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Cream cheese pound cake



Yesterday i baked cream cheese pound cake for Dr Tracey (my gynae) .. went to see her for my yearly check up... err hb always make sure i go for my pap smear every single year.. well if its not for him i wud probably not do it every single year but being "ancient" and all that.. i guess its better to be safe then sorry! heheheee

So anyway... meet my new favorite pound cake. I have had this cake bookmarked for, oh, 100 years or so :p Why did it take me so long to make this? Here, let me kick myself a few times... FEAR.. fear that the cake will turn out dry.. fear that the cake might not taste nice.. fear cos of the amt of butter and cream cheese used.. fear fear fear lol.. so yesterday i brave myself and decided to gv this recipe a try..am so so glad i did! This cake is dense and moist, with the fine texture of a pound cake. The richness of butter and cream cheese is underscored by a mellow almond and vanilla flavor.. i love it!

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (336g)
1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia brand cream cheese, at room temperature (250g)
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract plus 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (original recipe calls for 2 teaspoons vanilla but I liked this mix better)
3 cups all purpose flour (i used cake flour)
1 teaspoon salt



Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, you can use a 12-cup bundt pan, and simply butter and flour it.

2. Place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, at least five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla, almond, then the flour and salt all at once. Beat just until incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 1/4 hours.

4. Place the pan on a cake rack and cool for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature.



* Philadelphia cream cheese is often recommended for baking for consistency purposes, as in, bakers know this brand works, and because it contains less water than other brands.

Variations: I think this cake would be fantastic with a cup of chopped white chocolate stirred into the batter and/or some orange zest. Or grapefruit zest. Or whole raspberries, if you can find good ones in season. Or have fun with it. A good pound cake is infinitely adaptable, and I would like to try them all.

Note: i get 1 bundt pan (10 cups) and 2 small loaf pan out of this recipe
Source: Variety of inspiration

3 comments:

SurayaCoghlan said...

Early check up? did i miss something here..thought i read ur blog closely..

SurayaCoghlan said...

oopss..sorry Rima..yearly check up..hahaha..read it again..thought early check up tadi..that would post a question..hehehe.

Rima said...

Hahahha sorry lah Sue.. i read again.. i pun macam tak understand what i am trying to say .. mata dah nak tertutup baru nak update blog.. dah tu cakap merepek hahah.. early check up? gulp.. dah tua lah Sue.. tak larat plus right after i was push out of the operating room my hb kata.. "thats it .. my factory closed" hahahah macam dia pulak yg pregnant!

About Me

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Hi.. I am a SAHM to 2 kiddoes..19yr old boy n 2 year old girl.. met my Austrian hubby here in Singapore and hv been living here all my life... my love for baking started when i was 6mths preggie to my daughter, Sonia... my addiction to baking has not stop eversince.. I hope to learn as much as i can abt baking and decorating and then share it with u along the way..