Condensed Milk (Vanilla) Pound Cake

Cake on the Brain had this tasty little pound cake on TasteSpotting, and I being the condensed milk and vanilla lover that I am decided to try this out tonight once I realized that hazelnut extract does not exist within this city. (To look forward to: Ferrero Rocher cupcakes) I had just bought some strawberries from the grocery store and thought they would pair well together. Genius! Strawberries and pound cake; no one's thought of that before!

It is simple and tasty. The edges are a bit dry, but the middle is perfect. Again, I blame uneven cooking on my oven. I have NEVER in many years of baking experienced the issues I have with the oven in this apartment. I pine for the day that I own good appliances.

Condensed Milk Pound Cake:
(originally from Pichet Ong)

1 cup butter at room temperature
1 1/3 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla (I used 3 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325F. Generously grease/butter a loaf pan.
Sift together the flour and baking powder. I usually don't actually use a sift; I'll whisk them together really well with a whisk (dur) or fork.
Beat sugar, butter, and salt until fluffy - about 2 minutes. Add condensed milk; mix well.
Add dry ingredients, and mix thoroughly. Add eggs. Beat well. Mix in vanilla extract.
Pour into prepared pan. Bake until dark golden brown and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. This can take anywhere from an hour to an hour and twenty minutes. I just watched mine very carefully.

Alternative method: If you're lucky enough to have vanilla beans, the first step should be processing the vanilla bean and the sugar. Some people say to then sift the sugar to get the vanilla bean bits out, and some recommend leaving them in. Do what makes you happy. Then proceed as usual from there; beating in the butter, yadda yadda.

As mentioned previously, I served it with strawberries. I picked up a trick the last time I made hubby a cheesecake; I slice the strawberries and sprinkle a bit of plain, white sugar on top. Then I let them sit (in a sealed container) in the fridge until they make their own thick strawberry juicey goodness. I find it is MUCH better than the pre-made goop you get in the tub at the grocery.

Hubby REALLY liked this.