Cardamom Pound Cake

"You might have to make another one of these before you go."

That was my mom's verdict on this rich, warmly spiced pound cake. It's a simple recipe that I highly recommend to anyone who likes cardamom. I like it lightly toasted with black coffee, but it'd be great with fruit compote or ice cream as well.

I love how much my family and neighbors enjoy my baking. I made another Cardamom Crumb Cake and caught different people (myself included) picking at the streusel all day. I made granola, a flan, a breakfast bread pudding, two kinds of cookies, and an apple-raspberry crisp. Today i'm going to try and whip out a cheesecake before I start packing for my return to Pittsburgh.

On a side note, I much prefer David Leite's Baked French Toast to the Breakfast Bread Pudding in Fresh Every Day. The texture was pretty unfortunate.

Sour Cream Cardamom Pound Cake
adapted from Sara Foster's Fresh Every Day
makes 1 10-inch tube or bundt, or 2 9x5 inch loaf pans

3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for buttering the pan
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter a 10 inch tube pan or bundt pan (or 2 9 inch loaf pans) and dust lightly with flour. You can also line the pans with foil or parchment paper.

2. Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl.

3. In a separate large bowl, cream the butter, sugar, and cardamom together with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, and stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl from time to time.

4. Add a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix in half of the sour cream. Repeat, alternating between the flour mixture and sour cream and ending with the flour until all the ingredients are combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition and mix only until all the ingredients are incorporated and no flour is visible.

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan(s) with a rubber spatula and smooth to even out the top. Bake the cake on the center rack of the oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan onto a baking rack to cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature. This cake will keep, tightly wrapped in plastic, for several days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.