Nothing says Spring quite like a pound cake with fresh berries…. Oh, pure heaven! California is rich with abundant farmlands – you can pick up strawberries still warm from the day’s sun on almost any given street corner. Plus, I’m fortunate to have a neighbor with an enormous lemon tree that produces mammoth lemons most of the year. So, I have an endless supply of lemons and I naturally gravitate towards recipes with that happy, sunshiny flavor. Lemon + berries = cake…. Well, everything equals cake, right?

the freshest lemons

INGREDIENTS:(taken from About.com Southern Food)

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

PREPARATION:

Beat butter in a large bowl at medium speed of an electric hand-held mixer; gradually add oil, beating until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add flour to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix just until blended after each addition. Stir in lemon extract. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and place directly on wire rack.

NOTES: I realized after I poured the batter & there was A LOT extra that there is a special cake pan specifically for pound cakes…. It’s taller, slightly tapered with a hole in the middle. Ooops! I poured the extra batter into mini-loaf pans & gave them a to my son’s swim coaches – it’s always nice to share.

topped with homemade whipped cream!

This is a super-easy recipe with such a delicate taste. Alfredo had few servings AND had it for breakfast until we ran out…. which didn’t take long. I look forward to making this again soon.