Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Welcome March: Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

If you read my post on Closing the Book, you know that I have personally declared March to be Pound Cake Month for no other reason than I love pound cake, haven't baked one in a while, and have several recipes that I'm dying to try and share here at Well-Seasoned Life. Pound cake is probably the only dessert that I bake that I know will be eaten completely, no crumbs left behind. It is a staple dessert here in the south. We whip one up for births, deaths, birthdays, and convalescing. It feeds a crowd and gets better with age, if it's allowed to stick around that long enough. This recipe is from Southern Living, the experts on pound cake.

Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1-1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
6 large eggs
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 c. strawberry glaze
1 (6-inch) wooden skewer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in almond and vanilla extracts. Pour one-third of batter into a greased and flour 10-inch (14-cup) tube pan (about 2-2/3 cup batter). Dollop 8 rounded teaspoonfuls strawberry glaze over batter, and swirl with wooded skewer. Repeat procedure once, and top with remaining third of batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for one hour to one hour and ten minutes or until a long wooded pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Start with three sticks of softened butter. I like to let my butter sit out all day or overnight so it's really soft.


While I've eaten cream cheese pound cakes before, I don't think I've ever made one. But, I do notice that in most of the cream cheese pound cakes I've eaten, you can see the swirls of cream cheese running throughout. Here, I've attempted an experiment to see if I can eliminate those swirls, not that there's anything wrong with cream cheese swirls. I've allowed the cream cheese to sit out at room temperature all night and blended it thoroughly with the butter before adding the sugar.

I beat the cream cheese and butter until it was light and fluffy.


Added the sugar, one cup at a time, and beat well.


This is a six-egg pound cake.


Beat the eggs in, one at a time. It's almost more batter than my largest bowl can handle.


I don't like almond flavoring by itself, but I love it combined with vanilla. I folded in the flavoring with a spatula before adding the flour.



Add the flour, one cup at a time, and blend well.


Does anyone want to lick the beaters?



This strawberry glaze came from the produce section of my local grocery store.


Put 1/3 of the batter in a greased and flour cake pan. Dot with 8 tsp. of strawberry glaze.


Swirl, whirl, twist and twirl. Repeat with another layer of cake batter and strawberry glaze.


Top with remaining batter. Now, here's the tricky part. The directions said to bake for one hour to one hour 10 minutes. Because I had read the comments on Southern Living's web site, I knew that wouldn't be long enough. After the one hour mark, I started testing for doneness. I also lowered the heat to 325 degrees to keep the crust from overbaking. I actually cooked it for one hour and 40 minutes all together. So, please be willing to nurse this cake along. A pound cake truly is a labor of love!

Guess what? No streaks in my pound cake!!! I'm so happy!!! The only thing that would make this cake taste even more like strawberry shortcake is a dollop of whipped topping. Now, there's an idea...

Enjoy!!

P.S. If you have a pound cake recipe that you would like to share, feel free to post a link to your blog here. We could go viral with this Pound Cake Month thing! ;)

ETA:  Next cake in the Pound Cake Month series:  Mama's Pound Cake

Also, if you're a fan of Southern Living recipes, check out the other recipes that I've made on the Southern Living Project.


37 comments:

  1. Hello March, and hello pound cake! You just don't see/have pound cake much, it's such an old fashioned yummy treat! When I was in grade school there was a mom who always made her famous pound cake for all the bake sales, oh boy did everyone want to be the one who got there early to buy that! I'm not too experienced a cake baker but I'd like to try this!!!

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  2. okay, this looks like a winning recipe! i am a big strawberry shortcake gal. i think with that whip you need to toss some fresh berries on there and i will be a goner, hook line and sinker! thanks for sharing :)
    -meg
    @ http://www.clutzycooking.blgspot.com

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  3. You said you lowered the temperature to 325 degrees; was that in the beginning when you put the cake in the oven, or after one hour of baking?

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  4. I lowered it after the one hour mark to 325 to make sure it didn't get too dark. So, one hour at 350 and 40 minutes or so at 325. Please just watch it after the hour mark since ovens differ so much. As a general rule for me, I always lower the heat when baking so the edges won't get too hard.

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  5. Wow, this must have been such a yummy piece of cake. That cream cheese makes it sound really rich and flavorful and I love that pretty swirl.

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  6. Yum!! I think I'll be making this today! Heading to the store anyway, and will pick up what I need! Thanks for sharing this! :)

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  7. Kim, You are my kind of girl!!!! I love poundcake. It's dense buttery texture and the moist crumb... what is not to love. Now add strawberry swirl and I am swooning! YOu have done a beautiful tutorial for this.
    I'll certainkly make this, and soon!
    What a great blog you have.
    Yvonne

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  8. Oh my goodness does this look DELICIOUS!!! What a great idea to add the strawberry glaze....I too love pound cake. I'm so glad I found your site, I'm your newest follower!

    My pound cake: http://flourmewithlove.blogspot.com/2011/01/cream-cheese-pound-cake.html

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  9. This looks awesome! My boss saw it on the cover and wants this cake to be her birthday cake (well early birthday! because she wants me to make it now!)-- Glad to see it came out well!

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  10. This sounds like an amazing combination. Strawberries and Cream Cheese can't be beat.

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  11. Oh my heavens, not only does this look decadent, but I bet it tastes heavenly.

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  12. Yes, this cake was delicious. I took it to work and took some Cool Whip to serve on the side. But, I preferred it without the topping. Everyone loved it! I think the most important thing is getting the butter and cream cheese well blended. The swirling part is very easy. And, from what I recall, there's a peach glaze, too, in the summer. I'm sure that would be good, too.

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  13. I love it! I made this same thing this week from the Southern Living Magazine. We thought it was delicious too! I did have problems with the temperature being to high and the outside was done before the middle.

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  14. I love pound cake, and with cream cheese~divine! The strawberry swirl running through it is so pretty, and I'd love to have a slice right about now!

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  15. Gorgeous, gorgeous strawberry swirls. A cream cheese pound cake sounds and looks divine!

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  16. Believe it or not, yours was the #1 best recipe from last week's Sweets for a Saturday. I'm not surprised.

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  17. Lisa! What exciting news!! I've never been #1 at anything. I'm so happy!!!

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  18. OMG...this looks so good and I started my diet this month! Well at least I have something to work towards...lol
    Fondly, Roberta

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  19. oh my gosh! I loooooove pound cake - never a wasted crumb in my house. This looks extremely delicious!

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  20. This was so helpful! I am making this pound cake tonight for my daughter's birthday party at my momma's tomorrow. I researched the reviews for this particular pound cake before I started because I was alarmed there are no "rising" ingredients in this recipe. Baking powder, salt, baking soda...? This is a first for me- I will let you know how it turns out- great blog!

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  21. Nicole- this definitely works without those ingredients. My main tip is to blend the cream cheese and butter well. Let both get to room temp.

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  22. mmm.. next time try using real vanilla and real almond extracts.. so much better than imitation

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  23. Martha Stewart, is that you? I always think of Martha when I think about using the best extracts. I was tempted by a big bottle of real vanilla recently in HomeGoods but I forgot to go back and pick it up. Then, I missed it when I got home. But, you've inspired me. I've actually been thinking about making my own. If I do, I'll post my progress! Thanks!

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  24. Yummy! I am so glad I found your blog!

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  25. Where is the link to follow this blog!

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  26. Thanks for asking Cateetee! You can follow through Google Friend Connect or by using your Facebook account through Networked Blogs. Both are in the upper right-hand column. Hope you'll follow!

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  27. This looks so good. Just curious..do you think you could use a strawberry jam instead of the glaze? I'm thinking you would thin it out with a little warm water maybe and use it like the glaze?? Just thinking of what I already have on hand.

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  28. Susan- As far as taste, I think the strawberry jam would work well. It could actually taste better, a more authentic strawberry flavor. Look-wise, you wouldn't get that bright red swirl but I really don't think that matters. Taste is the most important thing. Come back and let me know if you give it a try. I have a jar of strawberry jam in my fridge, too. Would love to give it a try!

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  29. Is it best to flour your pan, or is the baking spray good enough?

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  30. The baking spray with added flour worked for me last time I baked a cake. Just coat really well.

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  31. Kim, I usually buy pure extract but decided to try making my own after scraping vanilla beans recently--will let you know how it turns out!

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  32. Almost forgot the real reason for posting ... I knew I had to make this when I got my Southern Living magazine--glad I found this blog first! (:

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  33. Candie-I'm interested in making my own vanilla, too. I need to read how to get started.

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  34. Kim - if you dont mind getting it shipped - I fell in love with Hawaiian Vanilla - it is divine. Get rid of that imitation stuff girl!! Penzeys also has good extract. I get ours from a local spice shop that makes their own extracts. Love your blog!

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  35. I am making poundcake for my birthday and I will try this recipe tomorrow. I can't believe ingredients can sit out all day and not spoil. I don't want to make my guests sick. I always have trouble getting my cake out the pan. Some believe shortnening or spray and others use wax paper. I have tried both and even let it sit with dish towel over top to sweat in pan, but nothing works for me. Any tips?

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  36. Hello! If you're concerned about leaving your ingredients out overnight, you can soften your butter and cream cheese in the microwave. I would only do it for short burst of time like 10 seconds. You want it soft but not melted. I usually put it in for ten seconds, then test with my finger to see if it's soft. You just want it soft to the touch, not warm.

    When make a cake in a tube pan, I always prepare the pan with shortening and flour. After the cake comes out of the oven, I run the back of a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the sides. I only leave the cake in the pan for a few minutes. As the cake cools, the sides will harden making it harder to remove. To remove, I place a plate on top of the pan and turn them both over together. Then, I put another plate on top of it and flip it back over so the buttery crown is on top.

    Hope this helps! Kim

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  37. I am planning to eat strawberry swirl cream cake for my upcoming birthday next month. It sounds delectable. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.

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