Poundcake Love

This blog is for people who have performed random acts of poundcake love. By this, I mean that you have baked a poundcake and given it to someone you don't know, perhaps a homeless person, or someone you see everyday but have not yet connected with. When you have performed this act, send me a brief story of the experience and I will post it on this blog with your name. At some point in the future, I will perhaps offer t-shirts for sale that read "You have been POUNDCAKED!" after a suggestion from a kind friend from Virginia.

All profits from this venture will go to a reputable HIV/AIDS charity. The pleasure of sharing your love through poundcakes is entirely yours.


Yours in Poundcake love...

Safe Journeys!

Ron Hudson

Recipe for Poundcake and its Variations

Cream together:

3 sticks softened butter
8 oz. sour cream or cream cheese

Add in, one at a time, beating well between each addition:

6 eggs

Add to the mixture and blend thoroughly:

3 cups sugar
Sift together and add slowly to the mixture:
2 cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking powder
pinch of salt

For Basic Vanilla Cake, add:

1 T Vanilla

Bake in a greased and floured bundt or tube pan at 350º Fahrenheit (200º C) for approximately 80 minutes. Test with a straw or knife to ensure the cake is done and bake additionally in 5-10 minute increments until the straw or knife comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting the cake and removing the pan.

The following variations to the basic recipe are excellent. Substitute these ingredients for the Vanilla in the basic recipe and bake as usual. For dry ingredients like cinnamon, sift it into the flour, baking powder and salt. For bulkier items like nuts, toffee or dried fruit, add those items after you add the sugar and before you add the flour mix.

For Lemon Spice Poppy Seed cake, add:

1 T lemon extract
1 T dried orange peel
1 T dried lemon peel
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
3 T poppy seeds

For Chocolate cake:

6 T cocoa (sift with the flour, salt and baking powder).
1 T vanilla extract

For Roasted Pecan cake, add: (can also add the cocoa from above for a chocolate pecan cake)

1 T vanilla extract
2 cups of roasted pecans

For Dried Fruit Cake (highly recommended: dates, cranberries, or cherries)

1 T vanilla extract
2 cups dried fruit

For Praline Poundcake:

1 T vanilla extract
1 cups pecans
1 package Heath toffee bits
1 tsp. Cinnamon

For Sweet Potato or Pumpkin Poundcake:

1 T vanilla extract
I large baked sweet potato or 1 can cooked pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp ginger
1 T dried Lemon peel
1 T dried Orange peel
(optionally add 1 cup raisins)

Ian and Nerida Gray enjoy poundcake in London, UK

My friends Ian and Nerida Gray, originally from Australia, but now residing in the United Kingdom, enjoy poundcake that I made for them when Ian visited last Fall for work. Both Ian and Nerida have backgrounds in basketball and bought me tickets to see the Australian National Women's team play at Duke University this Spring. It is such a joy for me to share poundcake with my friends. Many have been shipped around the world, but I am still waiting for those stories and photos to come in.

For the record, I believe this one was an orange spice poundcake.

Ken Kuchar's First Poundcake

Ken and Jody Kuchar visited me in November, 2004, and I presented them with their first "Roncake" at that time. I also shared my recipe with them and here is the evidence: Ken's first poundcake. I suspect this to be a toffee and nut version, but could be wrong. Either way, it seems that Ken is happy with the outcome. Thanks for sharing the love, Ken and Jody.