My wedding to Garth was such a wonderful day! We wanted it to be a small, private event, and it was, made possible by the help of our friends and families. Everybody was happy to pitch in and help—everybody except my mom, that is, when I asked her to make the wedding cake! I know, it sounds crazy, but I knew she could do it. My mom taught school for twenty-five years, but there was a period in her life (when she had me, to be exact) when she needed to be home. To earn extra money for the family, she began baking and selling cakes for birthday parties and weddings. She resumed her teaching career when I started first grade and retired in 1991 to run my fan club. (She has since retired from that too, and has gone back to being just Mom.) She came out to Oklahoma the week before the wedding to make a wedding cake that I think turned out to be much bigger than she had been picturing, but it was simply stunning. She gave me the bride and groom decoration from her own wedding day, June 19, 1960, and it literally made the cake. My parents were very happily married for forty-five years, and the only thing that could have made my wedding day better would have been to have Daddy there. I think he was, though. He probably wouldn’t have had any wedding cake, but he would have enjoyed the fried chicken and the barbecue! My finished wedding cake took four electric mixers to make, but we’ve included the regular pound cake recipe here.

　　

Ingredients

serves 12

　　1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) Blue Bonnet margarine, room temperature

　　1 1-pound box confectioners’ sugar, box reserved

　　6 large eggs, room temperature

　　1 pound sifted cake flour

　　1 teaspoon vanilla extract

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 300°F. Grease and flour a 9-inch tube pan.

　　

Step 2

Using a heavy-duty mixer, cream the margarine and sugar until the mixture is very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

　　

Step 3

One at a time, break the eggs into a small bowl, then add one at a time to the batter, beating only as long as it takes to break another egg into the small bowl between additions. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl.

　　

Step 4

Measure the sifted flour into the empty confectioners’ sugar box, filling it to the top. Add the flour to the sugar and egg mixture, stirring gently on low speed. Scrape the sides of the mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and mix again.

　　

Step 5

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until the center is set. Check for doneness by touching the surface lightly with your fingertip or by inserting a toothpick in the center; it should come out clean.

　　

Step 6

Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a thin knife or spatula between the cake and the pan to loosen the edges and invert the cake onto a wire rack.

　　

From Gwen

Step 7

I can’t believe I made this cake!

　　Reprinted with permission from Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen: Recipes from My Family to Yours by Trisha Yearwood with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Copyright © 2008 by Trisha Yearwood. Published by Crown Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved.Trisha Yearwood is a three-time Grammy-award winning country music star and the author of the bestselling cookbook Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen. She is married to megastar Garth Brooks.