I'm making one of these - above.

It's positively sinful. Rather it smells positively heavenly, but its effects on the body may be more sinful than heavenly. But we needed a "dessert" type food baked here and this looked good.

Sinfully good, that is.

Here's where I got the recipe for this
BROWN BUTTER POUND CAKE.

I really wish they would stop calling these things "pound cakes." I mean, you can just picture the pounds piling up on your skeleton willy-nilly, can't you? Hips, tummy, upper arms, and chins... oh no!

I have come to the conclusion that I am never again going to be a thin person. I started out this life as a skinny-ma-links, as my mother used to call me, but once I was out in the world and on my own for a few years, that all changed.

Oh, I did put in an effort to keep weight off in the beginning of adulthood. First husband and I used to go regularly to the local high school track and run laps. I was up to about 3 miles at a go back then, and stayed fairly slim - at least compared to my present body. I felt like I was so fat back then.... in my 20s. Oh Boy! I'd love to be THAT FAT now! I think back then I was a size 10, but I think they've changed the sizes now-a-days so that a size 10 back in the '70s is now a size 2 or 4. I think the clothing manufacturers/designers did that to make women THINK they were smaller than they really were. It's a nice trick, and I think it has worked. I can remember Oprah, after she went on that diet and lost all that weight, said she was into a size 8 jeans - I found that very hard to believe back then.

As time went on, I increased. Then around 1984/85, I lost 40 pounds and was back to my fighting weight - just in time for my second wedding day! Since then, it's been a stuggle. I was up to running 7 miles a day then, and I did keep it up, albeit a bit less each year. Then I changed over to walking my 3 mile route and that was OK, but my body was hurting a lot more each year, and I believe all that pounding on the pavement has ruined my hips and knees forever now.

And that brings us to now. Baking pound cakes. Maybe they should rename the "pound cake" - call it the 16 ounce cake. I like that a lot better... yeah.

The Brown Butter Sixteen Ounce Cake is in the oven as I write, baking. It bakes at only 325 F for 1.25 hours, and all the while it is making my house smell heavenly.

All 16 ounces of it.

If you don't want to click over to the site, here's the recipe:

BROWN BUTTER POUND CAKE

INGREDIENTS:

2-1/4 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 325 F with rack in middle. Butter and lightly flour an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan.

Heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until milk solids on bottom are a dark chocolate brown. Transfer to a shallow bowl and chill in freezer until just congealed, about 15 minutes.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

Beat together brown butter and sugars with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just incorporated.

Transfer batter to pan, smoothing top, then rap pan on counter to settle batter.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 1 to 1-1/4 hours.

Cool in pan 30 minutes, then invert cake onto a rack and cool completely, right side up, 1 hour

I had meant to bake cookies today. I am making Paul a bread in the bread machine, but even that will be experimental today because the other day, whilst doing the food shopping, he accidentally got 3 bags of the Bob's Red Mill POTATO BREAD MIXES rather than the 10-GRAIN that he normally gets. So I figured I'd try spiffing up the potato bread with some oats, some golden flax seeds and some sunflower seeds - which, by-the-bye, is what I usually add to his 10 grain bread mixes - and see if the potato bread comes out OK. It isn't 10 grain but heck, it's worth a try. He'll like it and will eat it because that's just the kind of guy he is... thankfully.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Even though I'm not Catholic, or really ANY organized religion, I kind of like this new Pope Francis I. I wonder if they call him Frankie at the Vatican? Every time I see him on TV, I get a good feeling about him, his soul shines through in his face. I didn't get that feeling about other Popes, but this Pope, with his wish that he turn the church into a "poor church" and aim its works more at "the poor of the world" just does something good for me. Go Frankie!

Cheers,

Bex-the-Baker

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