This is the ultimate rich, dense, buttery pound cake you can find! For best results, bake this a day ahead and wrap in plastic for the night. Or, the cooked cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Also try serving it with a blueberry or strawberry sauce on top. 

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups butter, softened
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions

Heat oven to 300°F.

Beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating for 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Then, add vanilla while mixing well.

Combine flour and salt and gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Fill a 2-cup, ovenproof measuring cup with water and place in oven next to tube pan – this will help keep the cake moist. Bake at 300°F for one hour and 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan, and cool completely on a wire rack. 

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ½ – tsp. vanilla
• 1 tbsp. milk, to consistency

Directions

Mix together until desired consistency is reached, but I recommend keeping it on the thin side. You can keep adding more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you get the desired consistency. Drizzle over your cooled cake and enjoy!

Who loves pumpkin pie? Everyone. Though we think of pumpkin pie as a holiday dish, pumpkin is available year round, and serving this pie at unexpected times of year always brings a smile.

INGREDIENTS

• 1, 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
• 2, 14 oz. cans canned pumpkin, mashed (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 1 cup half-and-half
• ¼ cup (1/2 stick) melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
• 1 piece pre-made pie dough
• Whipped cream, for topping 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place pre-made pie dough down into a 9-inch pie pan, pressing down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights, and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dry and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger (if using), and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm piecrust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

This recipe was made by good friend Sandee Van Alstine. She lives in El Paso and won a contest for this delightful dessert.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb. French bread, at least 2 days old
• 2/3 tsp. mace
• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 5 1/3 cup milk
• 4 T sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

Slice bread into ½ inch slices. Set aside ¼ lb. best-looking slices for pudding topping.

In large bowl mix together eggs, mace, cinnamon, 2 2/3 cups sugar, vanilla and milk. Measure out 2 1/3 cups of this liquid, set aside. Place ¾ lb. of bread slices into remaining liquid. Add ¾ cup raisins. Soak 15 minutes, tossing occasionally. Bread must be completely saturated. Loosely place soaked bread and raisins mixture in lightly greased 9 x 13 x 2 ½ pan. Do not pack down. Pour any liquid remaining in bowl over this mixture.

Place reserved bread in large mixing bowl with 2 cups of the 2 1/3 cups reserved liquid. Soak for 5 minutes. Carefully lay soggy bread on top of bread and raisin mixture in baking pan. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup raisins over top and push them ½ inch into the top of the bread with your fingers. Pour any remaining liquid over bread. Back in preheated 300° F oven about 1 to 1 ½ hours until lightly golden brown or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Remove from oven.

Brush with remaining 1/3 cup liquid and sprinkle with 4 T sugar. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on rack. Serve in a bowl with bourbon sauce on top. Pudding is better when warmed in microwave before adding topping.

Bourbon Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup Jim Beam bourbon
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 cups sour cream

DIRECTIONS

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the sugar and bourbon. Be very careful if cooking with a gas stove to avoid spilling the alcohol. Stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Fold mixture into sour cream. When sauce is well blended, store in fridge.

Sandee prefers this recipe served with the pudding warmed and the sauce cold. Her daughter Taelor prefers all of it chilled. Douglas, her husband, doesn’t care. He eats it no matter what. In the competition at the El Paso restaurant, Capetto’s, Sandee served it the way she likes it, and won a trip to Las Vegas. As a bonus, the dessert was served in the restaurant for the month of December 1990. Sadly, this El Paso institution closed in 2012 after 56 years in business.