My Maiden Voyage

Here goes, this is my maiden voyage into the blog world and to be honest I'm feeling like the TITANIC! However, I have eight fantastic women, Bloggin Betty's in their own right, cheering me on..

As I blog on I will talk more about my interests, adventures and passions that surround my life now that I am retired! As you can tell, I'm totally head over heels for my 4-legged babies! Being able to finally spend the time doing what you love is such a treat for me and at times still can't quite believe I have finally arrived... OLD age does have its perks...

ONE of my interests has been 'egged' on by the women mentioned above..FOOD! (Cooking and baking to be exact) Unfortunately I never took the time before to experiment with new recipes, flavors and ingredients. Would you believe I had never split a vanilla bean before now..always kept things easy and just used vanilla extract!

I won't overwhelm you all by telling you my other "firsts" all at once. Over the days and weeks to come I will let you in on my successes and failures in the 'foodie' world! With that said, I will share a scrumptious new recipe I made this past weekend...




Classic Lemon Pound Cake

Recipe from Cook’s Country Cookbook

Cake:
1 ¾ C flour
½ tsp bkg powder
½ tsp salt
¼ C sour cream
1 ½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 ½ Tbsp grated fresh lemon zest
1C & 2 Tbsp sugar
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
5 large eggs beaten @ room temp

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, Grease & flour a 9x5” loaf pan

Sift flour, bkg powder & salt (Set aside)
Stir sour cream & lemon juice in separate bowl (Set aside)
Using fingers toss lemon zest & sugar together in large bowl until clumps are gone
Add butter to sugar/zest mixture & beat at med-high speed until light & fluffy. (3-6 min)
Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the beaten eggs in three additions, mixing until smooth & scraping down the bowl after each addition. (The mixture will begin to look curdled) With the mixer on low, add 1/3 of flour mixture, followed by ½ of the sour cream mixture. Repeat with 1/3 flour mixture and remaining sour cream mixture. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until combined. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape the batter into prepared floured pan, smooth top and gently tap the pan on work surface to settle the batter. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs attached. (55 to 70 minutes, depending on oven)

Syrup:
¼ C granulated sugar
¼ C fresh lemon juice (3 lemons)
While cake bakes, stir sugar & lemon juice together in a saucepan over med-high heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto the rack. Brush the top and sides of the still warm cake with the syrup and cool completely, about 2 hours.

Glaze:
½ C confectioners sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Whisk together the sugar & juice in bowl until smooth. Spread the glaze over the cake, allowing some to drip down the sides. Let the glaze set for at least 15 minutes before serving.

NOTE: I sprinkled the top of mine with some lemon sugar for an added delicate crunch!