I had this great psychology professor my first quarter of community college who used to talk about how his grandmother had worried about him going to college. “Don’t you get to being one of those educated fools now” she’d say, her only experience with educated folks being that of them looking down on her or seeing them without any common sense at all.
It is a theory held by some folks that you can educate yourself to an extent that you lose all common sense. While I’ve known folks who could fit that mold but I don’t think its so much the extensive education as it is the detachment from your roots that causes you to lose sight of what life is like on the other side of the tracks. Still, I think it takes all kinds of folks to make the world go round and maybe some of us need to be a little detached to be able to do the hard math ~winks~.
Some of the most educated folks I know are as down home and unpretentious as they can be. “Just plain old thangs” as folks would call them, meant as a compliment when referring to someone who was generally highly regarded but didn’t put themselves up on a pedestal or treat anyone as if they were better than them. “She’s got a PHD and all but she’s still just a plain old thang”. That’s about the loftiest praise and were I to ever achieve anything to that extent its what I hope folks would say about me.
This is a wonderful comedian called Jeanne Robertson and today I’m bringing you her talk about why you shouldn’t send a man to the grocery store, a story about her husband, a man who, in her own words ” has over educated himself”. I have seen this countless times and yet I still go back to watch it again every now and then. She got me curious about the cake she talks about in this routine so I mosied over and found it on her website. The tutorial follows.
Lawd, I love this woman.
Now, when you are done laughing and have finished calling your Mama, your neighbor, and a few of your closest friends to tell them about this video, you’ll probably get to thinking about the pound cake she talks about in the video…read on 🙂
You’ll need: Flour, Sugar, Shortening, Butter or margarine, 7-up (or generic “Twist Up” like I’m using), eggs, vanilla, and a bit of lemon flavoring.
Here is a bit closer shot of the flavorings.
I usually use the cheap vanilla but if you swear by the real stuff or homemade or whatever, knock yourself out and I’ll still be happy.
You just need a little bit of the lemon lime coke so you can get one of these cute little baby cans if you like.
Place your sugar, shortening, and butter in a mixing bowl.
Mix that up until well blended.
Add your lemon extract or flavoring or whatever it is you found in your pantry or went out and bought.
Cooking isn’t rocket science. If it were, we’d all be a lot skinnier.
Add in your vanilla.
and all of your eggs.
Mix that up really well
Add in your flour.
and your 7-up-ish type beverage.
Mix all of that up.
Then you’re going to pour that into a greased and floured bundt pan.
Bake at 325 for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
After it has baked let sit in pan for ten minutes and then turn out.
Goodness, can you smell that?
Now we need to make our glaze. Place your confectioner’s sugar in a bowl. Add a wee bit of lemon flavoring.
And a wee bit of milk. Stir that up until it looks kind of like school glue. Don’t worry, it won’t taste like glue 🙂 If it is a bit thin, just add more confectioner’s sugar. I always end up making mine too thin to begin with and have to add more.
If you end up with any bad spots because you had a friend who was about to leave and you needed to turn it out sooner so you could send some with her, don’t worry about it. We’re here to eat our food, not build a shrine to it.
Enjoy your cake!
Now for more fun, click here to watch Jeanne’s video on why you shouldn’t go rafting with a Baptist. You can visit Jeanne’s website by clicking here.
- 1 cup butter or margarine
- 1?2 cup shortening
- 3 cups sugar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract*
- 5 eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 7 fluid ounces 7-Up (Can use diet)
- 1-1/2 cups confectioner's sugar (glaze)
- 2 tablespoons milk (glaze)
- ¼ tsp lemon extract (glaze)
- In a large bowl, place butter, shortening, and sugar. Beat until it is fluffy and well mixed. Add in lemon extract and vanilla flavoring. Add in all of the eggs and beat again until blended in. Add in all of your flour and then seven up. Mix until smooth and creamy. Pour into greased and floured tube pan (Jeanne just uses Baker's Joy to spray on her pan to make this easier). Bake at 325 for one hour, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Jeanne says to let it sit for thirty minutes before turning out. I let mine sit for ten because that is just what I'm used to but I'll give thirty a try next time!
- Combine all glaze ingredients and stir until smooth. Add more milk if too thick, more confectioner's sugar if too thin. Pour over cooled cake.
- *Y'all saw how I do this in my Peanut butter pie tutorial. I just give a pour and leave it to God decide how much vanilla goes in there!
- **I added the glaze but the original recipe didn't have it on there. If you make these to freeze, don't glaze them first, wait til you thaw 'em!
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It’s jolted by every pebble in the road.
~Henry Beecher
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Yum 
I have made this cake several times. First by the recipe and then I combined it with a family recipe like to use. I use two sticks of butter and one stick margarine, add an extra egg to make 6, use 1 tsp of almond extract along with the others, and mix the flour and seven up by alternating one and then the other instead of all flour and the all 7up. The orginal recipe is a little more lighter but I prefer a heavier, richer, more buttery tasting pound cake. As far as the glaze, I don’t need it with my version of the recipe because it is so moist. The few times I have made it I must have done something wrong because it was very hard when it settled and caused the cake to crack when you cut it. I love the video and Thanks Jeanne for the recipe and laugh.
I have about six tree ripened lemons. Any suggestions on what I can do with real lemons?
Thank you, Christy, for sharing Jeanne’s cake recipe. I just LOVE her! Funny thing, my mother’s family is from your area and my dad (who has “passed”–head bowed in respect) hehe, is from almost the same county as Jeanne’s. I emailed her when I first heard her years ago and she was so very gracious with her response. She sounds JUST like my favorite aunt (my dad’s sister). I could so easily have seen this exact story coming from my Aunt Betty & Uncle Luke.
oh my lands that video was funny…infact I am gonna have to share it with my husband!!! You gotta love these sweet men who put up with us and our cooking …and the Honey before you head home will you run to the store for me and pick up a few items??? I’m gonna have to make this cake…but I don’t have any lemon lime soda yet!
Have a great day!
Thanks for posting the recipe Christy! Question – have you ever put sugar inside the bundt pan to make the outside of the cake crispier? My friend’s mom does that and I love it, but do you do it with the grease and flour and sugar or just grease and sugar?? Does that question even make sense??? 🙂
I see there is no baking powder or baking soda in this cake, so it would be a good recipe for cutting down on sodium. It should also make good cupcakes. I make it with half the butter and half canola oil, which cuts the cholesterol some. It was great.
Sandy Lynch asked about using lemons. Adding a tsp. of lemon zest would add to the lemony flavor, especially since 7-up is not that lemony. Could use orange or lime zest, too.
My niece & I just made this cake Friday and OMG its very tasty; my niece Kindel, my sister & I can’t get enought of this beautiful & tasty concoction. I’ve heard of thisejb 7up cake for a little while now but still had my doubts about whether I should bake it or not and I can’t tell you why I was so hesitant about baking this delish cake but I wont make that decision the next time. We love love love the 7up cake…
What a coincidence! I was just thinking of this yesterday and trying to remember her name! Thank you for the name and the 7-up pound cake recipe!
Love your cake plate. It is so pretty!
OMGosh!! That video is hilarious!! Thanks for sharing! I guess I’m gonna have to get myself a bunt pan & give this cake a try, even though I don’t bake. I hope it turns out….
Loved the Video- will be trying the cake soon !
I LOVE Jeanne Robertson. She is one funny lady. I sort of “borrowed” this routine last year for our ladies luncheon changing it from the 7-up cake to potato salad. (Everyone knows my signature dish is potato salad). Unfortunately it has to be made at the time of need….no freezing. Just like Jeanne’s version….mine brought down the house.
I still haven’t tried the 7-Up cake but see I’m going to have to do it real soon.
Christy, I had to share this video…such a ‘southernism’! My family always referred to people as ‘real book smart but, didn’t have no walkin’ around sense. I believe that to this day!
Looks devine, but I’m not a baker. Will have to buy the bundt pan, all the
interesting ingredients, and hope someone will eat it. Always said when I
retire, I will become a gourmet cook, but that never happened either. 🙂
Isn’t it sorta like sacrilege to make a pound cake called “7-up” pound cake and not use the real 7-up? I just couldn’t bear to use the generic brand, felt like I was breaking the law or something. Anywho, this is a great stable in the pantry of any Southerner or wanna-be Southerner. Thanks for the laughs with Jeanne and the memories of this cake!
What can I say? I walk on the wild side 😉 Good to see you Patty! Hope your day is wonderful
Gratefully,
Christy
Jeanne talks about making the cakes in a mini size to give our when someone is sick or “passes.” What changes are needed in the baking time and baking temperature if you are making them mini-size?
My husband did something similar as “Left Brain” when I sent him to the store for just a bag of flour because I needed it to finish making cookies. He came back an hour later with a whole week’s supply of groceries because he refuses to drive all that way and just buy one thing! Says he’s “conserving.” Now, if I want just one thing from the store, I go get it myself. I can do that – need one thing, buy one thing!
Really? Diet 7 up…
Christy, this is still one of my husband’s all time favorite desserts. He is a huuuuge fan of sweet things, chocolate in particular, so I’m rather surprised he loves this so very much. Just made one for him yesterday as a surprise! My only changes are that I need to bake it much longer than an hour and I found out that if I spray a boatload of Pam in the bundt pan, it doesn’t stick. I mean, I used like 4 times as much Pam as I usually would. This was the first time my cake came out with barely any sticking!
I am so glad he likes it!! It is always a hit here as well!!
I made this again last night for a Labor Day potluck at work today. The first time I tried it overflowed my bundt pan, but it still tasted great. This time I let my 7UP sit out for about 2 hours and this time it came out great.
Thanks so much for all your wonderful recipes. My wife and kids rave about every one i have tried out on them.
I am so glad it was a hit Gene!!! It just made my day to hear that your family is enjoying the recipes.
I’ll have to try this one!! I LOVE pound cake!!!!!
I’ve made this recipe about 15-20 times. I bake it on the 3rd rack from the top at 300 for about 95-105mins. I check it at 90mins and add time in 5 min increments. Im not sure if it makes a difference but I mix all of this with a fork to give it more air. No blender. Also I use Crisco shortening sticks.
I was viewing the video you mentioned and after finishing it I had the same thought you had… which pound cake recipe is that?? So googled it, got many different recipes and did not know which one to choose. As you could see I chose yours, for my surprise, yours was actually the real one! Thanks for sharing it!
Made it today, turned out great! Only baked it 10 extra min. Any info on how to bake it in loaf pans for gifts?
It works great, just watch them and adjust the cooking time a little. 😉
Heello Christy, could you please tell me where you got that plate that the bundt cake is sitting onit has the hearts around the edges.
Hey! That is an antique but easy to find. It is made by Anchor Hocking and the pattern is called “Old Colony Lace”. You should be able to pick one up in an antique store or Ebay for around $20 :). I love it, too!
Hello Christy, could you please tell me where you got that cake plate that the bundt cake is sitting on that has the hearts around the edges. sorry about the last message. Thank You
I’m not understanding the, 1?2 cup shortening???
Thank you,
I love 7-Up pound cake, but I think I’ve always loved the story more. I introduced Jeanne Robertson and Left Brain to a friend several years ago. She told me she almost “split a gut” while watching Don’t Send A Man to the Grocery Store.