My Great-Aunt's Cream Cheese Pound Cake (well, sort of)

In my family, my great-aunt Margaret is the queen of cakes.  Whenever we travel to Florida to visit, we are always begging her to bake us a cake (or two).  I don't know how she does it, but she just has a knack for baking the most delicious cakes you'll ever eat.

Here's the cream cheese pound cake recipe that my grandmother managed to grab from Aunt Margaret on a recent visit.   It's not her personal creation, but it's a recipe that she swears by and has used for years.  I present it here, just as it was submitted by a Mrs. Ralph A. Patrick many years ago.   It's a little different from my own cream cheese pound cake recipe (this one calls for margarine, I normally use butter), but it's very good.  I was munching on some today-I only wish I'd had strawberries to go with it!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

3 sticks margarine
1 8 ounce pkg cream cheese
3 cups sugar
dash salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
6 large eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour

Cream margarine, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add dash of salt and vanilla and beat well.  Add eggs-one at a time-and beat well after each addition.  Stir in the sifted cake flour.  Spoon mixture into a ten-inch tube pan.  Bake at 325° for 1 1/2 hours.  Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes before inverting on a wire rack.