I combined a few recipes for the pound cake and threw in some amaretto for Chris who can be a bit picky sometimes (some have called him a curmudgeon) but loves amaretto. I decided to top it with strawberries because when we were shopping they looked delicious: plump, red--beautiful!
Like most things I bake this cake involves very few steps the longest being baking time and it tastes yummy. You start by creaming some butter (well lots really) with sugar, vanilla, amaretto and eggs, then slowing mixing in flour and salt--that's it.
Pour the batter into a 9-inch loaf pan and bake.
After this, all that was left was to prep the strawberries; wash, slice, toss with some sugar and lemon juice, it really doesn't get any easier than this.
I could tell even as it was baking that this was going to be good; the sweet aroma of the vanilla, almonds and butter--that hour of baking was rough.
Due to the fact that I was in Minnesota I was missing my ever reliable taste tester, Bernadette (she was shacked up in a pet's hotel, she has a tough life). Luckily I had a substitute in the form of an English Bulldog named Moose graciously provided by Kelly.
Now, Moose doesn't snort like Bb but he does give high five's (seriously one of the cutest things I've ever seen) and I'm sure if Moose could speak he would say this cake was worthy of a high five, maybe even 2!
Once I took the cake out of the oven it was tough to wait for the cooling and grilling but we all pulled through somehow. Nate slapped some slices on the grill and I served the cake with the strawberries and some vanilla bean ice cream because really, when is ice cream not a good idea?
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this as much as we did :)
Vanilla-Amaretto Pound Cake
Makes 1 9x5x3 inch loaf
Ingredients
Pound Cake:
1 cup sugar
2 sticks (1/2 lb) butter, at room temperature
5 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tbsp amaretto
Strawberry Topping:
1 lb. strawberries
1-2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer, then gradually add the sugar, continuing to beat until well creamed and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour and salt, beating constantly. Add the vanilla extract and amaretto and continue beating until well blended.
3. Pour in the batter into the loaf pan and ‘’spank” the bottom of the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Bake until a straw inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes, taking care not to overcook. Turn cake out onto a rack and let cool.
4. Wash and slice strawberries. Toss with sugar and lemon juice and let sit at room temperature until ready to serve.
Grilling the Pound Cake
1. Slice cake to be slightly over 1/2 inch thick. Place on a hot grill and grill each side (depending on how hot the grill is this can be less than a minute per side).
2. Top pound cake with strawberries and ice cream--eat immediately!
Nutritional Info
