Buttermilk pound cake and a hello after a while

Hi all!

Wow. Over a month without a word. I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry I haven't said hi in a while but mostly I'm sorry I don't even have time to bake. But hey! the term is over in 2 weeks and I'm planning on doing some spring break baking! 

How have you been? I'd love to tell you a bunch of stories, but I really can't write for too long. I'll tell you that I went to my first conference ever up at the base of Mount Rainier. It was full of snow, white, beautiful, cold and fun. We listened to a lot of interesting talks, had a snowball fight, went on a little hike and made smores. Not bad huh? 

The rest of my time has been pretty much grading, going to class, studying and doing lab work. Sounds terrible but it's not all that horrible when you like what you do. I also like sweets, very much. So I made buttermilk poundcake, because I love buttermilk and because poundcake is perfect to power up your study. 

The recipe is from the New York Times, but I found it at Elissa's blog. I halved the recipe because I wasn't using a bundt cake pan, instead I used a shell shaped one and two ramekins for individual cakes. The cake is moist, crumbly, tangy and delicious. Make it, takes no time, it's good for you! (well, maybe not). 

Buttermilk Pound Cake

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350 F

Cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Alternate the addition of dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet mix, starting and ending with the dry mix. (I did 1/3 dry mix, 1/2 buttermilk and so on). 

Bake for an hour and then let the cake rest. This cake is even better the day after baked, I promise it's worth the wait!

This post is part of 'Sweets for a saturday #8'

Avocado poppy seed pound cake

After seeing this, do I need to convince you that you should totally run to the store, buy an avocado and make this pound cake? That you should do it, right now? yeah, I didn't think so.

It's soft, moist and crunchy all at the same time. The outside is fluffier than sponge cake, the inside is gooey. The avocado and the buttermilk give it depth of flavor. And it's not only pretty and tasty, it's good for you!

Why? Let's talk avocados.

These guys are not only tasty but also healthy. They decrease bad cholesterol and increase the good one. And ladies, they promote skin and hair health. What are you waiting for, make this pound cake!

Quite easy if you ask me... you mash 3/4 of an avocado with a tiny bit of butter, add even less sugar, some flour and some lovely buttermilk. Because I love poppy seeds,  I added a couple tablespoons of them. The original recipe comes from Joy and she doesn't add them, so you can omit them if you want. Just make this! 

Yes, I'm aware you need the recipe...

Printable recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3/4 of an avocado (aproximately)

Note: I halved Joy's recipe and made some modifications, more buttermilk and half the sugar. It worked perfectly!

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffly and then mix in the avocado. The mixture will be creamy.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add alternatively, the dry mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry. Finally stir in the poppy seeds and combine with a spatula. Pour the batter in a loaf pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

These pound cake freezes and thaws perfectly and makes a great breakfast treat. Just freeze it cut and pop in the microwave for about 2 min before eating. Enjoy!