Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is a slightly tweaked version of Smitten Kitchen's Cream Cheese Pound Cake, otherwise known as the very best pound cake I've ever had and the only one I'm going to make for the rest of my life. It's easy to prepare, and boasts that crackly top and moist crumb. It's perfect. Serve with berries and cream, ice cream and chocolate sauce or layer in a trifle.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 package (8 ounces) Philadelphia brand cream cheese, at room temperature

3 1/4 cups sugar

6 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter a 10-inch tube pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Alternately, you can use a 12-cup bundt pan, and simply butter and flour it.
2. Place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, at least five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla, almond, then the flour and salt all at once. Beat just until incorporated.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 1/4 hours.
4. Place the pan on a cake rack and cool for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature.