Camille's Collections: Spumoni Pound Cake

Monday, July 8, 2013

Spumoni Pound Cake

I didn't realize it had been so long since my last blog. I guess we'll call it a 2013 Hiatus. So many things have been happening in life, I feel like I don't know where to start.

We have continued on our Journey of the house. We still have a ton more to do, but it's coming along.

I am getting over a particularly nasty bout with poison ivy (from the yard, again). At least we think it's poison ivy. Maybe it's something different. In any case, I'm on prednisone again...

I haven't been baking a ton. Until this weekend. And I realized how much I really enjoy baking.

So let's talk Spumoni.

What is Spumoni? Technically, it's an Italian Dessert of molded ice cream, typically cherry, pistachio, and either chocolate or vanilla. It's delicious. (Note: National Spumoni Day in the US is August 21).

We have had a recipe in the family for as long as I can remember for Spumoni Pound Cake. Obviously it's not ice cream, but it takes the key flavors of cherry and pistachio and puts it into cake form. It's one of my favorites, and it seems to come out "different" every time I make it. Different - yet delicious.

Spumoni Pound Cake
The Recipe

2 boxes yellow cake mix
1 box instant vanilla pudding
8 eggs
16-oz sour cream
1 cup oil
1 small jar maraschino cherries, drained and chopped
1 tsp vanilla
red food coloring
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp almond extract
green food coloring

The Method

Mix together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, sour cream, and oil. Separate the batter equally into 3 bowls. In the first bowl, add the chopped cherries, red food coloring, and vanilla extract. In the second bowl, add the chopped walnuts, green food coloring, and almond extract. Leave the third bowl as is.