Southern Vanilla Butternut Pound Cake

A few months ago, I was in the grocery store with my husband, and I was looking for vanilla flavoring. (As always, checking prices and trying to get the best deal.) :) I don't know if there was a gust of wind or what happened, but suddenly I was overwhelmed with the aroma of the almond, orange, and lemon extracts. Immediately, it was if I was transported back to my childhood, in my mother's kitchen as she baked a pound cake to take to someone. I LOVED that pound cake, but I never realized how much I have missed it since moving away from home--until I was caught off guard with the scent of extracts in the spice aisle of the grocery store. It was all I could do to hold back tears. That night, I called my mom and cried as I told her how much I missed her (2,000 miles away on the east coast) and loved her. When I told her what had sparked this emotional flood, she promised to make me a pound cake when I go home to visit at Christmas this year. Still, I was shocked with how powerful an impact a simple scent in the grocery store (of all places!) had on me.

The following recipe is originally from my grandmother (Mamaw Lucille). It is the same recipe that my mother used, though she would often experiment with different flavorings. Remembering how my mother used to make pound cakes to show her love for others, last night, I made a pound cake so my husband could take some on his business trip this week. He loved it and had to eat two pieces before bed. (He doesn't normally eat desserts at night.) This morning, he took a mini loaf of the cake to share with his co-worker on their trip. I hope when eating this cake he feels as loved as I did eating my mother's cake as a child. It's not necessarily healthy for the body--but it is absolutely healthy for the soul.

3 cups sugar

1/2 cup shortening

2 sticks Blue Bonnet margarine (softened)

1 dash salt

1 tbs vanilla-butternut flavoring

1 cup milk

3 cup plain, all purpose flour

5 eggs

Mix the first ingredients well with a mixer (sugar-flavoring). Then add milk and flour. Beat well. Add 5 eggs one at a time. Mix well. Pour 2/3 batter into a tube pan that has been greased and floured. Pour the rest into a loaf pan that has also been greased and floured. Bake 1 hour and 20 minutes at 325 degrees F. Here's the trick: do not preheat the oven. Put the cakes into a cold oven and then turn it on. Do not open the oven until the cake is done. Check the smaller cake after about 1 hour. If it is golden brown and passes the toothpick test, it is done. I've tried pouring all of the batter into the tube pan, but it just doesn't work. It doesn't get done all the way through. There are patches of "goo" even when it passes the toothpick test.