Pound cake is the friendliest cake I know. It’s meant to be shared, both the recipe and the finished product. Most home bakers keep a reliable, go-to pound cake recipe close at hand. It’s one of the most popular Southern cakes, among the oldest and most prolific, too. My personal pound cake recipe collection tops 250. But the original formula earned the cake its name: a pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs. Stirring those heavy ingredients by hand to create a delicate cake was no easy task in the days before electric mixers, not to mention knowing how to woo a woodstove to the right temperature. A proper pound cake has always been a baker’s generous and cordial gift to those who get to eat it.

In North Carolina, a good recipe gets around. A great recipe can forge fellowship. I would know: My friendship with a storied North Carolina baker in the Foothills began when I heard about his generosity and neighborliness — and his cream cheese pound cake.

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Just over 30 years ago, Eddy McGee was a mail carrier in Elkin. Those of us who’ve lived in the same place for a long while, especially along rural routes, often become friendly with the one person who drops by daily and feels like a neighbor to all. It’s not unusual to share homemade goodies with the mailman, but in Eddy’s case, he baked for people on his route, which included several senior citizens and widows. He’d leave foil-wrapped plates for them, and they’d do the same for him, to the point that he rarely needed to pack a lunch.

At the Stokes County Arts Council, Executive Director Eddy McGee’s office shares space with the coffee and ice cream shop that sells his famous cream cheese pound cake. photograph by Peter Colin Murray

A 1995 magazine story about Eddy included his recipe for cream cheese pound cake. “That’s when that cake took on a life of its own,” he says. The post office phone started ringing off the hook. Bags of letters poured in, not for him to carry but to answer. Folks were scrambling to get advice from the baking mailman, now a local celebrity.

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I first heard of Eddy about a baker’s dozen years later. After a series of cake-based connections, we arranged to meet in person. By that time, he was no longer with the postal service and had become the executive director of the Stokes County Arts Council. But he never stopped feeding his community.

Although it’s not among his official duties, many people would say his most important local contribution is making sure there’s always freshly baked cream cheese pound cake for sale at Rocky’s Coffee & Ice Cream, which occupies the front corner of the arts council building in downtown Danbury. Generous wedges of cake sit under a glass dome in the center of the service counter, as welcoming as can be. Eddy bakes at least one cake every few days, setting the alarm on his phone at each stage to make sure he doesn’t get so caught up in his busy workday that he flubs one. Coworkers are used to him pausing mid-sentence to run down to the basement oven to check on a cake and then pick right back up where he, and the cake, left off.

Rocky’s Coffee & Ice Cream offers a detour for those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth. photograph by Peter Colin Murray

Locals sometimes poke their heads in the door to ask when a cake is due to come out of the oven. People driving to Hanging Rock have been known to detour through Danbury just for cake. Regulars each have their own way of enjoying their servings, but Eddy’s personal preference is among the most popular. “I want mine warmed and topped with a big ole scoop of butter pecan ice cream,” he says.

The arts council provides a long list of essential community services, but few would argue that Eddy’s cream cheese pound cake is the most hospitable. It makes staff, neighbors, and visitors feel welcomed and well-tended. “It meets expectations, makes people happy,” Eddy says. “It makes a memory of that moment.”

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You can’t beat a pound cake for countertop hospitality. It invites friends and family to serve themselves, whether they lop off a hearty hunk to go with morning coffee or shave a few slivers as they pass through the kitchen, just to even up the edge. No one would deem pound cake unworthy of fine china, yet a piece travels well in a folded-up paper towel and doesn’t require a fork.

Like Eddy, I think baking and sharing a pound cake is time well spent. I use a recipe that’s nearly identical to his, but mine came from a family member many years ago. Eddy is the first to say that he didn’t invent cream cheese pound cake but instead modified two recipes, one he got from three sisters who worked in a local doctor’s office and another from his friend Dot Swift. A good pound cake gets around.

Hungry yet? Grab a slice of Eddy’s cream cheese pound cake from Rocky’s Coffee & Ice Cream in downtown Danbury. photograph by Peter Colin Murray

Homemade pound cake isn’t difficult, but it’s exacting, not unlike a favorite teacher who loves us unconditionally but also expects us to act right. Southern bakers take special pride in flawless pound cakes, but sometimes one winds up with a doughy little ribbon known as a sad streak running through its center. Some people consider this to be an imperfection, but others love its texture and root for it to happen. Some even consider finding one in a cake to be a symbol of good luck.

Just think about that: A pound cake is so poised to make us — bakers and eaters alike — feel appreciated and satisfied that even the occasional oops is welcomed and celebrated. Pound cake meets us where, and as, we are. How hospitable.

photograph by Peter Colin Murray

Eddy’s Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1½ cups butter, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 300°. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter and cream cheese for 2 minutes or until mixture is creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat, 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Add vanilla and mix well.

Tip: To make sure the mixture is well combined, rub a little batter between your fingers; if you feel minimal grit, you’re ready to move on. At this stage, the mixture may look slightly curdled or grainy. Don’t worry — you’re on the right track!

Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended after each addition. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan that does not have a removable bottom.

Tip: To ensure a well-mixed batter, use a rubber spatula to scrape all of the dry ingredients off the bottom of the bowl. Gently tap the pan three or four times on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Fill a 2-cup ovenproof measuring cup with water and place it in the oven with the tube pan.

Tip: Sheri recommends positioning your cake in the center of the oven for an even bake.

Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for at least 30 minutes. Serve with your favorite pound cake topping, but Eddy recommends a scoop of butter pecan ice cream.

Tip: Patience is key: All pound cakes benefit from an overnight rest at room temperature, covered in plastic wrap or stored in an airtight cake carrier.