Cream Cheese Pound Cake

BBQs, laying out by the pool, and water sports are all amazing aspects of summer.  But one of my utmost favorite parts of this scorching hot season is fresh fruit in abundance. Yep, I'm that much of a foodie and I like it. Fresh fruit by itself is perfect, but sliced fruit macerated with a touch of sugar with Blue Bell vanilla ice cream and pound cake..... I'm drooling just thinking about it. And this is the exact motivation for this pound cake recipe - the first round of fresh Strawberries at Walmart. I was so excited. Although I prefer to buy fresh fruit from farmers and small markets, my yearning for fresh, in-season desire for strawberries made the Walmart berries too enticing. (I do not have anything against Wallie World - I love it just as much as the next girl.)

After talking about pound cake for a few days straight and Mr. Cowboy knew it was inevitable, this pound cake was born.  It is light and dense all at the same time. A perfect pallet for ice cream and fruit or to just enjoy with a hot beverage anytime of the year.  So bake and enjoy!

Notes:

• Feel free to play with the extract combinations in this pound cake.  It can very easily become lemon flavored or more heavenly almond flavored.
• Play with varieties of glazes for more flavor variations.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

• 2 sticks butter, room temperature, plus a bit more for the pan
• 1 (8 ox) block cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 1/2 c. sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 c. flour, plus more for the pan
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 c. milk
• 3 t. vanilla
• 1/2 t. almond extract
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter and flour a large bundt pan very well.

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Set aside.

In or with a mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add the sugar in gradually until well mixed. Add the eggs individually, incorporating each well.

Begin adding in the dry ingredients in portions, alternating dry - wet - dry until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Make sure to start and end with the dry ingredients for the smoothest cake. Stir in the extracts. 

Lightly spray the prepared pan with cooking spray to further ward off sticking. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. 

Bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Bake until it passes a toothpick test to the center of the cake. Turn over onto a plate and dust with powdered sugar.