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MOTHER CABRINI’S POUND CAKE – so good it is miraculous

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“Love, and God will take care of the rest.” Mother Cabrini

Hi there,

I was at a girl’s only weekend recently and my friend, Charlotte, handed me a recipe for Mother Mary Cabrini’s pound cake. I went to Catholic School for 12 years and I am ashamed to tell you I hadn’t any recollection of Mother Cabrini.

Well, shame on me. Turns out this Catholic saint was a very independent woman. When she was told she was too frail to join the religious organization of her choice, she founded her own.

In 1889 she traveled to New York. It was a city filled with chaos and poverty. She and her companions started their ministry in Little Italy and went on to help people across the country.

Now I am going to turn this post over to Charlotte who will tell you a very funny story about the cake and give you the recipe.

This pound cake recipe was given to me by mother-in-law years ago. She received it from a friend who said the recipe came from a nun in Cape May. My mother-in-law’s cake was always delicious whenever she make it. Both she and I were always puzzled by the fact that the cake was placed into a cold oven.

After making the cake numerous times, I gave the recipe to my mother. My mom bragged that when she baked the Mother Cabrini cake, hers was always better than mine. When I asked if she was using a secret ingredient, she said no. However, what she WAS doing was blessing herself just before placing the cake in the oven. My mom was convinced that by making the sign of the cross, her cake was guaranteed to bake perfectly and taste better than mine.

So, if there is a secret to making this cake, blessing yourself must be it. By the way, I NEVER make the cake without the proper blessing!

Mother Mary Cabrini’s Pound Cake

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups of sugar
  • 1/2 lb of unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup of Crisco
  • 6 eggs at room temperature
  • 3 cups of sifted flour
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • 1 cup of whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN!!!!

  1. Cream sugar, butter and crisco together.
  2. Add eggs, one at a time.
  3. mix salt into flour and add to bowl alternating with milk.
  4. Add vanilla.
  5. Bake in a greased and floured tube or loaf pan for 1 and 1/2 hours at 325 degrees.
  6. MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS BEFORE PUTTING CAKE INTO THE OVEN!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed meeting Mother Cabrini and Charlotte. Both women are forces to be reckoned with.

Talk soon, ❤️💕 Bernadette

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25 responses to “MOTHER CABRINI’S POUND CAKE – so good it is miraculous”

  2. Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen – I'm a writer, cook, gardener, photographer, poet, quilter, and accomplished daydreamer. I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, sister. cousin, aunt, and friend, no particular order on any given day. I've been a writer all my life, newspaper reporter and columnist, radio news writer, and magazine contributor, and poet and short-story writer as the spirit moves. Now, I turn my attention to my cookbook, the blog, and a cooking column "Memorable Meals," which runs in our county newspaper. Besides my family, I love dogs, cats, good coffee, chocolate, and my never-dwindling pile of books I intend to read. Our family ran a small Vermont Inn for 18 years, with our focus on local, organic ingredients. I cook from scratch, and try not to use anything that has ingredients I cannot pronounce! After many years of daily serving up local delicacies, cooking classes, and catering, we are now only open for special events, and the odd cooking class. We also host musicians and artists, having helped produce a musical festival and other musical events for nearly 20 years. Many incredible artists have found a place at our table. Wonderful experiences, we will treasure always. My family and friends are my practice subjects. With a family that includes nut, peanut, tree fruit, and vegetable allergies, gluten intolerance, dairy intolerance, vegetarians, vegans, heart conscious, and a couple of picky eaters, there has to be a few quick tricks in the book to keep everyone fed and happy! Personally, I do not eat red meat or most full-fat dairy (usually) for health reasons, making the occasional exception at Thanksgiving and Christmas or our anniversary if the duck is locally raised. I do eat fish and seafood, so I try to come up with alternatives and substitutions when available. I serve local organic eggs and cheeses to my family who can tolerate dairy (My husband recently had a heart attack, and I need to watch my own cholesterol so I am careful, but have been known to let a little piece of really good cheese accidentally fall on my plate!). I believe strongly that eating in a way that is good for our planet is also good for our bodies, and I try to educated myself about our food sources! I cook by the seasons and draw on inspiration from the strong and talented women in my family who came before me, as well as the youth in the family who look at the world with fresh eyes. Food links us all, whether sharing a meal, cooking it together, or writing about it for others to enjoy. I love taking an old recipe and giving it a modern spin, especially if I can make it a littler healthier and use foods that are kinder to the Earth and to our bodies. I believe strongly in sustainable, delicious eating of whole foods, and the wonderful flavors we have at our fingertips! And finally, I love conversing with all the talented cooks and chefs out there who dot the globe! It's a wonderful, world full of culinary pen pals, and I cherish them all! XXXOOO Dorothy
    Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen says:

    Looks like a delicious cake, and I love the story attached!

    Reply
      • Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen – I'm a writer, cook, gardener, photographer, poet, quilter, and accomplished daydreamer. I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, sister. cousin, aunt, and friend, no particular order on any given day. I've been a writer all my life, newspaper reporter and columnist, radio news writer, and magazine contributor, and poet and short-story writer as the spirit moves. Now, I turn my attention to my cookbook, the blog, and a cooking column "Memorable Meals," which runs in our county newspaper. Besides my family, I love dogs, cats, good coffee, chocolate, and my never-dwindling pile of books I intend to read. Our family ran a small Vermont Inn for 18 years, with our focus on local, organic ingredients. I cook from scratch, and try not to use anything that has ingredients I cannot pronounce! After many years of daily serving up local delicacies, cooking classes, and catering, we are now only open for special events, and the odd cooking class. We also host musicians and artists, having helped produce a musical festival and other musical events for nearly 20 years. Many incredible artists have found a place at our table. Wonderful experiences, we will treasure always. My family and friends are my practice subjects. With a family that includes nut, peanut, tree fruit, and vegetable allergies, gluten intolerance, dairy intolerance, vegetarians, vegans, heart conscious, and a couple of picky eaters, there has to be a few quick tricks in the book to keep everyone fed and happy! Personally, I do not eat red meat or most full-fat dairy (usually) for health reasons, making the occasional exception at Thanksgiving and Christmas or our anniversary if the duck is locally raised. I do eat fish and seafood, so I try to come up with alternatives and substitutions when available. I serve local organic eggs and cheeses to my family who can tolerate dairy (My husband recently had a heart attack, and I need to watch my own cholesterol so I am careful, but have been known to let a little piece of really good cheese accidentally fall on my plate!). I believe strongly that eating in a way that is good for our planet is also good for our bodies, and I try to educated myself about our food sources! I cook by the seasons and draw on inspiration from the strong and talented women in my family who came before me, as well as the youth in the family who look at the world with fresh eyes. Food links us all, whether sharing a meal, cooking it together, or writing about it for others to enjoy. I love taking an old recipe and giving it a modern spin, especially if I can make it a littler healthier and use foods that are kinder to the Earth and to our bodies. I believe strongly in sustainable, delicious eating of whole foods, and the wonderful flavors we have at our fingertips! And finally, I love conversing with all the talented cooks and chefs out there who dot the globe! It's a wonderful, world full of culinary pen pals, and I cherish them all! XXXOOO Dorothy
        Dorothy’s New Vintage Kitchen says:

        Perfect!

  3. Jacqui Murray – Laguna Hills, CA. – Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular prehistoric fiction saga, Man vs. Nature which explores seminal events in man’s evolution one trilogy at a time. She is also the author of the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers and Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. Her non-fiction includes over a hundred books on integrating tech into education, reviews as an Amazon Vine Voice, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Savage Land.
    Jacqui Murray says:

    I used to love pound cake. I tried to bake it once–what could be easier than a pound of everything? Didn’t work as planned! This recipe sounds wonderful.

    Reply

    • Well, your abilities excel in other areas such as your writing. I am 3/4 of the way through the first book and haven’t enjoyed anything this much since Clan of the Cave Bear.

      Reply

    • I know, the crisco thing had me and has everyone else freaked out. I think it is because the recipe was developed during a time of poverty that it called for crisco. Have a delicious week.

      Reply
  6. Time Traveler of Life – Where my Motor Home is! – Biography Creating worlds, characters, and wielding power like a madwoman, making my characters happy, sad, angry, and some of them with no redeeming qualities. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I sometimes laugh out loud when I am writing a scene, and I have been known to cry when one of my favorites has to die. I am a left-handed Gemini, what do you expect? Reading bedtime stories to my two children until they fell asleep or until they just told me to go away, was fun. Making up wild stories for my grandchild, and creating Halloween costumes from Cowboys to a Dragon, was another favorite thing to do. I missed that so much when they were grown, that I started writing. My yearly newsletters frequently were drafted third-person by my Love Birds, Miranda our motorhome, and by Sir Fit the White Knight, our faithful Honda. Throughout the years, some of my creative talents centered around writing letters of complaint expressing my displeasure with services or products. One crucial, at least to my Son, was a note to our local school bus driver petitioning her to allow him back on the bus. He was kicked off for making an obscene gesture at his buddy. I reminded her that it was not directed at her, and that “obscenity can be in the eye of the beholder,” kids use that gesture as a greeting. He rode the bus until he graduated. I loved driving my English teacher crazy. Leaving a “continued next week” at the end of my five handwritten pages required each week. He was one of many people that suggested I “do something about my writing.” I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at the top of my class. After 30 years, in the trenches as a Real Estate Professional, I have found that truth is stranger than fiction. My books are filled with characters I met in that profession. Their names were changed to protect the guilty. Others were from people we met traveling around the country in Miranda, our Motorhome. I am married nearly 60 years to the love of my life, Shirl, and partner-produced two exceptionally talented children, and one grandchild who is our pride and joy.
    Time Traveler of Life says:

    I will try to make this, but you understand I am not catholic, so wish me luck. LOL Will post when I get time to try it so we all can have a good laugh. Thanks for the recipe

    Reply

  7. Well, I suppose you can bless it any way you are comfortable with. LOL! A friend on Facebook told me she always kisses her baked goods before putting them into the oven.

    Reply
    • Time Traveler of Life – Where my Motor Home is! – Biography Creating worlds, characters, and wielding power like a madwoman, making my characters happy, sad, angry, and some of them with no redeeming qualities. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I sometimes laugh out loud when I am writing a scene, and I have been known to cry when one of my favorites has to die. I am a left-handed Gemini, what do you expect? Reading bedtime stories to my two children until they fell asleep or until they just told me to go away, was fun. Making up wild stories for my grandchild, and creating Halloween costumes from Cowboys to a Dragon, was another favorite thing to do. I missed that so much when they were grown, that I started writing. My yearly newsletters frequently were drafted third-person by my Love Birds, Miranda our motorhome, and by Sir Fit the White Knight, our faithful Honda. Throughout the years, some of my creative talents centered around writing letters of complaint expressing my displeasure with services or products. One crucial, at least to my Son, was a note to our local school bus driver petitioning her to allow him back on the bus. He was kicked off for making an obscene gesture at his buddy. I reminded her that it was not directed at her, and that “obscenity can be in the eye of the beholder,” kids use that gesture as a greeting. He rode the bus until he graduated. I loved driving my English teacher crazy. Leaving a “continued next week” at the end of my five handwritten pages required each week. He was one of many people that suggested I “do something about my writing.” I graduated from the School of Hard Knocks at the top of my class. After 30 years, in the trenches as a Real Estate Professional, I have found that truth is stranger than fiction. My books are filled with characters I met in that profession. Their names were changed to protect the guilty. Others were from people we met traveling around the country in Miranda, our Motorhome. I am married nearly 60 years to the love of my life, Shirl, and partner-produced two exceptionally talented children, and one grandchild who is our pride and joy.
      Time Traveler of Life says:

      She is joshing you, she just takes a big bite of the raw dough!LOL

      Reply

    • My friend told me she kisses her baked goods before putting them in the oven. I think this all falls under “good Luck charms”. I know I need lots of that luck when I bake.

      Reply
  9. Darlene – British Columbia, Canada – Writer of children's stories, short stories and travel articles. https://twitter.com/#!/supermegawoman http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=201634059868404&id=631897250&ref=notif&notif_t=like#!/pages/Darlene-Foster-Writer/362236842733
    Darlene says:

    What a delightful story. Blessing the cake is not a bad idea whatever the religion. The recipe is similar to my mom’s. Crisco was a big thing back then. The picture is perfect!

    Reply

  10. I do love your stories that come with these fabulous heritage recipes! It’s just like my daughter always asks me when I’m tasting her bakes: can you taste the love I put in it? Now I will start having to pray over my cakes a well!

    A pound cake in a bundt tin looks so elegant!

    Reply
  11. D. Wallace Peach – 30 Miles beyond the edge of civilization, Oregon – I'm an adventurer in writing, peering under rocks in my garden for secret magic. I can't stop writing. My stories want to explode from my head. They demand my attention and surge from my fingertips faster than I can put them to paper. I love what I do.
    D. Wallace Peach says:

    That cake is just beautiful and I love the story behind it, Bernadette. And we should bless our food and those who make it,. What a lovely intention. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

    Reply

  12. Lovely story and I love that all of the ingredients are in my cupboard!

    Reply

  13. I love this recipe and will have to try it however I love reading its history and leaving about Mother Cabrini had some of New York’s little Italy that a have visited several time myself.

    Reply

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