Pound Cake and Three Ways to Dress it up!

I recently found an article in Real Living magazine that uses kitchen staples to give pound cake a new twist by adding different ingredients to spice it up.I don't have a recipe that I use all the time for pound cake but I did find this one on a site called Sophistimom, and it looks like it will be a good one to try for these suggestions below.

Philly Pound Cake

2 sticks (225g) unsalted butter, softened, but not quite room temperature
1 8 ounce (225g) package of cream cheese, softened slightly
1 1/2 (285g) cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups (250g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (165 degrees celsius). Spray four mini loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray, and place on a cookie sheet.
2. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and cream cheese. Pour in sugar and mix until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well until each is incorporated.
3. While ingredients are mixing, whisk together four, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add flour mixture to the wet ingredients
4. Distribute batter evenly among the four pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Let cool and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Wrap any extras tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to one month.



Pound cake with oranges,honey and Rosemary.
Cut away the peel and the pith of the oranges and cut out the segments. In a medium bowl, gently combine the orange segments, 2Tbs Honey,and 1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary. Slice cake and top with orange mixture. Enjoy. Whip cream would be nice on the top.

Glazed pound cake with crystallized ginger
in a small bowl,whisk 1 cup of powder sugar 1 tablespoon milk to form a thick but pourable glaze(add more milk if necessary)Spread glaze over the cake letting it drip down the sides.Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of chopped candied ginger. Let the glaze set for 20 min. before serving.

Toasted pound cake with whip cream and almonds
Heat oven to 375* Spread 1/2 cup of sliced almonds on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, tossing occasionally, until golden. 5 to 7 min. Heat broiler.Slice the cake into 1 inch thick pieces and broil till golden brown,about 1 min. per side. In a medium bowl,beat 1 cup of heavy cream and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar until stiff peaks form.Top cake with whip cream and top with the toasted almonds.