Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I love myself some pound cake. My family went on a cruise a few years ago and one of my fondest memories is walking through one of the "free" cafes and getting a slice of their vanilla pound cake. Like, almost every time I walked by. It was so good. And I never put anything on it. I liked it plain, just the cake and me. It was seriously divine. My waistline didn't love it so much, but it was so worth it.

Afterwards I tried to recreate it without much luck. I fell in love with a Paula Deen recipe, though, and that was my go-to pound cake recipe for a while. I love how versatile pound cake is. You can add anything to the top and it's still good. Like shortcake. But waaay less healthy. Hey, every once in a while you have to splurge, right? And this is a great way to get rid of some fruit that needs using up. And whipped cream. And chocolate sauce. You don't want them to go to waste.

This recipe is just as delicious, and the fact that it's a pound cake with cream cheese in it just sealed the deal for me. It was absolutely delicious with some strawberries and chocolate on top. I found it on Pinterest (of course) on a website called Elizabeth's Edible Experience and the recipe hails from a 2001 edition of Southern Living magazine. That was a long time ago, folks. And it's still a great recipe.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

recipe from Southern Living magazine

1 1/2 cups butter, softened at room temp
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened at room temp
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy (do not over beat).  Gradually add sugar, beating well.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. (Elizabeth's site suggests cracking the eggs into a bowl first before adding to the mixture to make sure you don't get shells in the batter. I've also always done this- a Paula Deen trick I learned- and highly recommend it!)

Sift 3 cups of flour. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan. Smooth the top with a spatula to even it out.

Bake for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.

(Both Elizabeth and I had a sweet, crunchy layer on the bottom once it had cooked. We both took it off once it had cooled down so the cake would sit evenly. You can do that or keep it on. It's delicious, my kids ended up snacking on it all morning long!)