Honey Vanilla Pound Cake

It's officially strawberry season here in Michigan which means strawberry freezer jam is a must. The sweet berries from Michigan are perfect in this recipe for jam and trust me you'll never go back to store-bought jam after tasting this. With strawberries left over I decided to make Honey Vanilla Pound Cake with strawberries for Father's Day last weekend.

The original recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter (oh my) so I decided to try this pound cake with only one stick. The cake was still very buttery and with the honey, vanilla and lime zest it was the perfect pairing with Michigan strawberries.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake (adapted from Ina Garten)

Ingredients: 

1 stick unsalted butter at cooled room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 extra large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated lime zest

2 cups cake flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Strawberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease the bottom of loaf pan. Line the loaf pan bottom with parchment paper and grease and flour the pan. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer cream the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment for 3-4 minutes on medium speed until light. Meanwhile, add the eggs, honey, vanilla and lime zest to a glass measuring cup (do not combine). With the mixer on medium-speed add the egg mixture one egg at a time and scrap down the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated. 

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add this mixture slowly to the batter with the mixer on low speed just until combined. Finish mixing with a rubber spatula and pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the pound cake for 15 minutes and turn out onto a backing rack to cool. Serve with fresh strawberries.

xoxo

Sara