Buttermilk Pound Cake

My mother-in-law was the best cook in the world. She died at age 92 in 2000, but this recipe came from one of her early friends in Winters, TX, before 1943. I bake it in her large tube pan that is 11 1/2" diameter, 4" deep, very heavy steel. It makes a very large cake, but it doesn't last long at our house!

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 18-20
• Yields: 20 1 1/2 inch slices

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups butter (room temp) or 1 1⁄2 cups margarine (room temp)
• 2 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 5  whole eggs (room temp)
• 1  cup buttermilk (room temp)
• 3 1⁄2 cups flour
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1  tablespoon hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Beat butter or margarine and add sugar in portions as you continue to beat. Beat until fluffy.
3. Add each egg, one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Add vanilla to buttermilk.
5. Begin adding flour and buttermilk alternately, beginning with flour and ending with flour.
6. Last, dissolve soda in hot water and mix well into cake batter.
7. Pour batter into a large tube pan that has been well-greased (shortening) and floured. The cake will stick if this step is missed.
8. Bake about 1 hour. My mother and mother-in-law said a test for doneness besides the golden brown color is that the cake begins to pull away from the sides slightly.
9. As a precaution, I usually run a table knife around the outer and inner edge before turning the cake out on the rack.