Pound Cake

Recipe link below, so good it's addictive.

I had decided long ago to make pound cake, and Challah, for the market, because they required a lot of eggs, which was the first thing our farm ever produced.  In the Market rules, your baked goods must have an agricultural product, and you-a home processor permit (free, in KY).  Secondly, you must have an egg producer certificate or license, which we did, to use your own chickens' eggs in baked goods for sale, or sell to commercial establishments.  The license means you are following production and handling rules, i.e. washing and refrigeration.  I've known other bakers who couldn't use their chickens' eggs at all in their baked goods for this reason.  Oddly enough you can still sell up to 60 dozen a week, direct sales, without a license.

So, since we aren't marketing, and won't be again for awhile, if ever, here is the recipe I used, which I modified for ease and finished product perfection, Paula Deen's pound cake recipe. 

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 5 eggs
• 3 cups plus more for pan all purpose flour
• 3 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) plus more for pan butter
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I also had come up with a variety of seasonal favorites.  One of the most popular was Lemon.  Just add zest, would work for Lime, and Orange as well.