Oh friend… when I was told I’d be gluten-free for life, I handled it pretty well — except for one thing.
My grandmother’s pound cake.
That was the heartbreak.
Her recipe wasn’t just a recipe. It was a story. It was history. It was love baked into a bundt pan.
Sixty-two years ago, my grandmother received this pound cake recipe from her dear friend and next-door neighbor, Inge Weeks. Growing up, the Weeks were like family to us. Inge came to the United States from Austria after World War II. Coke Weeks met her while serving overseas, and as my grandparents loved to tell it, he didn’t just come home from war — he brought home the love of his life.
When Inge first arrived in our small Southern town, people would literally stop and stare as she walked down the street. She was stunning — blonde hair, blue eyes — but what everyone quickly learned was that her beauty, inside and out, outshone everything else. She was gracious, kind, and generous. The kind of woman who shared recipes and stories freely.
This pound cake was one of the many gifts she gave our family.
So when I realized gluten was no longer part of my life, I grieved that cake. I grieved the tradition. I grieved passing that taste down to my son.
But here’s what I’ve learned on this gluten-free journey: tradition doesn’t disappear — it adapts.
Today, I remixed Inge’s beloved pound cake recipe to make it gluten-free. And let me tell you… it still tastes like home.
Inge’s Pound Cake (Gluten Free Version)
Ingredients
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2½ cups sugar
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3 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour (with xanthan gum)
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7 eggs
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2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
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1 stick margarine (½ cup)
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½ teaspoon vanilla flavoring
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¼ teaspoon rum flavoring
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¼ teaspoon lemon flavoring
Directions
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Cream butter, margarine, and sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t rush this step — this is where that classic pound cake texture begins.
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Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
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Add flavorings.
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Fold in flour on low speed. Do not overmix.
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Bake at 300°F for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Low and slow is the secret to that dense, tender crumb.
Grandmother’s Glaze (The Must-Have Finish)
Ingredients
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¼ cup milk
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¼ cup butter
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2 cups powdered sugar
Heat milk and butter together until melted. Stir in powdered sugar until smooth, then spread over the warm cake.
My grandmother never skipped the glaze — and neither will I. It soaks in just enough to create that sweet, crackly top that makes pound cake absolutely irresistible.
Going gluten-free may have changed my ingredients, but it didn’t change my memories. Inge’s story. My grandmother’s kitchen. Passing the tradition to my son.
