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A Pound of Memories
Posted on April 26, 2012 by Tara in Family History, Recipes.
My great Grandmother has always been an inspiration to me in my life. More so now as an adult now that I’m a wife and mother. I named my first child after her and knew that I always would. Julia. Has such an old feel to it and I have always loved the way it rolls off my tongue. Her full name was Julia Della.
A woman born at the beginning of the 20th century in 1906 and raised three daughters pretty much singlehandedly. My great grandfather and her husband, Frederick Lutz, worked on a fishing Schooner and then worked at the Core of Engineers for 30 plus years and was away from home for weeks on end.
She had a mixture of American Indian, Swedish and some that I’m not sure of just yet. Doing the research now and will share more once I know her full heritage. Isn’t she beautiful??
Julia and Fred Lutz – picture taken mid 1930′s
Julia and Fred Lutz – I don’t have a date of when this was taken unfortunately but I think it was early – mid 1950′s. I can definitely see his German heritage just as I can see her American Indian heritage
She was a tiny woman! So thin all her life with the most beautiful figure. The aprons I have of hers are so small they fit my daughters more than they do me.
Unfortunately Pa passed away when I was just an infant so I never knew him. I only have the pictures and stories that my Grandma tells me. He was a terrific man!
I would stay the night with Grandmother, as a young preteen girl, and we would get up in the morning, cool crisp mornings she would turn the gas heater on the back porch, and we would drink coffee together and discuss anything and everything under the Sun. I was never too young to have a cup of coffee with Grandmother. Another staple was Pepsi Cola and powdered donuts in an old CoolWhip container, her Tupperware, for snack. To this day, if I eat a powdered donut I’m transported back to that stoop, sun beating down on my shoulders, hearing my Grandmother in the kitchen.
She taught me to crochet which I unfortunately forgot and wasn’t old enough to cherish what she had shared with me. She also dipped Snuff and would tan my hide if she knew I was sharing this with you folks. Like most of us that have the blessing to know our Great Grandmothers, Snuff was a common thing for women in the early 20th century to use in place of cigarettes. She dipped her whole life and if I’m not mistaken kept the secret from Pa, for YEARS! My mom still has a can of her snuff, Tops, in her kitchen on display… when I open it up and smell that sweet, tobacco smell… Grandmother is right beside me.
You see, we lived right next door to her and only a small field separated our two homes so my younger brother Jacob and I wore out a path between the two! Man did Jake and Grandmother fight! He was only a little guy (we are 7 years apart) and they would argue about the funniest things. One being the TV programs that we could watch at her house. It was just understood that when Judge Wapner came on at 4 O’clock that whatever was on at the time was going to be turned off. She did not miss The People’s Court EVER! He would get so mad and say that he was going home and never coming back. Grandmother would say “Mmm hmm” knowing he would be back in about 15 minutes, his anger forgotten and they would be best buddies once again.
I was lucky enough to inherit quite a few things of hers… Her bedroom suite, her set of everyday dishes, aprons (oh her aprons!) and a few of her cast iron pieces; both of which I use almost every week. One of the most important thing I inherited is her Pound Cake recipe.
Grandmother had a wonderful sweet tooth! You hear people say ‘a horrible sweet tooth’ but I like to think it is a wonderful thing not a horrible thing. She loved to bake but in her later years Grandma, her daughter, would make the cakes for her. She always had two in the fridge at all times and would cut a piece a show dog couldn’t jump over for dessert after lunch AND dinner.
She had two Pound Cake recipes but this one is by far my favorite! I have added my own little touch to it that I think she would enjoy and wouldn’t mind that I have done so.
2 sticks butter, room temp (1 cup)
7 tblsp. vegetable shortening (Crisco)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temp
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. Vanilla
zest of 2 or 3 lemons/oranges, depending on size
(I have used either or both at the same time and love it either way)
3 cups of flour, sifted 3 times
1/2 tsp. baking powderCombine your dry ingredients and sift 3 times. Set aside. (It might seem silly to sift the flour 3 times but I have always done it and it makes the cake unbelievably light for a cake with such ‘heavy’ ingredients)
Combine your cream, water, vanilla and zest in liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and shortening until thoroughly combined. Add sugar and mix well. Next, add eggs one at at time and mix after each addition. Add your dry and wet ingredients to the batter, alternately, starting and ending with dry. Be careful not to over beat the batter at this point; mixing only until the ingredients are combined.
Grease and flour your Tube/Bundt cake pan (I use a Tube Pan with a removable bottom). Pour batter into pan and bake at 325 for 90 minutes. Starting in a COLD oven. No preheating for this recipe! No opening the door either! Peeking through the window is acceptable.
I use the paddle attachment instead of the whisk, just personal preference.
Be sure to add eggs, one at a time, to the batter and mix after each addition.
Isn’t that a gorgeous batter so far? Those lovely orange yolks in my eggs make for a pretty batter. Had to share!
This is how I sift my flour (3 times) just alternating between bowls. I have used Cake Flour as well but it is not necessary.
I add my zest and vanilla to my liquid ingredients to make it easier when adding them to the batter .
Grease and flour your cake pan. I use a Tube (non-stick) pan with a removable bottom. I use shortening instead of butter for this. Found it gives me a crispier outside.
Ready to go in the oven!
I love how crusty it gets on top! By far my favorite part of the cake. It melts like sugar in your mouth and you will often find a small piece or two missing on my cakes before I cut the first slice!
So there you have it. My Great Grandmother’s Pound Cake recipe! I’m glad that you have been introduced to her. You will be seeing her often and will get to know her better.
I’m just sitting on the back porch… drinking coffee and eating pound cake… visiting with Grandmother..
Tara
I want a piece of that cake!!! I loved hearing your memories of that time. How wonderful that you can remember such vivid details and documenting them for your girls will keep her living on forever! Thanks for sharing, I loved it!
Play your cards right, And I can make you a WHOLE one! :0) That’s my hope Kris, to share them with the girls so she can keep on living; through them. I’m really glad you liked it!
What a lovely memorial of Miss Julia Della.aka Dodie!!!
Thanks Mom! I should have added that in there! Oh well, I will be doing more posts on her so will add it another time. I literally had to scale it down because there is so much to say about her! :0)
Everything about this post touches my heart, dear Tara! Thank you! xoxoxo
Thank you so much Michele!! xoxox
Baby Girl that is a great place to visit I love u and that cake looks awesome and when I get there I would very much like to have a piece of it. Well maybe not that one love u
Thank you Aunt Cheryll! I will make a cake just for you when you come visit. :0) I love you too!
That was beautiful, really felt like I was right there with you both!
Thank you Jane! The highest of compliments! :0) xxx
I have had the privilege of indulging in this cake and it is fabulous! I love the memories you share..I, too, have so much from my Grandma.
Girl, I need to make you another one! ha! Thank you Kim, we are so lucky to have memories that we can share with our children. It felt great finally posting about her. :0)
What a lovely memories. I have thoroughly enjoyed your Della Rose site. Thanks for being so extraordinary! Hugs!
Oh Davenie! Where have you been?!? I’ve missed you friend! I’m so glad you are enjoying it. Means the world to me! :0)
I loved this piece. My grandma was so dear to me. I hold her in my heart too and, some days, feel she’s standing right behind me. In the end, these memories are the important stuff. Thanks for giving them the importance they merit.
Aw, thank you so much Beth! It is so important the memories that we have of our family. If we do not keep them real in our hearts and share with our children, the memories fade… I appreciate you taking the time to share your grandma with me and appreciate you reading about mine.:0)
What great memories! Thanks for sharing, brings back some of my own!
Thanks Deb!! So glad you enjoyed it! :0)
I envy you such great memories of your grandmother. I barely knew mine, so I have little connection with our family history. How lovely that you can be transported back to your visits with her by the tickle of powdered sugar on your nose, a whiff of sweet tobacco and this very treasured recipe.
Thank you Jenni! I feel so strongly about my family’s history and sharing that with my girls. They will fall by the wayside with each generation passed. So important to hold onto it. I’m sorry that you weren’t close with your grandmother. You can visit mine anytime! She will be here for you whenever you need her. :0) So glad you enjoyed it!
Love family history stories, so wonderful! Lovely pound cake as well. I have a weird question: what are you counter tops? Corian? if so what is the color? We are re-doing all our counter tops and I (even though I was an interior designer in my “past life”) can decide…I am so confused and undecided…HELP!
You can email me the info if you have time. Thanks
Thank you Isabelle! So glad you visited me! I just posted on your wall about the counter tops. :0)
Loved the story and can’t wait to try this recipe this weekend. I can almost smell it baking. =) Thanks for sharing. ~Cathy
Thank you Ms. Cathy! Can’t wait for you to try it! You better share what you think. :0)
Beautiful cake! I was lucky enough to have sampled it from the master herself (Julia was my grandmother). So many cherished memories from my childhood…the chickletts gum under the kitchen cupboard, the pepsi cola & moonpies, her chocolate coke cake, mashed fresh strawberries in a sugary syrup (we picked the strawberries out of her garden patch), shelling butter beans from the garden, shelling pecans that came from the trees in her yard, eating grapenuts in the morning & my favorite, her cornbread..
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Susie! Grandmother was so special to many people!! I loved reading about your memories of her! :0)
How wonderful and the photos are just precious….I am going to make this cake today and will share with my page too….you’re memories and so special and I just love how you keep them alive today xoxo
Oh, I’m so glad you like it Beverley! You are always so supportive of me and I just appreciate that so much. It is so important to my husband and me to keep the memories alive for our girls. I love that they are getting to know Grandmother, and other people in our family, through stories and pictures that we share. So glad you liked the post! xoxoxox
Hi what is the gram measurement of 2 sticks of butter? I am in New Zealand and would love to make this cake but we don’t have sticks of butter here. Also could i use something else instead of shortening?
Thank you:)
Hi Amy! 2 sticks of butter is 1 cup here in the U.S. So that is 227 grams. Good point, I need to change that on my blog and list the measurement. Thank you for pointing that out!
On the shortening, You can substitute butter for the shortening and just use all butter. It might brown quicker though so just watch it at the end. I’ve never done this for this recipe but have with other recipes. I hope you like it! Please let me know if it works out using all butter and I can share that in the post for those that don’t like to use shortening. 
What a beautiful post!
Memories are to be cherished!!
Thank you so much Kay! Yes, they are! Family stories and memories are heirlooms that are invaluable. Thank you for reading! xoxo
I want to try your Pound Cake. I also want to say how blessed are we who had the opportunity to know our Great Grandmothers and Grandmothers.. I only have a few of my Grandmother’s recipes, the one recipe I so wish I had of my Great Grandmother’s is her bread recipe… that is what I remember… late afternoon, we’d have a piece of bread (she always tore hers and dropped it in a cool glass of sweet milk, I prefer cornbread that way, but we’d have our bread and milk, then we’d go walk to the mail box, probably a bit over a mile round trip, then settle in for the evening… she lived on a homestead out in the high desert plains of NM… I wish I’d gotten to know her better..
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Grandmother and your love for her….
I loved reading about your Grandmother Cherry. What a special memory you have of her! Isn’t it amazing how the simple memories are the best?!? It’s not the special holidays or birthdays per say, it is the small moments in between that change our lives. I look back on my time with Grandmother and I wish that I could have known her better as well. But I know her better know as an adult through the stories from her daughter and all of the pictures I cherish of her. I know that my children will know her, already do, and will have memories of what a special woman she was. They all live on through us, Cherry, and how we continue to share them with others. Thank you for sharing your beautiful Grandmother with me.
Sweet memories Tara.
I’m fortunate to have known my great-grandmothers and to have had both my grandmothers in my life until adulthood. That feeling of strong roots, of knowing where you come from, can hold you up during difficult times. You’re lucky to have had Julia Della and I’m sure that, somewhere, she is smiling; knowing that you still hold her in your heart.
Thank you Beth!! I hope so! xoxoxo
That brought a tear to my eye.Your grandma was a lovely women, thank you for sharing your lovely and cherished memories of her with us. The cake looks wonderful, hope to try it out! Thank you for sharing it with us! <3 ~Donika
aww Thank you Donika! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and I hope you give the recipe a try. Thanks for stopping in! xoxo
Do I have to add the zest?
Not at all! You can omit that entirely.
I just like the citrus flavor. Enjoy!