A new dessert! This is the first pound cake I have ever made and the first strawberry shortcake dessert that I’ve made in years. Oh! And the first time I have ever whipped up cream for the topping. All attempts were mostly successful…no major mistakes – the cake didn’t cook all the way, but it wasn’t ruined. The directions called for a new (to me) baking technique of starting the cake in a cold oven – weird! In my defense I did check the cake with a toothpick and it seemed finished.  I would make this recipe again, but leave it in at least 15 minutes longer than I did. We just cut off the very small sliver of not-so-fully-cooked-cake, spooned on the strawberries then topped it all with freshly whipped cream. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake – adapted from Epicurious

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups sifted all purpose flour

Directions –

Butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Using electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and salt; beat 10 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour at low speed until batter is smooth (do not overbeat). Transfer batter to pan.

Place pan in cold oven. Set temperature at 200°F; bake 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 250°F; bake 20 minutes. Increase to 275°F; bake 10 minutes. Increase to 300°F; bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour longer. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Wrap; store at room temperature.)