Miss Colleen’s Perfect Pound Cake ((a time-tested vintage recipe))
Well over a year ago, I was visiting mom & dad’s church. Actually, I was visiting the church AND the potluck dinner & I tasted this pound cake — buttery, dense, moist with a hint of lemon. I instantly began searching for the baker who made such a delicious PERFECT pound cake. I was not surprised to learn Miss Colleen was the talent behind the cake. I asked if she would mind sharing her recipe and she seemed surprised, as if it was nothing special. I just love her. A few days later, I had THE recipe in hand!!
There are some kitchen talents at church for sure!! In fact, a church potluck is where I discovered the best almond sheet cake I have ever tasted ((White Texas Sheet Cake)).
For the last year, I have carried this precious handwritten recipe in my wallet – in order to keep reminding myself of it’s perfect deliciousness. Finally, this week, I had the just the reason to whip this cake up — Bible study potluck!
Once I began making this cake, I was struck by just how easy it is. As I followed each step, I could tell this cake was one of “THOSE” recipes. You know, what kind of recipe I am talking about – right? It is a “by heart” recipe. I could tell Miss Colleen knows this recipe by heart just by the way it was written out. That is a sure sign of a winning recipe.
The recipe starts out with whipping six eggs until thick.
Add 3 cups of sugar & continue mixing.
The recipe calls for lemon juice and vanilla are to be added next but I had about ½ c of lemon curd leftover {{{from the Wedding Cakes in a Jar I recently made for my cousin’s wedding shower}}}. So I used the lemon curd instead.
I added the vanilla to the jar of curd.
And then went ahead and added the buttermilk too.
And gave it all a good shake ((after putting the lid back on, of course)).
While I was shaking this mixture, I went ahead and added the shortening ((I used butter flavored)).
Next, I added the buttermilk mixture & flour.
The baking soda went in with the flour, which made me realize there is no salt in this recipe. That is pretty standard for a traditional pound cake recipe, but I went ahead and added ½ teaspoon of sea salt because I love a hint of salt in my cake.
And within 5 minutes from start to finish – I had the most beautifully fluffy pound cake batter. I poured it into a well greased & floured bundt pan. ((Baker’s Joy is what I use))
Bake at 300° for a few minutes shy of 1½ hours.
Isn’t it beautiful?? The crackled top is my favorite part!! It’s sugary crunchy crispness still has a moistness to it. I need another piece!
Look at how wonderfully it released from the pan!!
Since it was getting late, I covered the cake with foil and made a simple vanilla sugar & buttermilk glaze in the morning.
I only had 1 cup of powdered sugar ((major problem in my house!!)) — and in my opinion, that was not enough glaze. I would use 2 c next time!
- 6 eggs
- 3 c pure cane sugar
- 1 c shortening ((I used butter flavored shortening))
- 1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice*
- 1 1/2 T vanilla
- 3 c all purpose flour
- 1/4 t baking soda
- 1/2 t sea salt ((optional))
- 1 c buttermilk
- 2 c powdered sugar
- 2-3 T buttermilk
- 1 t vanilla
- 1 T lemon juice*
- Preheat oven to 300°. Prepare a bundt pan by greasing and dusting with flour. ((I spray liberally with Baker's Joy)).
- In a stand mixer, add 6 cracked eggs, one at a time. Mix on medium speed until eggs thicken. Add sugar and mix another minute. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined, taking care to scrape the sides to ensure even mixing.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bundt pan and place in preheated oven. Bake for 1 1/2 hours**.
- When baking time is complete, allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes before inverting it on a cooling rack. Allow to cool inverted for 15 to 30 more minutes. Tap the pan to help release.
- Once the cake has cooled, combine glaze ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Stir until smooth. Pour over cake & serve.
- *I used 1/2 c homemade lemon curd instead of lemon juice, just because that is what I had on hand. If you have lemon curd, 1/2 c works nicely in place of lemon juice. For the glaze, 1 to 2 T of curd is plenty.
- **The next time I make this cake, I will bake it for 1 hour 25 minutes. I think my oven may be a little hot & the cake was probably done 5 minutes before I pulled it out.