A new favorite dessert

When it comes to tea and desserts, it seems to me that two foods are always, always correct: a good cookie and a good piece of cake. (Not necessarily at the same time, but hey, why not!) And I think the quintessential goes-with-everything type of cake is a Pound Cake, but I must confess, I've never much cared for most Pound Cake I've tried. Too plain. Too dry. In the Baskin Robbins of life, Pound Cake is plain vanilla. Or so I thought.

Back in the fall, I wrote about discovering Kathryn Crisp Greeley's fine book "The Collected Tabletop," which I absolutely adore for its emphasis on "collected, not decorated" tabletops and decor. The book included quite a few recipes as well, and I must tell you about one that is a real winner. It's the recipe for Greeley's grandmother's Caramel Cake, which a co-worker who borrowed my book made for the office luncheon at Thanksgiving. Ohhhh, was it ever good! Then I made the Caramel Cake, sheetcake style, for my family's Thanksgiving, and again, it was a huge hit. In fact, my parents liked the Caramel Cake but also said that they liked the cake part so much, they both thought that the cake alone would make a fine Pound Cake around Valentine's Day after all the holiday sweets had worn off. I was a little nervous about making the cake in this manner, but I tried it last week and it was awesome! Even after several days, it just seemed to get even more moist and tasty. That's not the sort of Pound Cake I'm used to!

Here's the sample cake I made for me and the DH and behind it the gift cake I made for my parents. Greeley's recipe is online here, and the only adjustment I made is that I had to cook mine for about an hour when I made it in a tube pan. And see the cake carrier at back? It's a simple $5 thing I found at Walmart a few years back and love because it has clasps on the base which hold the cake securely in place. My mom liked my new cake carrier so much, she went and bought one just like it. And so did my sister. Now, we all three have the same cake carrier, so when, for instance, I took my parents their cake over the weekend, my mom just handed me her empty cake carrier like this one to take back home and now we're both good to go. We never worry about who has whose cake carrier because they're all just alike!