In The Kitchen: Pound cake 'wars' offer sweet retreat

We like pound cake, and I have offered pound cake recipes before, but this one is a little easier to make and can be baked in a regular Bundt pan or a tube pan. And, it can be made a day or two ahead, which makes it a good dessert to have on
hand for spring company.

There is no doubt in my family that my sister Gail is the cake queen. This is an old family recipe and is in Gail’s handwriting, so I’m assuming it came from her. Anytime I bake something that Gail has made before, I serve it with a comment and a little whine: "I know this won’t be as good as Gail’s, but I tried."

On one occasion, as my niece, Maria, ate some of this Old Fashion Buttermilk Pound cake, she mentioned that it wasn’t quite as moist as Gail’s. I might have felt worse had Maria not been on her third piece of cake when she came to that conclusion. I must be getting better.

Old Fashion Buttermilk Pound Cake

2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup margarine or butter (2 sticks)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. soda
1 cup buttermilk
3 cups flour (plain, not self-rising)
2 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar with butter. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg addition until mixture is light in color. Dissolve soda in buttermilk. Add alternately with flour to creamed mixture beginning and ending with flour. Add lemon and vanilla extracts. Pour in greased and floured tube or Bundt pan. Bake at 325-350 for 1 hr. and 15 minutes or till golden brown.

Note: if you don’t use buttermilk very often, you can make your own for this recipe. Stir in 2 tsp. vinegar to 1 cup regular milk. If you don’t have vinegar, lemon juice will also cause the milk to curdle and works well for this recipe.

To make a glaze for the cake, simply mix 2 cups powdered sugar with 2 to 3 Tablespoons milk or water, whisk until smooth
and all lumps are gone. Spoon over top of cake.