Almond-Raisin Pound Cake

"Calmness is the cradle of power." - Josiah Gilbert Holland

Have you been bitten by the travel bug yet? Maybe it's a mid-20s thing, but most of my friends are just now discovering the world and how awesome traveling can be. Actually, let me rephrase that. Most of my friends that have outgrown the crazy "I just want to party" phase are now traveling the globe and adding the phrase "wanderlust" to their Instagram bios. Some of them are road tripping throughout the USA, others are cruising around the Caribbean, some are hiking through South America, and others are hitting the main European cities in full splendor. I love seeing everyone's pictures, so I'm living vicariously through their Swarm check-ins and their Instagram posts. Like, I follow a girl I met a few years ago during Winter Music Conference. She's a nurse from Canada, but travels the whole world and has the best adventures. She's gone to every Asian country, bunked with Tibetan monks, had a safari in Africa, rode camels past the Great Pyramids, met with Indian shamans in South America, and even went to Burning Man recently. It's like her posts could easily be pictures seen throughout National Geographic magazines. I have another friend who a few months ago traveled through the whole of France and Belgium with her boyfriend for a month and everything she'd post looked as if they were a part of a Travel Channel special. Seeing all those pictures has given A and me serious travel-envy, to a point that we've decided that one of our goals for 2015 is to travel, whether it's to Washington DC or to Australia, some kind of traveling is going to happen next year, mark my words. We've already started looking into traveling websites and travel agencies. All we need to do is set a budget and set a travel destination. Any recommendations would be much appreciated! In the meantime, baking and cooking will tide me over until then. This post's featured cake is pretty good when accompanied with coffee or hot chocolate. The texture is a bit crumbly but still tasty. If I were to remake this, I'd add some amaretto into it or almond extract in order for it to pair well with the almonds that are in the batter.

Almond-Raisin Pound Cake
adapted from: CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch by Warren Brown

*makes: one 12-cup Bundt cake*

Ingredients:
13 oz unbleached all purpose flour
4 oz almond slices
3 1/2 oz California raisins
1 tbsp all natural unmodified potato starch
1/4 tsp pure baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
1/2 cup ultra-pasteurized half & half
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp ultra-pasteurized heavy whipping cream
2 tsp "Crush" pure vanilla bean extract
5 oz unsalted butter
12 oz extra fine granulated sugar
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
4 large eggs

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Set the rack in the middle of the oven.
2) Set out the ingredients and equipment.
- Sift the flour directly into a bowl on a scale for accurate measuring.
- Measure the other dry ingredients into a separate mixing bowl, add the flour, and whisk for 10 seconds to blend. Set aside.
- Measure the liquid ingredients into the bowl of a food processor. Process for 2 minutes, or until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Measure the butter and sugars into separate bowls and set aside.
- Crack the eggs into a bowl and set aside.
3) In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars on the lowest speed for 4 to 5 minutes.
4) With the mixer still on the lowest speed, add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.
5) Add the dry ingredient mixture alternately with the liquid mixture in 3 to 5 additions each, beginning and ending with the dry mixture. Move swiftly through this step to avoid overworking the batter. Don't wait for the dry or liquid mixtures to be fully incorporated before adding the next. This step should take a total of about 60 seconds.
6) Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl all the way down. Don't miss the clumps of ingredients hiding on the bottom of the bowl. Mix on medium speed for 15 to 20 seconds to develop the batter's structure.
7) Prepare the pan. Spray the pan well with a nonstick spray.
8) Fill the pan about three-quarters full by depositing the batter with the rubber spatula in small clumps around the prepared pan instead of by pouring it into one spot. Level the batter with the rubber spatula.
9) Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
10) Once the top of the cake doesn't jiggle in the center, test for doneness by inserting a bamboo skewer in the center of the cake. When the skewer shows just a touch of crumbs or comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove the pan from the oven and place on a heat-resistant surface or wire rack.
11) Once the cake has cooled for 5 to 10 minutes, remove the cake by inverting the pan onto a flat surface.
12) Store under a cake dome at room temperature, or wrapped in plastic in the fridge for up to 1 week. To store longer, label, date, and store the plastic-wrapped cake in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.