Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Yes , a pound cake with cream cheese. This is one of the best pound cake recipes I have come across. The original recipe is from a cake book which I recently found at a free book store near my place.http://bayareafreebookcoop.com/default.aspx
Made a few changes to the original one to adapt to my taste buds and the ingredients that were readily available.
Here is what you need.

• 3 Cups All purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs ( room temp)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence 
• 1 cup butter ( room temp)
• 1 package ( 8 oz) cream cheese ( room temp)

This is how you do it..

1. Pre heat oven to 325 deg F 
2. In a stand mixer or bowl( if using hand mixer) beat sugar , butter  till smooth and creamy. 
3. Then add cream cheese and beat again at medium speed for about a min .
4. Then slowly add eggs one at a time and cream well at medium speed
5. Add vanilla essence
6. Then add sifted flour and baking power slowly.
7. Mix well . Don't over beat. 
8. Pour the batter in a greased baking pan ( 9 to 10 ich) and bake for 50 mins -1 hour or till the cake is done . To check if the cake is done , insert a tooth pick and check if the pick comes out clean. If not then bake till done.
9. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 10 mins before removing from pan. 
10. Completely cook the cake before cutting.
11. You can also pour orange syrup over the cake to give it a slight tangy taste. 
12. For the orange syrup , heat 1/2 cup sugar in a pan . Add 1 tsp orange rind and juice of 1 orange to it. Let the syrup boil till the sugar dissolves completely and the syrup thickens a bit.
13. Pour this hot syrup over the cake ( cake should be warm so that it absorbs the syrup well)  before slicing it. Cool completely.
14. Dust some powdered sugar over the cake( optional).