Fluffy (but dense) Pound Cake

This cake is (and yet ISN’T) a true pound cake.  How can that be?  I’m not entirely sure, yet it is both creamy and dense - while almost fluffy as well.  I’ve used this as the cake base in two or three desserts - and it’s delicious.  Served alone with a light glaze, cubed in a trifle, or to hold all the decadence of Butterfinger Cake - you can’t go wrong.

There are so many versions of pound cake out there - and everyone has their favorite.  This one however, is a mixture of all that’s good in most recipes.  It has a deep brown crust, which is sweet and crunchy.  That keeps it more interesting than pale yellow pound cake.  The texture is slightly creamy - not just moist.  

I’m sure part of the reason it works so well is because it has just enough shortening with the butter that it really improves the texture.  Very little leavening is used - so no large air holes here, not to mention there's little chance of overflowing a standard bundt pan.  I’ve made it three different ways - with evaporated milk, light cream, and whole milk - and I prefer the cream.

The original recipe called for lemon extract and lemon zest.  I tried it that way, as well as with just almond flavoring and vanilla extracts.  The almond version is subtle and goes with just about everything. 

I’ve seen something called “Butterfinger Cake” - and it looked like something I wanted to try.  So I used this bundt recipe - poked it all over with a drinking straw, and poured both a can of sweetened condensed milk AND a jar of caramel ice cream topping over it.  You are then supposed to spread it with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed Butterfinger candy bars.  I got as far as the toppings - it was rich ENOUGH without the rest.  We enjoyed it with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of caramel.

The next way I used this cake was in Sunshine Trifle (recipe is HERE).  

I needed to put it in individual containers to use as a sweet treat for some wonderful people.  It was really pretty with a tiny “silver” (...plastic) fork taped to the top.

For the recipe (with variations) - go to:

www.changeabletable.com