Make this once and you’ll never buy store-bought pound cake again.

I really thought I’d already shared this recipe — it’s one of my favorite things to eat — but I can’t find it in the blog, so here it is.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
• 1-2/3 cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1-3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
2. Preheat oven to 325°F.
3. Butter and lightly flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
4. In a large mixer, cream the butter.
5. Slowly add the sugar and beat until light.
6. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well.
7. On a slower mixer setting, stir in the flour, salt, and vanilla and combine well.
8. Spoon batter into the prepared pan.
9. Bake for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Do not overbake!
10. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack.

Here are a few additional notes:

• As you’re mixing this, be sure to scrape the sides of the mixer bowl and blades frequently with a spatula. The mixture must be smooth and consistent throughout.
• Do not substitute margarine or any other butter substitute product. I think it might cause your oven to explode. If dietary constraints prevent you from having real butter, you shouldn’t be eating pound cake.
• The original recipe called for 2 cups cake flour. I have been making this recipe for more than 20 years and have always substituted 1-3/4 cups of regular flour. It has always turned out fine. I did try it once with cake flour (just to see if I was missing something) and, in my opinion, it wasn’t any better. Certainly not a good reason to keep cake flour around the kitchen if you don’t otherwise need it.
• The best versions of this cake were made with eggs fresh from my own chickens. The extra large, rich yolks really made a difference.

Now you might think: Ho-hum, pound cake. How dull. Stop thinking that right now. Serve 1/2-inch slices of this cake at room temperature, topped with fresh berries (strawberries work best, cut into small pieces) and fresh whipped cream made with only a tiny bit of added sugar. People will love it. (Do not put Cool Whip or any other “whipped topping” on this; I think it might cause your hair to fall out.)

If you take this cake and cut it into 12 servings, here’s the nutritional information for each serving. It’s extremely rich, though, so you shouldn’t need more than one slice.

If you make this, let me know what you think.