Berry-Cornmeal Pound Cake

I love pound cakes! I'm not sure if its because of the thick dense sweet bread or the fact that they are typically loaded with butter and sugar. In any event. They are delightful. They can be eaten as a dessert or simply as a breakfast "bread". In this case I ate it as both. I paired it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream for an after dinner treat, and then brought in the remaining cake to work the next day for breakfast. 

What might be shocking to some is that although I have this love for pound cake I've never made one from scratch before. I've always bought them or eaten them at bakeries and restaurants! Early in the summer I found a recipe for basic pound cake in the Everyday Food Magazine followed by four variations. I knew I needed to make at least one. Since berries were (and still are in most states) in season I figured I would tackle this pound cake first. Don't worry. This will not be my last pound cake I make. It was super simple and tasted just as good if not better than the versions I purchase in bakeries. 

Source: Martha Stewart
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 8


Ingredients: 
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature (+ additional butter for pan)
1-1/4 cups plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted (+ additional flour for pan)
1/2 cup fine-ground yellow cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp coarse salt
2 cups blueberries and raspberries


Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter and flour the loaf pan. 


2. Using your electric mixer, in a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until very light and fluffy, 7 minutes. Scrape down bowl and beat 1 minute more. Add vanilla, then gradually add eggs, beating well and scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add salt, then gradually add flour and cornmeal, beating well to combine and scraping down bowl as needed. Gently toss berries with remaining 1 tablespoon flour. Fold into batter. 


3. Transfer batter to pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 65 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 1 hour. Remove cake from pan and let cool completely on rack before slicing.