What better way to welcome summer than with a day of strawberry picking?
Our newborn son Charley has been showing signs of a dairy allergy. So, I recently began a dairy-free diet which means I will be giving up a lot foods I loved. One being a season staple pound cake by my Grandma Hody.
Strawberries mean 1 thing to me, my Grandma Hody's pound cake. After eating some (ok, a lot) of strawberries I was craving some pound cake. Every year, not long after Easter, I look forward to a Sunday lunch at Grandma Hody's house where there on the counter is a freshly baked pound cake. I know that as soon as everyone is done eating she will bring out a bowl of chilled, mashed strawberries and vanilla ice cream, the perfect companion for pound cake.
I couldn't keep 2 gallons of freshly picked strawberries in my fridge without a pound cake. So I searched for a dairy-free pound cake. Honestly, I thought it might not be as good as Grandma's but it should do.
This cake will more than "just do." It is delicious. Heavenly moist and crumbly, this cake was the nostalgic loaf I craved.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup Countryside Creamery "tastes like butter" from Aldi.
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside.
3. With an electric mixer (in a separate bowl), cream "butter" and sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy.
4. Add lemon juice & vanilla extract. Beat until mixed well.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each egg is mixed in well before adding the next.
6. Add flour mixture about 1/4 cup at a time, scraping the sides as needed. Continue beating at medium speed until flour mixture is mixed in well.
7. Pour batter into a prepared bundt pan (or loaf pan). Bake for 1 hour - until toothpick is inserted and comes our clean.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature before removing from pan.
Slice & serve!
I enjoy a slice of pound cake with a mashed strawberry mixture.
4 cups strawberries & 1 cup sugar, mash until you have a desired consistency.
