Coffee Pound Cake

Many, MANY years ago, I was 21, newly married and a brand-new resident of north central Wisconsin with my husband, my daughter, who was a year old, and pregnant with my son.  We had just relocated from the Chicago suburbs.  This was about the time I started to really love cooking and baking.  It was a long slow process, but that's when and where it all began.  The little family-owned grocery store where I shopped, Reeve's Foodlane, often had big, free (very important when you're $truggling) recipe cards from Roundy's that were fascinating to me.  There was a ground beef, rice and green bean casserole that my little family particularly loved.  I might still have that somewhere!

After one shopping trip, I was making breakfast and noticed, inside the yellow styrofoam egg carton, a recipe for Golden Pound Cake.  My artistic daughter, later sort of carved-drew a smiley face in the corner of the recipe, which is still visible on the yellow styrofoam.  This has been my basic go-to for a recipe idea when I want a pound-cake-type dessert.  I've made both subtle and huge changes to it over the years, depending on the desired results.

Today I had Key Lime Pound Cake on my mind, so I put the old yellow styrofoam recipe 'card' on the counter.  Meanwhile, I had my Community Bible Study this morning, then ran some errands in town.  Once I got home, it was clean-the-kitchen-time before baking and cooking.  I put my French coffee press aside, but kept looking at it.  Then it occurred to me. . .not lime pound cake. . .Coffee Pound Cake!  So, my modification of the recipe for today changed 1c of milk to 1/2c VERY strong coffee and 1/2c half & half.  I had some really good vanilla, but the 2t of lemon juice was replaced by a little more coffee.  I also added the cinnamon and cardamom.  Instead of just white sugar, I used 1c light brown and the rest pure organic cane sugar.  I'm also trying a new technique. . .Instead of buttering and flouring the bundt pan, I buttered and sugared it!  I've been told that adds an interesting little crispy brownness to the edges.  Okay, enough talk, time to bake!!

2 sticks butter

1c light brown sugar

1-1/2c white sugar

4 eggs

2t pure vanilla

1/2c very strong coffee

1/2c half and half

3c unbleached-organic flour

1t baking powder

1/2t Himalayan pink salt

1T organic cinnamon

1/2t cardamom 

Preheat your oven to 300° and adjust the oven racks so the top one is in the middle of the oven.  In a large mixing bowl, beat the first 5 ingredients together.  In a medium size bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients to blend.  Alternating between the dry and the liquids, add these to the large bowl.  Beat until all is blended well.  The batter will be very thick.  Spoon into the buttered and sugared bundt pan.  This cake bakes long and slow.  The original recipe says 1-1/2 hours.  Check toward the end to see how it's doing.  Continue to bake until the cake is lightly browned on edges and the top is firm.  Check with a toothpick.  Place pan on cooling rack.  Let stand until pan can be touched and is barely warm.  Turn the cake out from the pan onto a cake plate.  Serve as is or drizzle with a cream cheese or coffee glaze. . .Lin