Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

So Wade's mom has a birthday coming up. I asked Wade a week or so ago what he thought his mom's favorite dessert would be. I am a big believer in making someone their favorite dessert on their birthday. If that happens to be birthday cake, then great!! If not, stick candles in a pie/cookie/whatever-dessert-they-like!

....one year, Nicholas wanted a COFFEE CAKE for his birthday cake! The little kids at his party were like, "uhhhh.... what's up with THIS?? Where's the cake??" Christopher chose a Triple Chocolate Trifle three years in a row.... you get the point.....

Anyhow, Wade said his mom loves Pound Cake with berries. Hence, this cake. (Of course, Wade told me, "And don't make some fancy pound cake. Just make a plain old regular one.")

So if Wade asks, this is actually called Plain Old Regular Pound Cake.

What you need:

• One box "Butter Recipe Golden" cake mix- sometimes it's called "Butter Recipe Yellow"
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature (or, if you're not going to remember to set the cream cheese out ahead of time, like me, microwaved until soft, about 30 seconds)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract

I bake this cake in the above pictured Pampered Chef Stoneware bundt pan. (Ok, seriously, isn't "bundt" a funny word?? ...or is it NOT that funny?? I DO hang around with kids all day, sometimes my sense of humor gets skewed.....)

P.S.- Don't judge me for using cake mix. 

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease the snot out of the bundt (hee hee) pan and flour it lightly. If you've never floured a pan before, you put a small amount of flour into the pan and knock the pan around to distribute the flour. OR, you can use the Pam for baking spray, which already has flour in it..... Either way, make sure it's thoroughly greased. There is nothing worse than having a cake halfway out of the pan and realizing the other half is going to remain IN the pan....

In the bowl of a mixer, put all the ingredients. Blend with the mixer on low for 1 minute. Scrape the mixer well. Blend with the mixer on medium for 2 more minutes. Pour into the snot-greased-out-of-it bundt pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes (mine took 45), or until the cake springs back when pressed lightly with your finger. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes on a wire rack, then invert the pan onto a serving platter. 

This cake is a kajillion times better if you make is at least a day ahead. It gets all moist and dense and perfect. Of course, then you smell it, and can't eat it for a day. See?? It's double-duty. You can bake and work on your self-control skills all at the same time. Multi-tasking rocks. (Or also, you can slice the cake up and serve it in slices on a platter and act like that is how you meant to serve it.... fyi- if I ever bring a dessert to your house that's already sliced and NOT served in the pan, it's because I've eaten some and didn't want to look like a pig.) (Except just kidding, it's really because I'm thoughtful and don't want anyone to have to go to all the work of slicing up the dessert. Yeah. That's it.)

Happy baking! 

I got this recipe from www.cakemixdoctor.com