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!!!!
- Cream sugar, butter and crisco together.
- Add eggs, one at a time.
- mix salt into flour and add to bowl alternating with milk.
- Add vanilla.
- Bake in a greased and floured tube or loaf pan for 1 and 1/2 hours at 325 degrees.
- 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
25 responses to “MOTHER CABRINI’S POUND CAKE – so good it is miraculous”
The pound cake is always a favourite. But Crisco, really?? I will use butter instead.
angiesrecipes
http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com
Don’t kill the messenger🥴
Looks like a delicious cake, and I love the story attached!
Thanks so much Dorothy. Isn’t it hillarious how Charlotte’s mother had her secret ingredient?
Perfect!
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.
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.
Love poundcake, this one’s made with crisco? that must be the secret ingredient and of course to blessing 😀
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.
What a fun story! And the picture of the cake quite literally looks heavenly. 🙂
Thanks Terrie, that is exactly what I was aiming for.
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
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.
She is joshing you, she just takes a big bite of the raw dough!LOL
I’ve kissed my plants and talked to them to but never food! I’m not Catholic so I guess that’s a good excuse…
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.
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!
Thanks Darlene. I am not a baker, so I am going to start blessing but in my case maybe praying. Have a delicious week.
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!
Thank you so much Ju-Lyn. I do love sharing the stories and recipes. Do you have a story and a recipe you would like to share? If you do, contact me via email at newclassicrecipes@gmail.com.
Thanks so much!!!
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!
Lovely story and I love that all of the ingredients are in my cupboard!
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.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Yes, Mother Cabrini was a very interesting woman.