Cream Cheese Pound Cake
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 sticks butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1tsp salt
2 teaspoons vanilla or lemon extract
Do not preheat oven
1 cup fresh blueberries or fresh peaches *see note
Lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper; set aside.
Combine butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and beat on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla, then the flour and salt all at once. Beat just until blended. Fold in fruit. *see note
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and tap lightly to even out the top. Place in cold oven. Bake at 325 degrees until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.
Place the pan on a cooling rack, and cool for 20 minutes . Remove cake from pan, and let cool completely. Serve at room temperature.
*Fruit is not part of the original recipe, but adds a whole new dimension to this wonderful cake. You can add just fruit and let them speak for themselves, or with the flavorings. Use lemon with blueberries and the vanilla with peaches.