Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes with Kahlua Fudge Sauce

This is part of our New Year's Eve dinner.  Why am I posting it before the actual NYE dinner? Because we made it early and served it to our friend Kirsten, our faithful cat sitter.  Without Kirsten we would not be able to visit our families over the holidays or to have taken a two week honeymoon.  So we made her a delicious dinner of the previous two postings (fruit and walnut-stuffed pork loin with new potatoes and roasted garlic vinaigrette) and this for dessert, to thank her.

The pound cake is one of those recipes that I've wanted to make as long as I could remember.  I'm not usually a huge pound cake person, it's just a bit dense for me.  But this one spoke to me for some reason so I figured this was as good a time as any to make it.  We've made the Kahlua fudge sauce before (and I think we may have even served it with a store-bought pound cake) and it is delicious.

The result? AWESOME.  This is the best pound cake I've ever had.  The buttermilk makes it so moist and chewy that you will want more.  The best part is that this makes a lot, but you can freeze it for up to a few months if wrapped well.

As of this post, 15 people gave the pound cakes an average rating of 4 out of 5.  I think it's a five.  Two reviewers gave the Kahlua fudge sauce a 5 out of 5. 

Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cakes

Recipe by Marcia Whyte Smart, Cooking Light, November 2008

Yield: 5 loaves, 6 servings per loaf (serving size: 1 slice)

Ingredients

• 13.5  ounces  all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 2  cups  sugar
• 3/4  cup  butter, softened
• 1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
• 3  large eggs
• 1 1/3  cups  low-fat buttermilk
• Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); stir with a whisk. Place sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Spoon batter into 5 (5 3/4 x 3 3/4–inch) loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 144 (32% from fat)

Fat: 5.1g (sat 3.1g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.2g)

Protein: 2.2g

Carbohydrate: 22.3g

Fiber: 0.3g

Cholesterol: 34mg

Iron: 0.7mg

Sodium: 95mg

Calcium: 25mg

 

Kahlua Fudge Sauce

Recipe by Cooking Light, July 1999

Yield: 1 3/4 cups (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

Ingredients

• 1  (14-ounce) can low-fat sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2  cup  boiling water
• 6  tablespoons  unsweetened cocoa
• 1  teaspoon  instant espresso or 2 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 3  tablespoons  Kahlúa (coffee-flavored liqueur)

Preparation

Place milk in a small saucepan; cook 5 minutes over low heat. Combine water, cocoa, and espresso in a small bowl, stirring until granules dissolve. Stir cocoa mixture into milk; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in liqueur; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Serve warm or chilled.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 52 (12% from fat)

Fat: 0.7g (sat 0.5g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.0g)

Protein: 1.4g

Carbohydrate: 9.7g

Fiber: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 2mg

Iron: 0.2mg

Sodium: 15mg

Calcium: 38mg