"When in Doubt...Bake Something Ina."

Just a crazy idea, but do you think I could develop, market, and distribute cute little plastic wristbands with the mantra "WID...BSI"? No? How about a t-shirt that says "Ina Garten is my Homegirl"? Or! An "I Go Barefoot for Contessa" bumper sticker? (That last one is meant to be ambiguous. The mystery is what makes it alluring.)

Point of the story...Ina is my goddess. Everything about is her is classy and soothing and she radiates fabulous-ness (fabulousity? faboliscious-ness? No?...I think I'm losing everyone here today.)  I made her Honey Vanilla Pound Cake last weekend from her Back to Basics cookbook (my favorite cookbook to date). And, my oh my, was it ever a delight. It's dense, but still soft. It quite literally melts in your mouth. And the combination of the honey and vanilla with the hint of lemon is divine.  Perfect with coffee for a light breakfast, or after a meal for that something sweet.

Honey Vanilla Pound Cake 

from The Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

1/2 lb. (two sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/4 cups white granulated sugar

4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

2 tbsp. honey

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 cups sifted cake flour

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of a loaf pan and line it with parchment paper. Then grease and flour the pan.

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 4 minutes, until light. Meanwhile, put the eggs, honey, vanilla, and lemon zest aside, but do not combine. With the mixer on medium-low speed, add the egg mixture, one egg at a time. Scrape down the bowl during this process as necessary and be sure to let each egg become incorporated before adding the next.

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. With the mixer on low, add the dry mixture slowly to the batter until just combined.

[I was rude enough to not take any pictures of the process above for you. But I did take this photo of the evidence.]

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes*. Cool for 15 minutes, turn onto a baking rack, and cool completely.
Two guarantees from personal experience: Your house will smell like heaven for a few hours. And you will get fat if you eat the whole thing by yourself.

(*Baker's note: I have made this pound cake twice. The first time, I baked mine for closer to 65 minutes because I was worried the center wasn't done. The result? Charred sides. Not ideal. This time, I trusted my instincts and took the cake out of the oven after around 53 minutes. The center still felt a little soft, but after cooling on the counter, it was just perfect.)

Now, isn't that just fabulous?