This Church Lady Classic Pound Cake is one of my favorite things to bake lately. Not just because of how good it is with a cup of coffee or topped with straweberries and whipped cream, but because of it’s story. When I was a little girl, my family started regularly visited an older lady in my church. Her name was Ms. Singley. She never married or had children and didn’t have family living nearby, so she became a sort-of adopted great aunt for many of us. She was well known in the community for sharing her famous pound cakes, she loved Subway’s Italian Herb and Cheese Bread, and was full of stories about her days working at Vanity Fair sewing nightgowns. Since I was young, I’ve been trying to weasel my way into any kitchen that will have me, to learn a few tips and tricks from more experienced bakers and cooks. I’ve so loved cooking, that when I was just 11 years old, the only thing I asked for for Christmas was a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer. Guess what was under the tree that year?! We’ve now spend 20 years together and I’ve taken my beloved mixer to college and back, to Nicaragua and now she sits on my counter right here in Costa Rica. Peep her still going strong in the photo below! I digress. Let’s get back to Ms. Singley.
When I was maybe 13 or 14, I asked her if she would teach me how to make her poundcake. It was summer vacation and my mom thought it was a great idea to get me out of the house. That is, until Ms. Singley told us I would need to be at her house at 6 AM to set the eggs out for a few hours. I’m not sure what she had planned for use to do while we waited, but I’m confident it would have been more Vanity Fair stories, as it was too early for The Price is Right to be on TV. Thankfully, my mom arranged for me to be dropped of when the eggs were ready for baking, closer to 8 AM. I don’t remember lots of details from that day baking together, but I am grateful for Ms. Singley and the many others who opened their kitchens to me to share something that had been such a special part of their life. This is her original, handwritten recipe that she gave me after my cake-baking lession. Unfortunately, I’ve never been able to quite replicate her pound cake with the recipe she gave me. It’s good, but not quite right. Like many from her generation, they carry so much experience in their minds and hands when it comes to cooking, trying to put it on paper doesn’t always yield the same result. Truthfully, I’m not even really sure if I do remember exactly how her pound cake tasted. Like so many other food memories, it was much more about how it felt to be loved than how the food actually tasted.
Ms. Singley teaching me to make her famous pound cake. I’m pretty sure I still have that apron, too!
But friends, we still need a delicious pound cake recipe because berry and peach seasons are just around the corner! And, come on, berries and peaches need to be on top of cake. Can I get an amen?! I was commited to this project of reviving Ms. Singley’s small-town-famous recipe and I was certain I could get pretty dang close to a recipe that was as good as I remember hers being. The cake needed to be sweet, but not too sweet. A little tangy. Soft and tender. Dense, but not spongy. Original butter pound cakes received their name because they used a pound of flour, a pound of sugar, a pound of butter and a pound of eggs. Maybe one day I’ll try that recipe just for fun, but for now I’m grateful that we’ve improved out baking a bit over the past few hundred years. However the same star ingredients still appear in this and many other pound cakes today.
The recipe that this Church Lady Classic Pound Cake is based off of used oil, but we will be using butter, because butter is better. The suprise addition of lemon juice gives just a little bit of balance to the richness of the eggs and the sweetness of the cake. But don’t be fooled, this is definitely not a lemon pound cake. In fact, you won’t even taste the lemon. This batter is drier than a typical layer cake, so it will require a good rubber spatula to scrape it all into the pan. You might be concerned that it won’t all fit in the pan, but it will. If you are extra concerned like me, just be sure to place it on a baking sheet before puting it in the oven. Don’t forget to butter AND flour your pan so that it will slide right out. This cake practically demands to be shared, in honor of Ms. Singley and many others like her, who have been sharing love in the form of baked goods for generations. I’d bet you know someone like her, too, and maybe you were fortunate enough to receive one of those blessed pound cakes.
If you want a slice of nostalgia, fresh baked, here is what you will need…
Church Lady Classic Pound Cake
Equipment
- 1 9×5 loaf pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp milk
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (163 degrees C). Butter your pan and lightly dust with flour, dumping out any excess.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachement, add the butter and sugar. Cream for 6 minutes on medium low speed.
- Add eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar, fully mixing in each egg before adding the next. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the vanilla, lemon juice and milk to the butter, sugar and eggs, mixing thoroughly.
- In a separate medium size bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir together with a fork to remove any lumps and to combine the dry ingredients.
- Add half the dry ingreients to the wet, mixing on low just until incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the remaining half of the dry ingredients. Mix on low just until there are no more dry spots in the batter. Scrape your bowl again to make sure all the wet and dry ingredients are fully mixed.
- Pour the batter into your greased and floured loaf pan, ensuring the batter is spread evenly in the pan. Place your loaf pan on a baking tray and bake on 325 F (163 C) on the middle rack 70-75 minutes, until the cake is golden and set (it may still look a little underdone in the center. That is ok. Just look for it not to jiggle when you gently shake the pan).
- Remove from the oven and let cool 15 minutes before turning the cake out of the pan. Allow the cake to cool completely and serve.
Notes
- Serve with fresh whipped cream and slice strawberries for a refreshing summer dessert!
- Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.
- Freeze up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap completely in wax paper and place in a freezer-safe bag or container. Remove at least 1 hour before serving.