Name: Nana Smith’s Pound Cake
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 145 min
Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Elise Smith is a baker, recipe developer, and food writer based in Columbia, Maryland. She’s passionate about crafting inspired food that fosters connection between people and encourages others to take a more sustainable approach in the kitchen.

Elise Smith

Nana Smith’s Pound Cake

Meet The Creator

Crêpes Cake

This cake chock-full of carrots, shredded coconut, dried fruit, and spices is one of my most requested. It is moist and delicious. To make it a bit more elegant, candy the carrot peels and use them to decorate the sides.

Ultimate Carrot Cake

Pear Cardamom Cake

Lemon Ricotta Cake

Tres Leches Cake

This cake is one of my favorite treats to bake in the spring, when fresh lemons pop up in farmers markets and backyards all across Southern California. I sweeten it with honey from the beehives that apiarist Billy Williams keeps all around the ranch, which makes the cake sweet and fragrant and gives it a hearty, dense texture. Lastly, I glaze it with a simple mix of sugar and lemon juice and decorate it with golden bee pollen and the blossoms from the sage plants in our kitchen garden, which put up gorgeous purple flowers every spring (see Cook’s Note).

Honey Lemon Cake

Persian Love Cake

Almond Butter Cake

Lemon Bundt Cake

Crumb Coffee Cake

This classic Southern-style bread is sweet and full of flavor. The batter has bananas, carrots, and crushed pineapple and there’s a crunchy layer of walnuts and brown sugar running through the middle of each piece. I make this entire cake in one big bowl: All you have to do is make a well in the dry ingredients, mix the wet ingredients in the middle, and then combine everything. It’s so simple I actually just use a fork to do all the mixing.

Ranch to Table Hummingbird Breakfast Cake

Hummingbird Breakfast Cake

Truffle Cake Pops

I fell in love with Victoria sponge cake on a trip to Dublin. The cake itself was so deliciously light but I had a difficult time replicating its texture when I got home. Once I employed "self-raising" flour, a common ingredient in the UK, which contains baking powder and salt in the mix, I had a total victory! The traditional filling is whipped cream and jam with a dusting of confectioners' sugar. I added some strawberries for flavor, texture, and decoration along with some edible flowers.

Zoe Francois' Victory (Victoria) Sponge Cake

Victory (Victoria) Sponge Cake

Joanna Gaines' Kahlua Chocolate Bundt Cake

Kahlua Chocolate Bundt Cake

My husband, Felix, absolutely loves sacher torte, and this chocolate cake with decadent ganache is inspired by his love for that dessert. The cake is adapted from a chocolate cake recipe passed down from my grandmother. The result reflects the same richness and deep chocolatey flavor characteristic of a sacher torte, but is a little less intimidating to bake. The cake layers are drizzled in a sauce made from orange liqueur that brings brightness and depth—I typically use Grand Marnier. This is a romantic dessert—make it for someone you love!

Katie Button''s Felix Chocolate Ganache Cake

Felix's Chocolate Ganache Cake

Elise Smith's White Cake with Traditional Buttercream

White Cake with Traditional Buttercream

This is fresh, light cake highlights the color and natural flavor of strawberries. The cake itself is bright white, a beautiful contrast to the red berries and pink frosting. I love making frosting using the fruit itself to capture the natural color of strawberries. There is no better way to celebrate peak strawberry season than to make this cake and enjoy it with those you love!

Elizabeth Poett's Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Frosting

Brown-Butter Banana Beehive Cake

Elise Smith's Chocolate Cake with Buttercream

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

Elise Smith's Rosemary-Orange Olive Oil Cake

Nana Smith’s Pound Cake

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