A larger version of this pound cake has been a constant in my life – it’s been my birthday cake many times. Our family holidays wouldn’t be complete without it. Mama makes one nearly every time I go to visit.
What about when you don’t want a full-size bundt pan pound cake in your life? That’s when it’s time for a small bake.
The original recipe halves exactly except for the eggs. It’s astonishingly like the original, but Shh! Don’t tell Mama, but used low-fat milk instead of whole milk.
This issue also shares
- The Best Life Living Tip: When Less is Better than None for Healthy Living.🍓
- The Self-Care Technique: Easy Food Waste Prevention.🗑️
- Ideas and Inspiration: Jacques, Julia, and so many more….
Read on for more, including this small baked version of Mama’s (and Meme’s) Pound Cake and why I’ve still included Crisco in the recipe.
Best Life Living Tip
If you want to see the original recipe, check out this Mother’s Day post I wrote several years ago, “Mama, Faith, and Her Classic Pound Cake.”
As a result of my health journey, I’ve made adjustments to how many sweets and indulgent things I keep around the house. I recently created a Small Bake Strawberry Cake for my Good and Good for You™ column in the AJC.
Small bakes are recipes scaled down to create a smaller version of baked goods. It saves money in two ways: It uses fewer ingredients, and there’s less chance of leftovers being tossed. Mostly, I love this kind of baking because it allows for a little dessert indulgence, but not too much.
Successful weight loss and maintenance require long-term changes to your eating habits and physical activity. It’s necessary to create an approach you can embrace for life. You’re not likely to keep off the weight you lose if you stop the restrictive diet and go back to old habits. My best life living tip is that less is better than none for healthy living, and I am not alone.
Boston University suggests, “Focus on making small changes to your eating habits rather than completely remodeling your diet.”
The Mayo Clinic says, “Diets that leave you feeling deprived or hungry can cause you to give up. And many weight-loss diets don’t focus on lasting lifestyle changes. So even if you do lose weight, the pounds can quickly come back once you stop dieting.”
So, Eat the Damn Cake! 😉
Self-Care Technique
Hydration is important – even mild dehydration can affect memory, mood, concentration, and reaction time. I drink flavored water such as this strawberry one throughout the day to keep me on track. As I made the topping for the pound cake, I simply popped the hulls and stems in a Mason jar — instant strawberry water!
This issue’s Good and Good for You™ self-care strategy is about food waste. Preventing food waste can boost your mental well-being by creating a sense of accomplishment and reducing guilt associated with wastefulness.
Grocery prices are through the roof. While many companies are making tremendous profit off the economic crisis at the expense of consumers (looking at you, Cal-Maine ) the reality is that we, as regular Americans, have to do what we can to mitigate food waste in our kitchens, regardless of the reason.
Here are some ideas from the EPA on how you can reduce food waste. Preventing food waste is part of mindful living, encouraging you to make intentional choices that align with self-care and sustainability.
You can do it!
Ideas and Inspiration
I’ve been watching cooking shows on PBS for as long as I can remember. My first job in a professional kitchen was on the set of Nathalie Dupree’s PBS cooking show.
PBS Food has changed my life. My sheroes and heroes include Julia, Jacques, Martin, Lydia, and so many more. As a culinary professional, I still seek out information from PBS programming from America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s County, Milk Street, and Martha Bakes. (Heck, we didn’t get the funding, but I was approved by WGBH for my own cooking series on PBS!)
In an executive order, President Trump directed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to stop funding NPR and PBS. These proposed cuts to PBS funding are not going to make America great, or greater, not by a long shot.Federal funding ensures that your local public radio and TV stations can continue to give you access to essential educational, local, and cultural programming; trustworthy, in-depth news; and emergency and community-based services.
@PBSFood helped teach me how to cook. PBS Food was long before Food Network, long before Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Read more here for the PBS response to the intended cuts and make certain to visit ProtectMyPublicMedia.org to take a stand and stop the defunding of PBS and NPR.
Good and Good for You™Living Spotlight
With pound cake on the brain, I need to share this Eat the Damn Cake Candle from my Good and Good for You™ Living Shop. Life is to damn short not to eat cake.
Here’s the deal. Eat the damn cake — just make sure it’s really good cake. And, give yourself a decent slze slice, one that will make you happy, not pissed off. Who wants a skinny piece of cake? Nobody. But then, know that you can’t just keep eating cake. Make it a one-and-done. It’s all about choices.
Make it Count
Happy Mother’s Day to my sweet Mama and those with children and grandchildren. (Read here for my Mother’s Day love letter to Mama.)
Why use Shortening in a Cake?
So, about that shortening. I knooooow many are going to balk at shortening in a “healthier cake.”
- First, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
- Using shortening in a cake recipe will result in a cake with a slightly firmer and denser crumb.
- It makes a more tender cake. Shortening coats the flour and prevents the absorption of moisture, inhibiting gluten formation. (For more about gluten, check out my biscuit e-book.)
- Shortening helps maintain the softness of baked goods once they cool down.
Thanks so much for reading. Please follow me on IG @virginiawillis for more best life tips, self-care techniques, ideas and inspiration, and healthy recipes.
As long as you’re doing what’s Good and Good for You™ more often than not, you’re on the right track. 🙌🏻 You can do it!
Bon Appétit Y’all!
Virginia Willis
SMALL BATCH POUND CAKE
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup Crisco vegetable shortening room temperature
- 1 stick unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar or vanilla sugar more for the strawberries
- 1/2 cup low fat milk room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 vanilla bean split and scraped or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 quart strawberries hulled and quartered
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup cup non fat yogurt
- mint for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 300 °. Thoroughly spray an 8-inch cake pan with baking spray. Set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the Crisco, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy.
- In a large liquid measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to combine.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating between the dry and wet ingredients in 3 parts, starting and ending with dry. Fill the prepared pan with batter.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 325° and bake until the cake is warm golden brown and pulls away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 60 minutes, depending on the pan.
- Remove to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto a rack to cool completely.
- Place the strawberries in a bowl. (Save the hulls for strawberry water!) Add sugar to taste and let macerate at room temperature to become juicy.
- Meanwhile, in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the yogurt and whisk until combined.
- Once the cake is cooled, spoon the cream mixture on top, leaving a rim around the edge. Place macerated strawberries on top.
Nutrition
