Blackberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

It's Friday again, and we are looking forward to a very relaxing and quiet weekend.  The weather here is once again turning to Spring beginning tomorrow, or so the weather people say.  Pat is feeling better and is looking for something other than soup to eat and his sweet tooth is back!  I know he's feeling better when he starts looking for sweets.

I have been wanting to try some of the other Pound Cake recipes I found last month's issue of Southern Living.  The Lemon Coconut Pound Cake I posted in a previous post was delicious and I'm hoping this one is even better.  The recipe in the magazine is for a "Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake", but I happen to have some beautiful Blackberries in the freezer from last season that need to be used, so I am making a home made Blackberry Glaze.  Just for us and just for you!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients

1 1/2  cups  butter, softened
3  cups  sugar
1  (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
6  large eggs
3  cups  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  almond extract
1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract
2/3  cup  blackberry glaze
1  (6-inch) wooden skewer

2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. Luxardo or Apple Juice
1/4 tsp. corn starch

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in almond and vanilla extracts. Pour one-third of batter into a greased and floured 10-inch (14-cup) tube pan (about 2 2/3 cups batter). Dollop 8 rounded teaspoonfuls strawberry glaze over batter, and swirl with wooden skewer. Repeat procedure once, and top with remaining third of batter.
Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

To make Blackberry Glaze:
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blackberries, sugar, and salt. When the berries break down to mostly juice, strain the seeds out and return the strained juice back to the pan. Let it reduce over medium heat until it becomes a thick glaze. Stir together the Luxardo or Apple Juice and cornstarch and then add them to the juice. Simmer for about 20 minutes more, until the juice coats the back of a spoon; set it aside to cool.

Lemon Coconut Pound Cake

I was invited to attend a baby shower today.  I've met the Mom-to-be on a couple of occasions as she is a  dear friend of one of my best friends (who will be known as "driving force" since she is the one who encouraged me to start this blog) .  Of course I said "I would love to".  "Driving Force" asked me to bake the above mentioned pound cake that she found in the latest issue of  Southern Living Magazine (I bake fairly well, some even say damn good!).  Why not?  I love experimenting with a new recipe on people for the first time.  Yeah I know, that's not the way you should do it, but I say why not.  At least you can get realistic feed back.  In case you haven't noticed, you can always tell how a recipe is going over by watching peoples faces.  No matter how hard people try, if it isn't good, you can tell by their expression.

The Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake Loaf looks absolutely yummy.  They also have some other really tasty looking treats including "Bacon Peanut Truffles" (Driving Force is making these for tomorrow and I will report back on how they came out) and "Cantaloupe-Bacon Relish" that I just can't wait to try.  There are a total of 7 pound cake recipes in this issue and I will be trying a couple of them.  Especially since berry season is approaching and I love fresh berries with pound cake.

So for my last post of the week I bring you--------------

Lemon-Coconut Pound Cake

Total: 2 hours, 35 minutes
Yield: Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  butter, softened
• 1 1/3  cups  granulated sugar
• 3  large eggs
• 1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/8  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  cup  sour cream
• 2  teaspoons  lemon zest
• 1  cup  sweetened flaked coconut, divided
• Lemon Glaze

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon zest and 1/2 cup coconut. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9- x 5-inch loaf pan.
3. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 5 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
4. Spoon Lemon Glaze over cake, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup coconut.

Coconut Curlicues
Add a sweet tangle of fresh coconut shavings to any cake that could use an elegant, tropical note. Pierce 2 coconut eyes with an ice pick and hammer; drain liquid, and reserve for another use. Place coconut in a 9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until shell begins to crack; cool 10 minutes. Break open the outer shell with a hammer, and split coconut into several large pieces. Separate coconut meat from the shell using a sturdy, blunt-ended knife, and rinse in cold water. Cut thin strips from the meat using a vegetable peeler. Use immediately, or layer between damp paper towels in an airtight container, and chill up to 2 days.

Note:  The coconut curls are easy to make!  Have a terrific weekend everyone and Happy Cooking and Eating!