Pound cake

So, I have a lot of butter in the fridge with an uncertain shelf life (y'know, if I didn't get out all the buttermilk from it, it'll spoil quickly), so perhaps I ought to do something with it. This thought is my usual precursor to cooking something. ("I have a lot of something, perhaps I ought to do something with it" not "I have some amount of butter, perhaps I ought to do something with it." Just in case you were wondering.) So what am I going to make?

The answer I've decided for my current butter surfeit: POUND CAKE!!! That out-moded version with one pound each of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. I came across a pretty detailed version that, in addition to the four above-mentioned ingredients, also calls for lemon, figs and sliced almonds. Lacking a lemon and figs, I think I'll ignore the lemon and substitute dried cherries for the figs. What could possibly go wrong?

This is one pound of butter.

Creaming the butter and sugar.

Ready for the oven.

Success!

Pound Cake:
1 lb. unsalted butter
~1/2 t. salt
1 lb. flour
1 lb. sugar
1 lb. eggs, separated into whites and yolks (8 in my case, but egg size varies)
1/2 lb. dried tart cherries
1/2 lb. raw almonds, finely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
3. Use clean bowl and beaters, beat butter, salt, and sugar in mixer until creamed and pale yellow.
4. Add egg yolks, beat until well mixed.
5. Add flour. (Observe the consistency become similar to cookie dough. Eek!)
6. Add egg whites. (Whew. Consistency returns to something closer to cake batter.)
7. Stir in cherries and almonds. (Still thick, but onwards!)
8. Spoon into greased bundt pan (12 cup capacity), smooth top.
9. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes.

Conclusions: Looking back at the instructions, they do say to add the egg whites first, then flour. Next time, I'll obey. Taste-wise, it's good. It's not a really sweet cake. I was expecting sweeter since it is 20% sugar. And it is dense, quite like a fruit cake (the sort that's chock full of nuts and fruit and alcohol). I think it'd be a good breakfast, snack, or dessert, and will eat it as such. Thanks for tuning in.