Jacques Pépin’s Favourite Pound Cake

Our first recipe post!

I found this recipe on the Food and Wine website and tried it out right before our adventures in France.  Yummy plain or with ice cream or fresh fruit or even with chocolate chips baked into it (or rose water which I am currently obsessed with)!

Ingredients

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 large eggs (!!!)
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups plain flour

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius. Butter a 10-by-5-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with a strip of parchment paper that extends 2 inches past the short ends of the pan (I didn’t do this and it came out fine).
2. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt at medium speed until fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 2 at a time, beating between additions. Beat in the milk. Sift the flour over the batter and whisk it in until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.
3. Bake the cake for 1 1/2 hours, until it is cracked down the center, golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then unmold the cake and let cool completely.

So simple. It stays moist for at least two days (not sure what happens after that since we ate it all by then)!