A true classic, my Pound Cake recipe is simple (only six ingredients) and satisfying! This cake is heavy and dense (as it ought to be!) while simultaneously being soft, buttery, and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth! It’s incredible served alone or pairs beautifully with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Traditional Pound Cake (Made Better!)
I’m not sure where pound cake rates in terms of your favorite cake recipes, but I’ll admit it had never been a top contender for in my household. Humble and frosting-less, sure I would have a slice, but nobody in my house ever really got excited about pound cake, often overlooking it for light and fluffy angel food cake or prettily iced layer cakes.
If your experience with pound cakes of the past is anything like mine, you’re in for a real treat today. I set about developing this recipe with a mission, determined to perfect a pound cake that was simple and not overly complicated, one that didn’t stray too far from the traditional version (no fancy or unusual ingredients) but at the same time put all of its predecessors to shame.
Here you have it. Perfectly balanced, rich and sweet, my pound cake is so buttery and soft that melts in your mouth, and it’s anything but boring. It’s a heavy cake (as pound cakes should be!) with a dense, velvety crumb, but there’s nothing dry or crumbly about it.
While this cake can hold it’s own, it’s even better when served with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit. It would also pair well with a spoonful or two of lemon curd (a great way to use up some leftover egg yolks!).
Break out your bowls–you’re going to need a big one–and let’s talk about what it is that makes this cake so perfectly special and irresistible.
What You Need (and What You DON’T)
Pound cake has traditionally been made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. When developing my recipe, I wanted to stay as true as I could to the traditional version, but some small adjustments were in order for the absolute best flavor (I mean, hello, vanilla extract!). The result is a soft, buttery crumb that’s perfectly dense without being at all dry or crumbly.
- Butter. Unsalted butter works best for this cake. It should be softened, but not so soft that it’s greasy, melty, or oily.
- Sugar. We stick with tradition and use regular granulated sugar only in this cake. Make sure to whip your butter and sugar until fully incorporated and fluffy before you move to the next step.
- Eggs. You will need six whole eggs and six additional egg yolks. It might seem like a lot, and it is, but trust me! The extra yolks help to keep the cake crumb moist with almost custardy undertones/flavors. We omit extra whites because they would make the cake crumb too light (remember, this is a dense cake!) and could even make it dry. This cake is perfect for using up extra yolks from another recipe! Save your extra egg whites to make meringue, pavlova, or Eton mess!
- Vanilla. You’re going to add a whole tablespoon of vanilla to this cake batter. This may seem like a lot, but I promise it’s just the right amount! PS. If you have a batch of homemade vanilla extract sitting in your cabinet, this is the time to bring it out!
- Salt. For flavor, I add a little salt.
- Flour. I specificaly developed this recipe to be perfectly soft and tender using plain ol’ all-purpose flour, but include notes in the recipe in case you’d like to substitute cake flour. Make sure you know how to measure your flour properly, or may end up with a dry cake. One more thing that I cannot stress highly enough: do not, under any circumstances, use self-rising flour. Your cake will almost absolutely overflow.
You may notice that my pound cake recipe does not use baking powder. This is intentional! Pound cake ought to have a dense crumb, and baking powder serves to lighten a cake’s crumb and help it rise. The eggs in our recipe work all of the rising-magic that we need, and not only would adding baking powder make the cake crumb too light (best-case-scenario), you’re also bound to find it’s overflowed all over your oven when the baking time has elapsed.
SAM’S TIP FOR LEMON POUND CAKE: I’ve received lots of requests for how to make a lemon version of this pound cake recipe. While you could just swap out the vanilla extract for lemon, it’s not going to taste as bright and sunny as you’re used to. I have a separate lemon pound cake recipe that packs lots of lemon flavor and is draped in a stunning white glaze. I highly recommend you try it!
As always, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Pound Cake
- Grease and flour your baking pan. Shake out any excess flour and set aside.
- Beat the butter until smooth, then add sugar. Cream until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Slowly drizzle egg mixture into your butter mixture with mixer on low speed. Pause to scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then increase speed and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Reduce speed to low and gradually add flour. Scrape and stir again on medium speed until well-combined, then beat for another minute. You should have a completely smooth, uniform batter. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake in 350F oven for an hour and ten to an hour and fifteen minutes. Test with a wooden skewer for doneness.
- Cool for 20 minutes, then run a knife around the sides and center of the pan before carefully inverting onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before serving.
SAM’S TIP: To test if your cake is finished, the best method is to use a long wooden skewer (like the kind used for shish-kebabs) as this batter is so thick that a toothpick just won’t cut it. Insert the skewer into your cake and check it for moist crumbs. If you have wet batter on your skewer, your cake needs to bake longer, but if there are a few moist crumbs then it’s time to pull that cake out of the oven! The cake is going to continue to bake while it cools, so if you pull out a completely clean skewer from your cake, it’s already at risk of being over-baked and dry, so you want to retrieve your cake from the oven before it hits that point.
Frequently Asked Questions
While this recipe was very deliberately developed to be moist, the most important thing when baking your pound cake is to make sure that you do NOT over-bake it. I recommend making sure your oven is not running hot (I keep two oven thermometers in my oven at all times just to make sure my oven display is telling me the truth) and then checking your cake earlier rather than later. Because of its thick batter and the sheer volume of batter, it’s going to take quite a while in the oven, probably an hour and ten to an hour and fifteen minutes. I check my cake at one hour and then return it to the oven in about 5-minute increments until it’s finished baking.
This cake was originally made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, and so the name pound cake was born. Crazy stuff, huh? 😉
This pound cake should not overflow if prepared as written and baked in the proper-sized pan (indicated in the recipe card). I have found that some people have had their cakes overflow, and in each instance this has happened because they had substituted self rising flour, used 12 whole eggs, or added baking powder to the recipe. Please do not make any of these alterations.
Enjoy!
More Classic Cakes to Try:
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
The Perfect Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (455 g) unsalted butter softened
- 3 ½ cups (700 g) granulated sugar
- 6 large whole eggs¹
- 6 large egg yolks¹ (these 6 egg yolks are in addition to the 6 whole eggs listed above)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups (438 g) all-purpose (plain) flour²
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and generously grease (with shortening) and flour a 10 inch tube pan or 12 cup bundt pan. Shake out excess flour and set aside.
- Place your butter in a large bowl (this recipe makes a lot of batter! I recommend using a stand mixer if you have one) and use an electric mixer to beat the butter until it is creamy and smooth.2 cups (455 g) unsalted butter
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sugar. Beat until the ingredients are well combined and light and fluffy (about 1-2 minutes).3 ½ cups (700 g) granulated sugar
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine your eggs, additional egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt.6 large whole eggs¹, 6 large egg yolks¹, 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon salt
- Use a fork to lightly beat the eggs and yolks until all egg yolks are broken up and salt and vanilla are incorporated.
- With mixer on low speed, slowly pour egg mixture into your batter, allowing it to gradually become incorporated (don’t pour all the egg mixture in at once, if you can’t manage a steady stream then add the egg mixture in about 6 parts, allowing each part to become well incorporated before adding more). Once all of the egg mixture is incorporated, pause to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then increase speed to medium-high and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually, about ¼ cup at a time, add flour to the batter until all has been added.3 ½ cups (438 g) all-purpose (plain) flour²
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl and stir again on medium speed until well-combined and beat for another minute.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared tube pan, use a spatula to smooth the surface of the batter.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake in the center rack of your oven for an hour and ten to an hour and fifteen minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the thickest part of the cake comes out clean or ideally with a few moist crumbs (do NOT over-bake this cake or it will be dry)
- Allow cake to cool for at least 20 minutes then run a knife around the sides of the tube pan and the center.
- Carefully invert pound cake onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before serving.
Notes
¹Eggs
A lot of people have had questions about how many eggs to use. You need a total of 12 eggs for this recipe BUT you are only going to be using 6 whole eggs and then another 6 egg yolks. Meaning you will be discarding 6 egg whites (or save them to make meringue cookies or my white cake).²Cake Flour
If you’d like, you can substitute cake flour. If measuring your flour by weight (which you really should be!) you can do a straight 1:1 substitute for cake flour. If measuring by cups you will need 3 ¾ cup + 2 Tablespoons of cake flour. This cake will turn out just as well; slightly softer, a smidge less dense, but still delicious. Just like with using all-purpose flour, you DO NOT need to add baking powder to this recipe if you use cake flour. Also worth noting: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE SELF-RISING FLOUR.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Gita Jugurnauth
Hi Sam,
I notice that you mention 6 large whole eggs and 6 large egg yolks; would that be 12 eggs in total then? It would be too many, isn’t it? Can you kindly clarify before I embark on this mission please?
Thank you.
Gita
Sugar Spun Run
You are correct, Gita. You want to use 6 large whole eggs and 6 large egg yolks. Let me know how your pound cake turns out! 🙂
Pam
This cake was delicious! Everyone loved it! I used a bundt pan and it turned out great!
Sugar Spun Run
Pam, Thank you so much! I am so glad it turned out so well. 🙂
Naomi Parson
I doubled the recipe and put it in multiple loaf pans, and it cooked perfectly. I love this recipe and it is excellent with some fruit and whipped cream. I will definitely be using this again.
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Naomi! I am so happy your enjoyed the Pound Cake. Adding fresh fruit and whipped cream sounds so yummy! 🙂
Albertina
Absolutely amazing!!!
Sam
Thank you so much, Albertina! I am glad you enjoyed the pound cake. 🙂
Mandy
Is it possible to make this a CHOCOLATE(??!!) pound cake?
Sam
Hi Mandy! That sounds amazing. I’m sure it can be done, but not having tried it myself, I can’t be exactly sure how it can be done. I will definitely put it on my list to do. 🙂
Keith Steenbergen
Does my 5 quart KitchenAid stand mixer have the capacity to handle this much batter? I sure hope so, because I’m chomping at the bit to bake this cake. Many thanks!
Sam
Hi Keith! That’s how big my kitchenaid is and it works great for this pound cake. Enjoy! 🙂
Gita Jugurnauth
Hi Sam,
Can we use a 9inch circular pan for this recipe? Also, can we frost this pound cake? Am guessing if yes, we should not be using the tube that you used, right? To avoid the whole in the middle?
Thank you
Gita
Sam
Hi Gita! This pound cake batter will end up filling multiple 9 inch pans. I think it would bake in a 9 inch pan though. You could certainly frost the pound cake if you make it in a bundt pan if you’d like. 🙂
terri-rae
I just made this cake. Set the timer for 50 minutes. The entire top is burned to a crisp. An hour of work completely wasted.
Sam
Yikes! Sounds like your oven must run hot, what a bummer 🙁
I would recommend keeping an oven thermometer (or even two) in your oven to make sure the temperature is accurate. I hope that helps
Mabelle
I made it twice already this week. Amazing recipe! Everybody loves it. I also made the worst chocolate chip cookies and they didn’t last an hour. If I don’t have a cookie sheet, can I bake it in an upside down baking pan? I tried baking the cookies in a deep pan and it took longer to cook.
Sam
Hi Mabelle! I’m not quite sure how that would turn out. I suppose it could work though.
Tom F
Several people have asked questions about Bundt vs loaf pans, I’m happy to use either but it would be nice to have an idea of the size of pan and I believe the best way to indicate that is by volume.
No matter the type of pan, how many ounces or milliliters does it hold when you fill it to the brim. Now I don’t have to think about if the measurement is at the top of the pan or the bottom or how steeply the sides are sloped.
It is often nice when authors mention whether they use silver, dark non-stick, glass, or even silicone pans.
Heidi
Have you ever made this recipe in cupcake form?
Sam
Hi Heidi! I have not tried it as cupcakes.
Jenny L Owen
Even though the cake fell, DH actually said “This is the best pound cake I’ve ever eaten!” I said, “Funny… that’s the title of the recipe!!!” It is wonderfully delicious … rich and dense, with a perfect crust. AND… because we live at 6000 feet (in Colorado Springs), the cake fell about 10 minutes after I took it out of the oven. I had let it cool 20-30 minutes, then ran the knife around and inverted it onto a cooling rack. I could see that inside the perfect crust the cake hadn’t filled in all the way up to the crust. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the center dropped. Do you have suggestions of what I could try next time… because there will CERTAINLY be lots of next times!!! (I served it to company anyway, with vanilla ice cream, berries, and a drizzle of chocolate balsamic. AMAZING!)
Sam
I am so happy the pound cake lived up to its name, Jenny!! I am bummed though to hear that it fell. I am really not familiar with high altitude baking so I am hoping that someone who is can chime in and maybe advise on how to keep that from happening in the future. Also, I’m so jealous of your guests, chocolate balsamic with ice cream and berries sounds incredible!
jennifer M schmidtke
I would like to try this recipe but the last time I used a bundt pan the cake stuck to the sides… I used Crisco on it then coated lightly with flour. How do you suggest I prepare the pan? The pan does have a lot of detail.
Thank you.
Sam
Bundt pans can be a pain, but it sounds like you are doing exactly the right thing! Greasing with Crisco and flouring (and then tapping out the excess flour) is how I do it, but sometimes if a pan has a lot of detail it can be easy to miss a spot. My best advice would just be to be very, very thorough and double check that every surface is well greased (and then floured). If that is already what you are doing and you are certain you got every crevice and it’s still not working, it might just be that the pan is just a problem and you might always have an issue with cakes sticking, unfortunately.
jennifer M schmidtke
I baked it with no problems at all! I used the Bakers Joy spray with flour. I did spray it a bit heavy but all good. We will try it tomorrow. Thank you for your help!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear it. I hope everyone loves it! 🙂
Libra
Can I use a loaf pan to bake them?
Sam
Hi Libra! I have had others report success baking them in loaf pans. It will probably need a little longer in the oven, and I think you would need more than one pan.
TeeSCmother
I used a bundt pan. Ladies don’t use a bundt pan
Barbi
Why not?
Leona parsons
I always had problems with my cakes sticking to the sides or bottom of the pan that is until I bought a Nordic Bundt pan now each time I bake a cake any cake an I usually bake pound cakes my husband loves them when it’s time to. Invert the cake it just goes plop an it’s out all beautiful an golden brown no worries about it sticking iAIWAYS spray it with bakers joyim not trying to advertise Nordic but it’s a winner ask my husband hope this helps with the sticking problemleona