Strawberry Pound Cake

For this month’s column in The Coweta Shopper, I made an old-fashioned pound cake with strawberries, a recipe clipped from an old newspaper (twice!) and tucked into one of my vintage cookbooks. The recipe appears to have been published in two different newspapers, but it was the exact same recipe, so the cook must have really wanted to try it. Or perhaps they tried it, liked it, and wanted to make sure they kept it!

I’m not sure I can recall icing a pound cake before, but I sure loved the strawberry icing on this one, and it’s definitely ideal as an afternoon tea treat!

 

 Strawberry Pound Cake

 

8 eggs, separated

2-3/4 cups sugar, divided use

1 pound butter

3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped fine

1 teaspoon red food coloring

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites until foamy, add 6 tablespoons of the sugar, then beat until soft peaks form. Store in refrigerator while mixing cake.

 

Cream butter, add remaining sugar, and mix well. Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and strawberries alternately, then add the food coloring. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Pour into greased and floured 10-inch tube pan and bake for 80-90 minutes or until done. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan, then remove cake and allow to cool completely on wire rack. When cooled, frost with icing.

 

 

Strawberry Icing

 

1 stick melted butter 

1 (16-ounce) box confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped fine

 

Combine all ingredients and mix with electric or rotary mixer, then frost top and sides of cake.