Happy Mommy’s Day ~ Meme’s Sour Cream Pound Cake

Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws.
Barbara Kingsolver

In honor of Mother’s Day, I thought that I would make a cake for my Mommy that holds a special place in her heart, a Sour Cream Pound Cake.  As much as I like making pretty fancy layer cakes, there really is nothing like a good pound cake. My Mommy loved my MeMe’s Sour Cream Pound Cake.  She said that her mama made an amazing cake and with the guidance from my mom I have been trying to perfect her recipe for quite some time.  I think that this one might be close, it turned out so good!

My mom says that my Meme would cream the butter by hand until it was light and fluffy… now you are probably thinking that she creamed it with a hand mixer or a whisk, but she said that she used her hands to work the butter and sugar together until it was light and fluffy.  So yes, creamed by hand!  Those are my mommy’s hands in that picture below and she always said that her hands looked like her mamas, so imagine hands like these creaming the butter.   I used my stand mixer to try to accomplish this kind of creaming, but I am certain that it is missing something that can only be accomplished by the love that gave her the patience to cream butter and sugar by hand.  I took the picture of my mom on a mothers day cruise we took years ago, I have always loved this pictures…  One of those rings on her hand is actually my Meme’s!  Such history all in one picture, that’s why I have always loved photography… I love how a single picture can capture so much.

I realize that a pound cake is traditionally made in a tube pan, but I thought I would use this lovely new pan of mine… Yes, this is a different bundt pan and yes, I think I might be starting a bit of a bundt pan collection?  Mommy do you like it?

I really like baking family recipe, because for me it helps to keep memories alive. I didn’t grow up near a lot of my family. Because my dad was in the military, for a better portion of my life it was really just my mom and dad and several people  that became like ‘family’ to me.  So, because of the distance, I learned a lot about my family through stories shared, often in the kitchen or around a meal.  Conversations just seem to flow around food, and especially when you eat a certain food that triggers memories about loved ones.  I think that these moments are so special and often what helps pass the family history down to the younger generations.  In fact, just as I was preparing this post and making this cake my mom and I were on the phone and she shared how much she used to love my Meme’s baked apples. Someone on TV was making them and it reminded her of her mamas baked apples.  She talked about how my Meme made them and the different variations she would make to the recipe based on what they had.  I am definitely going to try to recreate them and several of the other recipes she mentioned!

Anyone that knows me know how much I looooooveee my Mommy! I mean LOVE, LOVE, LOOOVE!! She means the world to me.  She is mother, friend, confidant, a great woman of God, fierce prayer warrior… I know that her prayers have helped to pave a beautiful path for my life.  I quite simply would not be who I am or where I am if it were not for her love.  I love that quote by Kingslover about a mothers strength and truly my mothers strength defies natural laws! My prayer for her is that she continues to stay strong so that one day she can help pass on some of our rich family history to my future children.

Every day should be Mother’s Day, but especially on today, I want to wish my Mommy a Happy Mother’s Day!  I Love You Much!!  I wish you could be here to eat your cake it with me… I’ll definitely put a couple pieces in the mail for you, I think you will approve!

Meme’s Sour Cream Pound Cake
Serves many, but depends on how big a hunk you cut for yourself!

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (okay, so we use a combination of extracts, but that’s what made hers special, I think it is a family secret so I don’t think I can tell anyone… I don’t want to get in trouble, especially on Mothers Day!)

• Lightly butter and flour your pan, I use a spray and it always works well.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Sift flour, salt and baking soda together.
• In a separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs to creamed mixture one at a time beating after each addition
• Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture, alternately with sour cream.
• Add vanilla extract and mix just until incorporated.
• Pour batter in pan and bake in preheated oven for an hour and 20 minutes or until a cake tester is clean when removed.

ENJOY!