Mrs. Keener's Pound Cake

I am not that old, but have already reached my cake quota. Well, I'll make a list...I've reached my pie, candy, chocolate, ice cream and popcorn quotas as well. That doesn't mean I'm not having any more. It just means I probably shouldn't.

I have a bit of a love affair with cake. Who doesn't love a yummy, slightly-warm, buttery piece of cake (except for my eldest son Jon)? Somewhere along the way, I probably ruined it for him. I bake pretty wedding cakes for relatives and loved ones, but I quit doing it for strangers as it dawned on me that it was a very real possibility that I could ruin a bride's whole day if I messed up her cake. Hopefully, loved ones will give me a pinch more grace if I mess up theirs? But before I had that epiphany, on "cake days" I would become a shrieking diva, freaking out and making my whole family miserable (see above note concerning eldest son). It started with cake-decorating classes and my oldest nephew's wedding and then with realizing that decorating a cake is like an adult excuse for playing with playdough.

Besides all the art and playing, I stumbled upon three of the best four cake recipes in the world (because I already had the fourth one). This wonderful, delightful lady on the internet shares her recipes with everyone. She is retired, lives in Texas, and is honestly the Queen of All the Wedding Cake Makers. Her name is Miss Earlene and that's all I'm going to tell you about that....you'll have to google and dig to find her. Her cakes are moist, yummy and have special ingredients that make you have to sneak into the liquor store to get them. She is a precious Christian lady and when you think about it, what was Christ's first miracle?!

Which brings me to the best pound cake in the world. 

When I was a child, our dear friend, Mrs. Keener, lost her husband. Mrs. Keener is a true-blue country gal who is still kicking at 92, working on her farm. (When my husband met her after hearing years of stories, he introduced himself and she just about crushed his hand, which is no small feat since he's got hands like a lumberjack.) Back then, she had a massive garden. As in -- several acres worth. A few families began helping her with it since her husband had died. Mama and us kids would go to her farm very early in the morning, while it was still dark. We would pick whatever produce was ready -- corn, peas, green beans -- and then dump the contents under the trees by her house, where she had strategically placed plastic tablecloths on the ground. When it got close to lunchtime and things starting heating up, we would leave and go home. My Mama would make us clean up and lay down for awhile. That evening, we would go back over there for a potluck dinner, everyone bringing a dish. We would eat and then proceed to the backyard where she had lanterns hanging and we would process the day's produce....shucking corn, shelling peas, stringing beans, etc., while the Moms got everything ready to freeze and can. Mrs. Keener always had this giant pound cake on a stand on top of her refrigerator. It was so good, so moist, perfect every time. And as soon as one was eaten, she'd bake another. Such happy, uncommonly contented times we had and not really that long ago (I'm telling myself that). I ran into her grandson a few months back. He said that she is still working rings around him on that farm. 

So I've decided: that's why I'm fat. Cake = happy times and memories. Or -- it's possible I'm an addict. I have a disease and some Cake Genie forces me into the kitchen and stuffs my face with cake. Or maybe, all that cake never really ever leaves my body. It just floats around in there making cake babies and crowding out my kidneys.

With 33 years of marital bliss and a large family around me, I've had my share of company, potluck dinners, family reunions, church picnics, not to mention thousands and thousands of meals cooked for my super-human-sized offspring. When I make one of Mrs. Keener's pound cakes, it gets wolfed down within about 24 hours. Just like it did at her house. And my Mama's house. Some people think it's "Rose's Pound Cake" but then that would just be false pride. I must say that it's never the same way twice, for some reason, when I bake it. I think that's because I'm really an artist, not a baker, and I'm always tweaking things too much. That just means I don't like to follow directions. So today I am going to bless you with this time-honored recipe. You can thank me later:
Mrs. Keener's Pound Cake
310 degree oven (or thereabouts)
8 (or 9) large eggs
1 cup shortening
1 cup butter
2-2/3 cups sugar
3-1/2 cups plain flour
1 Tbs real vanilla
1/4 cup milk (or maybe a little more)
Separate and beat the egg whites with 6 Tbs of the sugar. Put aside in a separate bowl. Cream remaining sugar with the butter and shortening. Add egg yolks, flour, milk and vanilla. Fold egg whites carefully into batter. Pour into greased bundt or pound cake pan. Bake for about an hour (sometimes a little less). 

You want it almost underdone. Then it's great with strawberries and cream or coffee or for breakfast or lunch or dinner in spring or summer or the first of May. 

They have 12-step programs for people like me.