Pound Cake

It’s funny how having a little history can make a whole story better. It’s like putting the joke before the punch line, the once upon a time in front of a fairytale, or the cart in front of the horse. History is a grand old thing. It keeps us from repeating mistakes. It teaches us lessons and provides enrichment into culture and diversity.

And in my case, it makes a perfect pound cake.

To understand this story, ironically, you need a little history. Sometimes I think of myself as a baker - not by trade but by love. I love to stand at a stove or an oven and create things out of flavor and texture. However, I do have a fatal flaw that sneaks up on me and ruins even the best of my efforts.

Timing.

I am so impatient that I can’t even wait for eggs to cook long enough to scramble - mine are always dry and limp. So, when it comes to baking something beautiful and simple like a pound cake I have always gotten so wrapped up in the timing that I usually end up causing the darn things to go flat.

Years ago, I actually decided that I just wasn’t meant to be a pound cake baker and gave them up completely! However, I found myself intrigued at the idea of trying again (I think I have issues with ever really letting things go… I mean… is there anything wrong with actually being able to do everything). My grandmother offered me an old bundt pan that she was planning to throw out.

It’s old and a horrible shade of 1950’s style yellow on the outside with a blackened inside only achieved from years of labor and love. At first glance, it is as innocent a pan as any other, but closer inspection reveals the depth of creation born from it.

It is just the piece of history I needed to make a perfect pound cake. With a light coat of oil, I entrusted my grandmother’s old pan with an airy sour cream pound cake recipe and slid it into the oven with a prayer.

Turns out, family charm was just the piece of history I needed. It was a beautiful cake, and I’ve already made one more since this one with great success.

So that’s my lesson for today. History is history. It should be embraced and remembered for everything that it was meant to be.