7-Up Pound Cake (from Jeanne Robertson) - A New-to-Me Recipe

I love listening to Jeanne Robertson on YouTube.  She tells stories on herself that are downright hilarious!  Some of my favorites are "Don't Bungee Jump Naked," "Don't Mess with Broom People," "Sleeping in Tubes," and "Don't Send a Man to the Grocery Store," which is where I first heard about 7-Up Pound Cake.

This is kind of a crazy cake recipe.  There is NO leavening agent in it to make it rise - no baking powder, no baking soda.  I kept looking at it to see what was going on.  It turns out that it's the carbonation in the 7-Up that makes it rise!  I did a little research and found a claim that you MUST use 7-Up because it supposedly has more carbonation than most lemon-lime sodas.  I don't know whether that's true, but after making the cake, all I can tell you is it works!  The cake rose just fine, has the right density for a pound cake, is moist, and it tastes great!  And no complaints from the guys, so it's a success.

7-Up Pound Cake

1 c butter

1/2 c shortening

3 c granulated sugar

1/4 t salt

5 eggs

1 1/2 t lemon extract

1 1/2 t vanilla extract

3 c all-purpose flour

7 oz 7-Up (almost one small can)

Glaze (optional)

1 c confectioner's sugar

1 T 7-Up

2 T lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (you'll turn it down when the cake goes in).  Grease and flour (or spray heavily with Baker's Joy or similar baking spray) a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy (using a stand mixer will make this a LOT easier).  Add eggs, one at a time, and then the extracts.  Mix in the flour, alternating with the 7-Up.

Put the pan in the oven, turn the temperature down to 325 degrees (300 degrees in a convection oven), and bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 65-75 minutes.

Cool cake in the pan on a wire rack (this is important to keep the cake from sticking to the pan!) for 20 minutes (NO MORE), then invert it onto a serving plate.

If glaze is desired, mix the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl.  Let the cake cool completely before drizzling the glaze over it.