Condensed Milk Vanilla Pound Cake

    As much as I love making layered cakes and complex pastries, sometimes I just need something simple. I spent most of last week itching to bake something - when I got home on Thursday afternoon, I decided that it had gone on for too long. When my mom had put dinner in the oven, I jumped into the kitchen and got to work.

       I had had my eye on this recipe for quite a while, and with a can of condensed milk in the pantry, it was time to try it. I was curious to see how this would work out; the batter is made in a food processor, which is unusual, and has a full 3/4 of a cup of sweetened condensed milk.

    It resulted in a really interesting cake. The texture was different from what I've tried in the past - it is slightly more dense, and has a unique flavor from the mixture of condensed milk and vanilla bean. It's delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper - it is just as yummy as a great pound cake, but seems light enough in texture to justify having it for breakfast.
  Enjoy!

Condensed Milk Vanilla Poundcake

(slightly adapted from 17 and Baking)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more to grease the pan
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8.5 x 4.5″ loaf pan and set aside.
Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the sugar and chopped vanilla bean until the bean is finely ground. Sift to remove the large bits of vanilla, then return the sugar to the processor.
Add the butter and salt and process until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bottom occasionally. Add the condensed milk and pulse until well incorporated, about 15 times, scraping down the sides of the bowl once. Add the sifted dry ingredients and pulse until no traces of flour remain, about 10 times. Add the eggs and pulse just until combined, about 5 times. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the eggs.
Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until deep golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool completely in the loaf pan on a rack, then turn out onto a plate. Serve in thick slices.