Cream Cheese Pound Cake + Strawberry Sauce

One weekend I got it in my head that I wanted to make trifle. I think because the weekend before, my dad had been talking about what an amazing trifle my grandma makes and how people are always sad when she doesn't make it. So I called her to get her recipe but as it turns out there isn't really a recipe. She told me to just use whatever cake you want to get rid of or pick up from the grocery store. She usually uses canned fruit, and mixes the juice from the can with a bit of alcohol (again she said whatever you want to get rid of - are we seeing a theme here?) and pours it over the cake. And then she said she uses pudding mix. And puts whipped cream on top. Oh and she also mixes jello in with the fruit and cake once it's been layered. The details are a bit fuzzy now, but basically there was no exact recipe. So I just decided to pick a cream cheese pound cake, a white chocolate custard, and the strawberry sauce I've made a few times that my fiance (who I will refer to from now on as E) really likes.

Individually, all the components were really good. The pound cake was so perfectly pound cake-y - really dense and wonderful and you can taste the cream cheese. And it was so soft. The white chocolate custard was adapted from a bittersweet chocolate custard and I didn't adjust the sugar enough so it was way too sweet - especially when combined with the strawberry sauce. The strawberry sauce was perfect though and is good for everything. So I'll share with you the recipe for the cream cheese pound cake and the strawberry sauce and will save the white chocolate custard for when I try again and it turns out better.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Tres Leches Cake
Sour Cream Doughnuts
Strawberry Cream Cake
Orange Cream Cheese Muffins

Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted liberally from Staff Meals from Chanterelle

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 package (4 ounces) Philadelphia brand cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly butter an 8"x4" pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. Place the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar, increase the speed to high, and beat until light and airy, at least five minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the vanilla, then the flour and salt all at once. Beat just until incorporated.

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake lightly to even out the top. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean, 1 1/4 hours.

4. Place the pan on a cake rack and cool for 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely. Serve at room temperature.

Strawberry Sauce
Adapted from All Recipes (Heislord5)

1 pint (454 g) strawberries, cleaned and stemmed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cut about strawberries in 1/2-1 inch size pieces. In a saucepan over medium high heat, combine strawberries, sugar and vanilla. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Store in refrigerator.