Sometimes there is no substitute for simple and easy. Recipes with a few ingredients that work well together and that are almost no-fail simply can’t be beat. My mom’s pound cake recipe is exactly that. It has a short list of ingredients – six to be exact – and with the help of a stand mixer it comes together in a matter of minutes. It does take a while to cook, about an hour, during which time it fills the house with all sorts of wonderful and homey aromas. And it’s a wonderful vehicle for whatever fruits are in season: strawberries, peaches, and blackberries to name a few. It’s also great toasted and topped with grilled pineapple and some fresh whipped cream. Or, cut it into pieces and dip it in chocolate for a fondue. Really – the options are endless. Pound cake is one of the best gifting and potluck foods because it travels well, holds up for several days on the counter, and is a classic favorite that so many people truly enjoy.

In our family cookbook my mom notes that she has used this pound cake recipe for years and even though she’s tried a variety of other recipes, she always comes back to this one as the best and I have to agree. I’ve tried pound cake recipes that incorporate sour cream, whipped egg whites, and all manner of other ingredients.

The bottom line is this cake is easy as pie to make, even if you don’t make desserts. All you need is a mixer (hand or stand) and a bundt pan. You could even make this in one of those fancy new shaped bundt pans from Nordicware for an interesting visual, but it’s not really necessary because the cake’s taste will outshine any trappings of shape or presentation as soon as folks dive in.

Recipe: Pound Cake

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
  
• Serves: 16
  
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
  
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
  

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
  
• 1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  
• 2 c. sugar
  
• 5 eggs, room temperature
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 2 c. flour
  
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt
  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a bundt or tube pan well with cooking spray.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the eggs one at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well to incorporate each egg before adding the next.
4. Add the vanilla to the bowl and mix well to combine.
5. Sift or whisk the flour and salt together. Add the flour/salt mixture to the bowl slowly, mixing well to combine. The batter will be thick.
6. Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan.
7. Bake the cake at 350 degrees for one hour or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Remove from the oven and set the pan on a cooling rack for 5 minutes.
9. Ease the cake out of the pan and onto the rack. Let cool completely before serving. The cake will stay fresh for 3-5 days if covered by a cake dome or wrapped in plastic wrap.

Tips, Tricks, and Tweaks

• This recipe has such few ingredients that it pays to use the best ones you can lay your hands on. I typically use King Arthur flour, organic European-style butter, cage-free local eggs, and high-quality vanilla extract. That said, it’s hard to screw up these flavors and my mom made this recipe with margarine for years before we all knew better, so don’t let a lack of high-end ingredients stop you from making this recipe.
  
• You can use loaf pans instead of a bundt pan for this recipe. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and rotate them in your oven once during cooking. These cakes will need less time in the oven, but exactly how long depends on the size of your loaf pans. I’d start checking them at 40 minutes or so. You could also use the baby bundt pans for this recipe but I’d still plan to serve two people with each mini-cake. Watch the cooking time carefully with these smaller pans – start checking at about 30 minutes.
  
• Instead of preparing the pan with cooking spray, you can butter and flour the pan instead. I like to use Baker’s Joy that combines a spray with flour.
  
• It’s really hard to over-mix this cake, particularly when you’re creaming the butter and salt. It’s a great starter recipe for kids who want to make their own cake with minimal adult interference, and if they want to frost it, you can glaze it with a little milk and powdered sugar mixed together.
  
• And while the basic recipe uses only vanilla for extra flavor beyond the sugar and butter, you could easily play around with the basic flavor profile without much concern for mucking up the recipe. I think almond extract and the zest of an orange would be lovely in the cake, while a little cinnamon and nutmeg along with some rum extract would give it a hint of fall flavor. I also think you could nix the vanilla extract and substitute vanilla sugar for the regular sugar for a richer vanilla taste.

Breakfast on the weekends can be a challenge because part of me wants to take the time to whip up a huge meal with eggs, breakfast meat galore, pancakes or biscuits, and any other morning dish I can come up with. After all, it’s not like a big breakfast is practical on a weekday unless it’s a vacation weekday. And many weekend mornings I do splurge on the whole spread. However, more weekend mornings that not, I want to be relaxed and even a bit lazy and not put much effort into breakfast at all. Sometimes that means cereal and toast – just like on a week day morning which just doesn’t seem right. Other times it means going out for breakfast. I love my Sunday brunch, but when I resort to fast food breakfast I always know there just has to be a better alternative. Fast food breakfasts are greasy, chock full of calories, and mass produced. Even though they get the job done when I’m eating them, more often than not I’m sorry I consumed them once I’m on the other side of the paper wrapper.

When I created this recipe my goal was to come up with a weekend breakfast that takes a little longer than a week day breakfast to prepare but not as long as it would take to hop in the car and drive through the window at my local McDonalds, about 20 minutes tops. I decided it would be fun to keep with the theme of drive thru breakfast and make a breakfast sandwich – the ubiquitous offering of all fast food restaurants. Beyond limiting my prep and cook time to 20 minutes total, I also wanted a breakfast sandwich that would be:

• Healthy. Most fast food breakfasts are anything but, however the McDonalds McMuffin isn’t a half-bad choice in the context of drive-thru breakfast and so I wanted to be sure my sandwich was in the same neighborhood nutrition wise, and better if possible.
• More substantial. Most breakfast sandwiches are flimsy, particularly given their caloric cost, so I wanted to be sure my creation was meatier on all levels.
• Better tasting. Many would argue that making a better tasting breakfast sandwich at home is like shooting fish in a barrel, but it was still important. If what I ended up with was only marginally better than what I can get at the drive thru, was the effort worth it?

The Plan

I needed two things to reach my goals:

• Better ingredients. I started with a whole grain, fiber-rich English muffin from Thomas, swapped Egg Beaters for the fried/poached/nuked egg you routinely find on a McMuffin, included fresh center-cut ham for the meat, and topped the whole thing off with a good quality cheddar cheese.
• Better cooking methods. I eliminated extra fat from the recipe by cooking the eggs and ham non-stick pans with cooking spray to grease the wheels a bit. I also toasted the English muffin under the broiler and skipped any additional fat on it (although a little Butter-Flavor PAM wouldn’t hurt).

And with that I was ready to put the sandwich together.

The Results

A quick look at the numbers shows how on of my breakfast sandwiches stack up against McDonald’s McMuffin (based on nutritional info from the McDonald’s site and the package details on my ingredients):

My version has a few more calories and fat grams, but it also offers 4x the fiber and 65% more substance. 139 grams of my sandwich has 200 calories, 8 fat grams, and 5 grams of fiber – substantially less than the McMuffin. Looking back at my list of criteria, the sandwich is healthier, more substantial, and absolutely better tasting than what I can get at the drive thru and it can be made soup-to-nuts in less than 20 minutes, so it’s faster than fast food too.

Recipe: Ham, Egg, and Cheese Sandwiches

Details

• Difficulty: Easy
• Serves: 4
• Prep Time: 5 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Weight Watchers™ Points: 7*

Ingredients

• 4 Thomas Light Multi Grain English Muffins (or other ~100 calorie, high fiber English Muffins), split in half
• 8 oz. ham, thick cut, divided into 4 2oz. portions (cut round portions to fit the English Muffin for a pretty presentation)
• 1 ½ c. Original Egg Beaters
• 3 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
• Cooking spray
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Lightly toast the English Muffins in a toaster or under the broiler; reserve warm
2. Fry the ham in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until warm through and lightly browned; reserve warm
3. Wipe the non-stick skillet with a paper towel and return to medium high heat. Coat with cooking spray. Season Egg Beaters with a pinch of salt and pepper. Scramble over medium-high heat until cooked to your liking. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
4. To assemble:
   1. Place the bottom of an English Muffin on a plate.
   2. Top with a piece of ham and ¼ of the scrambled eggs.
   3. Sprinkle with ¼ of the cheddar cheese.
   4. Top with the remaining ½ of the muffin.

*Points Details
In my recipe I use Egg Beaters to trade the calories in the eggs for the calories in the ham to help make the sandwich more substantial. I also use full-fat cheese because I really love good cheese and the extra calories are worth it to me. Even so, there are some ways to further reduce the calorie and fat counts per serving in this recipe if you’d so desire:

• Reduce the ham from to 6 oz. and save 23 calories or to 4 oz. to save 45 calories.
• Reduce the cheese to 2 oz. to save 28 calories.
• Substitute 3 oz of 2% Kraft Cheese for regular cheddar and save 31 calories.
• Reduce the egg beaters to 1 cup and save 15 calories.

This recipe is really just an approach to a breakfast sandwich that you can modify to your heart’s content. Try lean sausage instead of ham, or even some turkey bacon. Swap the cheddar for spicy jack cheese for a Southwestern flair or try an Italian version with provolone and some thin-sliced pancetta baked until crisp. Your stomach will enjoy the many permutations.