I walked into Barnes and Noble and on the front table there was Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking In An Oklahoma Kitchen....now, I'm not a huge Trisha Yearwood fan - however, I will admit to having a small "thing" for her hubby - Garth Brooks...so I bought the book - thumbed through it hoping for a glimpse of her balding-tight-jean-wearing-country-crooning-mega-star-who-has-friends-in-low-places-where-the-whiskey-runs-and--the-beer-chases-my-blues-away-man...I found only one - which validated the cost of the book. To celebrate baby Max's homecoming - I wanted to make something my daughter would like and something to serve to anyone who dropped by to see the most beautiful baby in the world - so I picked "Kyle's Lemon Pound Cake"....Trisha's nephew Kyle allegedly requests this cake every year on his birthday...I was intrigued as Kyle is supposed to be 12 years old and no self-respecting 12 year old I know would ever want lemon pound cake! But after making this cake I would have to say that Kyle knows his stuff. (I, too, have a nephew named Kyle and today is his birthday...happy birthday Kyle!)
Cooking/Baking at my daughter's house is something of a challenge as neither she nor Pierre cooks/bakes - not unless you call using the microwave to warm up canned soup cooking. I looked for her KitchenAid only to discover she doesn't have one - didn't find a zester either and was limited on my choice of mixing bowls - I kept thinking that I must run out tomorrow and stock their kitchen for them - but sanity prevailed - they don't cook so they don't need anything! Still, I did managed to find suitable items to make the pound cake - with the exception of a Bundt pan - but a quick run over to the neighbors solved that problem.
I have no pictures to show you - I did take them - probably the most wonderful pictures I've ever taken of food - but I have no way of getting them out of my camera - so use your imagination. This pound cake is really good - lemony and dense but I still thought it needed something. I was about to make a lemon sauce when I remembered the fresh strawberries - I mashed them with a little bit of sugar and had a wonderful "lemon pound shortcake." You could do the same or serve it plain with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.
Kyle's Lemon Pound Cake - Adapted from Trisha Yearwood's Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen, Recipes From My Family To Yours
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoonfuls freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
1 cup fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled and cut into small pieces
powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Sift the flour together with the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and shortening together until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat an additional 5 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until the yolks disappear into the batter. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and zest.
Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl and beat only until belnded. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly, then turn the ckae out of the pan while it is still warm. Cool completely on a wire rack. Dust top of cake with powdered sugar. Mash fresh strawberries in bowl, if they are sweet, then they need nothing more. If they are not sweet add a little sugar until they are to your liking. Top slices of lemon pound cake with the mashed strawberries. Serves 12.
Imagine a beautiful plate with a thick slice of a light-yellow-colored lemon pound cake - dots of powdered sugar on the top - glistening fresh strawberries dripping over the top and down the sides...now imagine the plate empty, with just a few crumbs, rising blood sugar and a feeling of total bliss....
