Buttermilk Pound Cake

You just can't beat a homemade pound cake!  It's so tender, buttery and versatile--eat it plain, serve it  with ice cream and hot fudge, top it with fresh fruit and whipped cream, make it into a trifle (that's for another post!), et cetera.

The success of the recipe depends on two things:  1)  Use room temperature butter and cream it well with the sugar and 2) use only pure extracts in your baking.

Enjoy this taste of old-fashioned deliciousness.

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon high-quality vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pure lemon extract
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat the interior of a large tube pan (preferably one with a removable bottom) with Pam for Baking or Baker's Joy.

Cream together the butter and sugar at high speed of an electric mixer until very light and fluffy.  I use my stand mixer and let it go for at least five minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Combine flour and salt; set aside.  In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk with baking soda.  Stir to dissolve the soda.

Turn mixer to low.  Add one-third of the flour;  mix just until combined.  Add half of the buttermilk; mix just until combined.  Repeat procedure, ending with flour.  Stir in extracts.

Scoop the batter into the pan and smooth out the top.  Bake in the center of the oven for one hour to 75 minutes, or until a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.

Ol' Timey Buttermilk Biscuits

I am the only person I know who still makes biscuits.

That's a darn shame.

The canned ones taste canned.  The frozen ones are pretty good, but where's the love?

I made these for dinner the other night and my daughter helped me pat out the dough.  She cut most of them out and brushed the butter on top of each one.  "That was really fun, Mommy!"  Memories.

There are really only four secrets to good biscuits:
1)  Don't overwork the dough.  Knead only until it comes together.
2)  Use a soft-wheat flour.  Look on the package.  If it was produced at a Southern plant or says "made for biscuits" on the label, you're good to go.
3)  The fat should be cold.
4)  Buttermilk makes them better.  It gives the dough a texture and tang that you can't get any other way.

They are easy to make.  Promise.

4 cups all-purpose, soft-wheat flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/3 cup very cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/3 cup very cold Crisco, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter, for brushing the biscuit tops

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the butter and Crisco and cut in the fat with two knives or a pastry blender until it is well distributed.  The mixture should look like coarse cornmeal.

Add the buttermilk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened.  Too dry?  Add more buttermilk.  Too sticky?  Don't add extra flour at this point.

Turn dough onto a heavily or lightly floured board or counter (depending on how sticky the dough is); knead lightly four or five times.

Pat out the dough to a thickness of 3/4"-1".  Cut with a 2 3/4" round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter.  I place the biscuits on a Silpat-lined sheet pan.  Lining the sheet pan with parchment paper will also work well.  Brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown and delicious!

Makes 15 biscuits.  ( I could only fit 12 on one pan!)

Yes, they're fattening.  We ate a few, gave some away and I froze a couple.  But they are SO worth the effort!