My Secret Recipe Pound Cake

Here is my recipe, which was modified for ease and finished product perfection, from Paula Deen's pound cake recipe.

2 sticks (1 cup) butter
1/2 cup Canola oil
3 cups white granulated (pure cane) sugar
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk

Lemon Pound Cake:  Stir in the zest from one lemon with the Vanilla
Cranberry Pound Cake:  Stir in a bag of rinsed and sorted whole, raw, cranberries (but only after you have added 1/2 cup of batter to cover the bottom of the cake pans, so the berries don't stick.
Pumpkin Pound Cake:  Add 1 cup of canned Pumpkin, and the spice mix on the Libby's can.

Preheat oven to 350.  Arrange racks in the middle, you will need both.  Start by slightly heating up butter in the microwave still soft, but not melted.  Using a hand held mixer, beat butter and oil together.  Beat in sugar.  Beat in eggs one-at-a-time, and vanilla.  Gently stir, then beat in till just together, 2 cups of the flour mixed with the baking powder and salt.  Gently stir, the beat in all of the milk.  Gently stir, then beat in till completely incorporated, the 1 1/2 cups of remaining flour.

Divide batter amoung buttered and floured metal cake pans.  Each small loaf pan takes 1 1/2 cups of batter.  I never measured for the standard loaf, it was always what was left over after I filled 3 small loaf pans.  Or, each muffin cup will take 1/4 cup of batter.  The cake is very greasy so you will want the aluminum and paper muffin cups.

Standard loaf bakes for 1 hour and sometimes an additional 10 minutes
Small loaf bakes for 50 minutes
Muffins bake for 30 minutes

You must switch oven placement, top for bottom, at the 30 minute mark or the top will get too brown, and the bottom will get too crusty.