Have the Cake Challenge: No Fail Pound Cake

What does this box of cake mix have to do with pound cake???? Well, let me tell you :-)  I recently was asked to make a wedding cake for a friend.  She didn't want anything too heavy and really was interested in me using cake mix.  Thankfully she just wanted a butter cream frosting and not fondant as I have found cake mixes do not hold up to well under fondant!  But I digress... I found a recipe using cake mix and adding just a few more ingredients to extend the mix size and give it a slightly firmer texture.  It came out phenomenal!  So when this month's Have the Cake Challenge was pound cake and I came across this recipe for No Fail Pound cake, I just had to give it a try!

This was a big hit!  I mean, this was a massive huge hit for my family. I did make a few minor adjustments (no surprise there!) but I will be sure to give the exact recipe with my adaptations in italic. It is not as dry as many pound cakes are and less heavy.  

No Fail Pound Cake

by  Patsy with adjustments by me (in italic)

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract     I used 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean paste instead of the extracts
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract     omitted
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix      I used Betty Crocker  Super  Moist Butter Recipe, Yellow
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and lemon extract (or in my case the vanilla bean). Beat in water and sour cream. Beat in the cake mix and flour. Pour batter into prepared pan

Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 80 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean( mine took just under an hour). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely