconut
1 can Cream of Coconut (optional topping)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil and coconut extract and beat well. Sift together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and add to egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix well. Fold in coconut and stir until thoroughly combined.

Pour into tube pan and bake 60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. (OPTIONAL: Remove cake from the oven and poke holes in the top using a meat fork. Drizzle well mixed Cream of Coconut over the top and allow to sit a few minutes before removing from the pan.) Cool completely and store covered.

THE BEST HOMEMADE POUND CAKE I EVER ATE

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups sifted cake flour (a must here) (If you don't have any on hand, see page 161 in the cookbook)
1 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (to alter the flavor, use 1 tsp. vanilla plus one tsp. almond or coconut extract)

DIRECTIONS
Beat butter until creamy, gradually add sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add flour and whipping cream alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt cake pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cook in pan about 5 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a cooling rack. (Be sure to use cake flour. It really makes a difference with this cake.)