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Makes 4 Loaves (8 in. X 3 3/4 in.)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease
and flour 4 loaf pans.
Split open vanilla bean and scrape seeds into cream. Drop pod into cream
and heat until scalding. Let cool.
Whisk
together the eggs, sugar and salt until well blended.
Sift
the flour and baking powder together. Whisk the sifted dry ingredients
into the egg/sugar mixture just until blended. Remove (and discard) the
vanilla bean pod from the cream, and whisk cream into the batter. Gently
mix in the melted butter, pour batter into the prepared loaf pans and
bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown and a cake
tester comes out clean.
 While
cake is baking, prepare syrup by combining sugar, water and corn syrup
in a heavy saucepan. Stir mixture over medium-high heat until it comes
to a simmer. Continue to heat (WITHOUT FURTHER STIRRING or your
finished product will have sugar crystals!) until mixture comes to a full
boil. Cover (also important to avoid those nasty sugar crystals) and continue
to boil until all sugar is dissolved and liquid is clear, about a minute.
Remove from heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Stir in liqueur.
 After
removing cakes from the oven, allow them to cool in pan for about 5 minutes.
Run a knife around the edges of the pan and turn cakes out, then immediately
return cakes to pans. Use a thin wooden skewer to poke numerous holes
into the cake, about 1 inch apart. The holes should go all the way from
the top to the bottom of the cake. Pour 1/4 syrup mixture over each cake
and, if desired, sprinkle with optional toppings. Let cool until the cakes
have absorbed the syrup. Remove from pans.
Note: If giving these cakes as gifts, I often use disposable aluminum
foil loaf pans and give the cake in the pan.
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