1-2-3 CAKE

Every Thanksgiving  my grandmother would make her famous 123 Cake. She didn't have a mixer she would beat this cake by hand and folded the dry ingredients in a little at a time before baking. She said it needed 300 strokes, my sister and I would count as she mixed and the best part was we got to lick the spoon.

The pound cake, most known as a rich cake, originally contained a pound of each of the main ingredients, including flour, sugar, and butter. That’s where the pound cake gets its name.


GRANDMA'S 123 POUND CAKE


Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour sifted (to day we use Swans Down Cake Flour)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon brandy- or 1 teaspoon brandy extract
1 teaspoon orange zest, grated (optional)
1 - 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate, thawed


Directions:

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour the Bundt pans. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat on medium speed 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with milk and flavorings, creaming by hand until smooth after each addition. Spread batter into prepared 10-inch Bundt pan. Bake until tester inserted into cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 25 minutes. Cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on rack.
Glaze with OLD-FASHIONED BOURBON GLAZE: Combine sugar, bourbon, zest and enough orange juice to make a thin glaze. Drizzle onto cake.