Cream Cheese Pound Cake

(Recipe from King Arthur's Flour Email Newsletter- all added notes are also theirs)

When you want to grill a piece of cake, it’s clear you want cake with some body, a slice that won’t crumble or disintegrate on the griddle or grill. Pound cake is the ideal solution; it’s close-grained and moist, and responds nicely to the heat of the grill: the outside browns while the inside stays soft.

This recipe is fun to play around with. Add different flavorings, or coconut, dried fruit or nuts. It makes a tender cake with just the slightest tang from the cream cheese.

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1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter, room temperature
6 ounces (two 3-ounce packages) cream cheese (not low fat!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract*
1 3/4 cups (7 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs (7 1/2 ounces) room temperature

*Flavor variations: In addition to the vanilla, add 1 teaspoon almond extract, or 1/4 teaspoon coconut flavoring. Or, skip the vanilla, and use 1/2 teaspoon lemon oil (for a lemon-flavored cake), or 1/4 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia + 1 tablespoon lemon zest (for a lemon-vanilla cake).

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter and cream cheese until soft and fluffy. Add the salt, sugar, and flavorings of choice, and beat for 5 minutes. Add the flour and baking powder, beating well, and scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally. The batter will be stiff.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. When done, the batter will be very fluffy. Fold in up to 1 cup of dried flaked coconut or dried fruit or nuts, if desired.

Spoon the batter into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, Danish loaf pan, or 9-cup tube or bundt-style pan. Bake the cake in a preheated 350°F oven for 55 to 60 minutes for the 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, or 50 to 55 minutes for the Danish, tube or bundt-style pans. A cake tester inserted into the center of the loaf should come out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven, and allow it to cool for 15 minutes in the pan. Turn the cake out onto a wire rack or serving platter. Allow the cake to cool for several hours for best slicing. The cake will be dark brown on the edges and golden on top, with a fine crumb inside. Serve the cake at room temperature; store it well wrapped at room temperature.

Nutrition information per serving (1 slice of cake, 76g): 268 cal, 15g fat, 5g protein, 30g complex carbohydrates, 16g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 107mg cholesterol, 174mg sodium, 57mg potassium, 136RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 22mg calcium, 62mg phosphorus.

Easy Fudge Sauce
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I recently attended a potluck cookout at which my required contribution was wine. Now, for a cook, this is an extremely boring thing to bring. Sure, it tastes good; but where's the fun of preparation? I'd been writing about grilled pound cake with hot fudge sauce, and had prepared the following recipe, tasting a couple of spoonfuls to make sure it was good (yup, it was). So here I was, with two bottles of wine and almost a cup and a half of hot fudge sauce in the fridge — surely someone would bring a potluck dessert requiring the judicious (or not so judicious) application of some fudge sauce! Sure enough, they did; the sauce disappeared amid much positive commentary (and wordless expressions of delight). This makes a sauce that's nicely pourable when hot, but thick like peanut butter after it's been refrigerated. All the better to spoon it directly from the fridge into your mouth on those late-night food forays!

1/4 cup (1/2 stick, 2 ounces) butter
1 1/2 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate
1/2 cup (4 1/4 ounces) light cream or evaporated milk
3/4 cup (5 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1 1/8 ounces) unsweetened cocoa powder*
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

*Use either dutch-process or natural; we used our black cocoa to make a sauce that was ultra-dark and delicious.

In a small saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt the butter with the chocolate, stirring till smooth. Stir in the cream or milk, the sugar, cocoa and salt. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture just to a boil, and remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla. Cool the sauce to room temperature, then store it in the refrigerator. To serve, reheat over low heat, or in the microwave. Yield: about 1 1/2 cups sauce, about 8 to 12 servings.

Nutrition information per serving (2 tablespoons, 32g): 124 cal, 8g fat, 1g protein, 2g complex carbohydrates, 12g sugar, 1g dietary fiber, 18mg cholesterol, 5mg sodium, 88mg potassium, 56RE vitamin A, 1mg iron, 16mg calcium, 37mg phosphorus, 9mg caffeine.

Grilled Pound Cake

Slice the pound cake about 3/4-inch thick. Butter each slice, and heat on a griddle or grill set to medium-low heat, cooking till each side is a very light golden brown. Remove the cake from the pan, place it on a serving plate, and top with ice cream and fudge sauce or strawberries (or all three!) Yield: about 12 servings.

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