Author: Eliz

Preheat oven to 325*

Cream together:
2 cups white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening or applesauce

6 eggs – add one egg at a time and beat well after each addition

Mix in:
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 Tablespoons cinnamon (I used Vietnamese cinnamon which is a bit hotter)
1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt

Add 3 cups flour and 1 cup milk (add flour in thirds and 1/2 cup milk after the 1st and 2nd cups)

Grease and flour a bundt pan or 2 loaf pans. Pour in half the batter. Spoon biscoff spread on top of the batter (I used somewhere around 2/3 cup). Try and keep the spoonfuls rather small. Top with remaining batter. Bake for between 1 hour and 1 hour and 20 minutes. (Really will depend on your oven and the weather. At least the weather seems to affect my pound cakes here in FL)

When cake tests done, remove from oven and cool on rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto plate.

Every October I start obsessing about eggnog. Not just any eggnog either. Publix eggnog. The first time I attempted an eggnog pound cake was with Farm Store eggnog. The pound cake just didn’t do anything for me. Then I discovered Publix’s store brand eggnog and the pound cake was revisited. This recipe has undergone quite a few changes over the years. Once upon a time there was more shortening, less eggnog, fewer eggs… This year I added in the nutmeg.

My buddy Sunshine loves crumble and suggested I add the crumble and icing from http://www.chasingsomebluesky.blogspot.com/2012/12/eggnog-crumb-cake.html . The crumble was really good, but didn’t seem to quite work with the cake portion. After much discussion, Sunshine and I decided that just a hint of nutmeg was needed.

BTW I prefer this cake chilled. The lower temp brings out the eggnog flavors. But that could be just me….

Eggnog Pound Cake

1 c. butter
1/2 c. shortening
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. dairy eggnog (Publix works the best)
3 c. sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. coconut extract
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and shortening. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition*. Using a spoon, add flour to creamed mixture alternately with eggnog, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in nutmeg and flavorings. Blend well. Pour batter into well-greased and floured 10-inch tube pan or 2 loaf pans. (If you plan on adding the crumble, this is when you will do so.) Bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours (check at 1 hour if baking in loaf pans). Cool 10 minutes in pan (on wire rack) before removing.

*It is very important that you beat the batter extremely well after each egg. There aren’t any leavening agents in this pound cake, so unless you want a brick slab for a pound cake, you must beat in as much air as possible.

For the Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour

Make crumb topping. In a medium bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Add flour and stir thoroughly.

Crumble the pieces over the batter. I prefer smaller pieces, but most seem to like large pieces of crumble.

For the Eggnog Icing
2 tbsp butter melted
3 – 6 tbsp eggnog
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar

For icing whisk together butter and eggnog in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring to a simmer for 2 mins, whisking constantly. Cool and whisk in confectioners sugar. (Can skip the simmering of the eggnog if you are going to be refrigerating the pound cake)

Drizzle icing over completely cooled cake

*It is very important that you beat the batter extremely well after each egg. There aren’t any leavening agents in this pound cake, so unless you want a brick slab for a pound cake, you must beat in as much air as possible.

Oriana makes me smile. Rachel makes me giggle. Together they are just plain old fun.

Anyway, sometimes Oriana bakes. She makes the most amazing cupcakes. Rachel swears up and down that Oriana’s Kahlua cupcakes are the best. But then I tasted her “dirty girl scout” cupcakes. Oh my, amazing!

So continuing on Oriana’s theme of creating baking goods with a taste of Kahlua and her current fascination with using shots as inspiration and my belief that Rachel is half sprite, I present the Oriana Rachel – based on a White Leprechaun shot.

The Oriana Rachel

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup Crisco
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups flour
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Kahlua
1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
2 Tablespoons Irish whiskey

Preheat oven to 325*. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Cream together the butter, Crisco and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Beat thoroughly between each addition. Add vanilla. Sift together the salt, baking powder, cinnamon and flour. Add flour mixture to batter in thirds, alternating with liquids. Pour into bundt pan and bake for 65-75 minutes. Let cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.

Sometimes I think all wrestlers (and former wrestlers) do is train, cut weight and eat. Some of the things they eat are rather intriguing though. Recently Ben posted a picture of sweet potatoes and bacon. For some reason this looked delicious to me.

Then again bacon was involved.

Ben’s House of Bacon Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 cups sweet potatoes, baked and mashed
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups flour
8 – 10 strips of bacon, baked and finely chopped*

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter and flour a bundt pan.

Cream butter, sugar and sweet potatoes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add vanilla, salt and baking soda. Mix in flour 1 cup at a time. Stir in the bacon. Pour batter into prepared bundt ban and bake for 1 hour. Test to make sure cake is done. Let cake cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto cake plate. If you wish, you may pour maple bacon glaze over the cake.

Maple Bacon Glaze

4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups powder sugar
1/2 to 3/4 cup maple syrup
3 slices of bacon, finally chopped

Stir the melted butter into the powdered sugar until as smooth as you can get it. Add the maple syrup 1 Tablespoon at a time until the glaze is the consistency that you like. Mix in bacon. Pour over cake. (I had to head the glaze for 20 seconds to get it to pouring consistency.)

*We always argue over the proper way to cook bacon. Is it better crispy and crunchy or chewy? Well, for this cake, it is better that it is … as my kids call it … floppy.

My aunt Cindy is known for her rum cakes. They have a tendency to disappear quickly. People whine if they feel they have been shorted when it comes to getting a slice (or three) of her cakes. If you don’t believe me, ask my uncle Bob.

Anyway I sat and thought and thought and though about what kind of pound cake Cindy would approve of. Rum is a given, but should it be straight up rum pound cake or something different? Then I remembered that my great-uncle Sonny was a firm believer in a daily hot toddy. What is in a hot toddy but rum? Okay, so it can be made with brandy or bourbon, but if Cindy were to drink a hot toddy it would so be rum-based.

Now would Cindy approve of this cake?

Note: this is a cake that you either love or hate. The haters complain that it tastes too much like candy. Not what I was expecting!

Cindy’s Toddy Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup crisco or applesauce
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 eggs
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

rum glaze

Preheat oven to 325*degrees. Butter and flour a bundt pan.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter, crisco (or applesauce) and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add vanilla, cloves and orange peel. In another bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt and flour. Add this to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the orange juice and rum. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes. Let cool on counter for 10 minutes and then invert onto cake plate. Pierce cooled cake repeatedly with a skewer or toothpick.

Rum Glaze

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Drizzle glaze over cake. Allow time for cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is all gone.

If you know any wrestlers, you know they are exceptionally aware of their weight during season. My daughter wrestled for four years in high school and is currently wrestling in college. Anyway her high school coach always stressed cutting weight the proper way. He didn’t want them spitting, putting on trashbags and running, starving themselves or any of the other idiotic crash weight loss ideas his wrestlers could come up with. He also wanted them to make smart food choices. I’d hear about how Coach could magically appear at the vending machines just as a wrestler was reaching in to grab a honeybun. If that doesn’t encourage his wrestlers to make better choices….

But at some point you have to cut loose from all that and treat yourself – preferably after winning States or a national title or at the least becoming an All-American. This pound cake was created specifically for Coach Charlie with a shot of inspiration from my aunt Cindy.

Charlie’s Pound Cake

2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 cup Crisco (or another stick of butter)
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups flour
2/3 cup Coca-cola
1/3 cup Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum

Rum glaze for top

Preheat oven to 325*degrees. Butter and flour a bundt pan.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter, crisco and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add vanilla. In another bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt and flour. Add this to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the coca-cola and rum. Pour into prepared bundt pan and bake for 70-80 minutes. Let cool on counter for 10 minutes and then invert onto cake plate. Pierce cooled cake repeatedly with a skewer or toothpick.

Rum Glaze

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil 5 minutes while stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in rum. Drizzle glaze over cake. Allow time for cake to absorb glaze. Repeat until glaze is all gone.

Last week my mother took me to meet Cordelia, a second cousin twice-removed. Cordelia had been orphaned when she was young and at one point lived with Mollie Gates Oakes, my great-great-great aunt. Mollie had a fig bush and would make preserves with the fruit. Cordelia took cuttings from Aunt Mollie’s fig bush and for years and years had her own fig bush. Cordelia’s eyes lit up as she told us about Aunt Mollie’s fig preserves. She even shared the super secret recipe and how to know when the preserves were ready to be put into a jar.

I haven’t made fig preserves yet, but I will at some point in the near future. Until then I have to rely on other’s fig preserves.

Fig Pound Cake

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening (or an additional stick of butter)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
6 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
3 cups flour
1 cup fig preserves

Preheat oven to 325*F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Cream together the butter, shortening, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well blended. Add vanilla. Sift together the cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, baking powder and flour. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture. Beat well. Add milk (or buttermilk), beat, then add remaining flour mixture. Add the fig preserves and beat batter for 2 minutes.

Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 70 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool on rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake from pan onto cake plate and allow to finish cooling completely.

Note: I’ve made this with milk and buttermilk this week. I prefer the one with buttermilk. The cake seems a bit more tender and moist.

Once the gingerbread pound cake cooled, I wasn’t completely happy. The flavor is close to being there, but the moistness isn’t. Changing the cooking time isn’t really an option. I checked the cake at an hour and it was so not done.

I must must figure this out. My friend Stacy has demanded it.

I love gingerbread and firmly believe that it shouldn’t be saved for the winter holiday season. Gingerbread should be consumed year round. I should clarify by saying that while I believe this from an intellectual standpoint, psychologically speaking, I have to find a way to get past the whole “gingerbread is a winter dessert” thing.

So I am making a gingerbread pound cake and instead of serving it with a warm lemon sauce, it will be served with lemon sorbet. My mind will reset and thus will welcome gingerbread year round completely rather than merely intellectually.

Gingerbread Pound Cake

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup plus 4 T. dark molasses
6 eggs
2 1/2 teaspoons ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 325*F. Butter and flour a bundt pan or use a baking spray.

Mix butter, sugar and molasses. Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each addition. Add spices, salt and baking powder and vanilla. Mix well. Add the flour and milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Bake for 70 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto cake plate.

Several years ago, Brian Kane suggested I make a dreamsicle pound cake. And thus I did. Several different versions. This one is my favorite.

You absolutely do not need to use the food coloring in this. I did to get a color. You have to have that orange and vanilla swirl effect to have a dreamsicle, right?

Preheat oven to 325*F. Grease a tube or bundt pan.

Vanilla Pound Cake:

1 stick butter
1/4 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Add vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating thoroughly after each one (you can add all 3 together, but the texture just isn’t the same.) In a separate small bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the milk divided in half alternating with flour so that you end with milk.

Orange Pound Cake:

1/2 cup butter (one stick)
1/4 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon orange peel
3 eggs
1-1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
3 Tablespoons Grand Marnier
yellow and red food coloring

Cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Add vanilla extract and orange peel. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating thoroughly after each one. In a separate small bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in the orange juice, flour and Grand Marnier. Add just enough food coloring to achieve the shade of orange you want.

In the prepared pan, spoon in half the vanilla batter, top with half the orange batter. Repeat. With a knife or narrow spatula, swirl the layers together slightly to marbleize.

Bake for 70 to 80 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then invert onto cake plate.