Vanilla Bean Poundcake With Muscat Macerated Fruit Food

BUTTER-TOASTED VANILLA POUND CAKE WITH MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar, almond extract, salt and pepper and toss to coat. Leave to macerate for 15 to 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet or griddle over medium-low heat, swirling to coat the entire pan. Add the pound cake slices and toast until lightly browned on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pound cake from the pan, swirl in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter; and toast the pound cake on the reverse side until lightly browned, another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Place the toasted pound cake on plates and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream to the side of each slice. Top the slices with some of the macerated strawberries and garnish with toasted almonds. Serve immediately.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan
• In a large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
• In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and mix for 1 minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla; mix for 1 minute, until well blended. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until completely blended.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before turning the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 8 servings

VANILLA BEAN POUND CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor, grind vanilla bean and sugar until vanilla is as finely chopped as it can get, about one minute. Sift this mixture twice, making sure all larger pieces have been filtered out. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer, then gradually add the vanilla sugar, continuing to beat until well creamed and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add the flour and salt, beating constantly. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and continue beating until well blended.
• Grease and flour a 10-inch tube or bundt pan. Pour in the batter and ''spank'' the bottom of the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Bake until a straw inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 15 minutes, taking care not to overcook. Turn cake out onto a rack and let cool.

VANILLA BEAN CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
• Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• Cream butter and vanilla bean scrapings together in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer at medium-high speed for 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add sugar to mixture slowly. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until well blended.
• Mix buttermilk and vanilla extract together. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk into butter mixture, beating on low speed until combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beat for an additional 20 seconds. Pour batter evenly into the prepared pans.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cake is slightly brown on top, coming away from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.

MUSCAT-MACERATED FRUIT

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine all ingredients with 3/4 cup water. Bring mixture to a simmer, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar.
• Turn off heat, and let mixture cool. Remove vanilla bean and spices before serving.

VANILLA BEAN POUNDCAKE WITH MUSCAT-MACERATED FRUIT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, shortening and sugar until very fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk together eggs, vanilla extract and vanilla bean scrapings (reserve bean for fruit sauce). Gradually add egg mixture to butter mixture, beating well.
• Sift together flour and salt. Add half the flour mixture to batter, and beat to combine. Add remaining flour, gently folding it in with a spatula. Scrape batter into prepared pan, and smooth the top.
• Bake cake until a tester inserted into middle comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. If top of cake seems to be getting overly browned before center is set, cover with foil, and continue baking. Let cool on a rack before inverting.
• Serve slices of poundcake topped with macerated fruit.