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 recipeย 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 wonโt 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 itโs 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, itโs 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, itโs 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 itโs finished baking.
This cake was originally made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, and so the nameย poundย cake was born. Crazy stuff, huh? ๐
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:
Letโs bake together! Iโll 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 ยฝ cups (700 g) granulated sugar
- 6 large whole eggsยน
- 6 large egg yolksยน (these 6 egg yolks are in addition to the 6 whole eggs listed above)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ยฝ cups (438 g) all-purpose (plain) flourยฒ
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 ยฝ cups (700 g) granulated sugar
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, combine your eggs, additional egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt.6 large whole eggsยน, 6 large egg yolksยน, 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 ยผ cup at a time, add flour to the batter until all has been added.3 ยฝ cups (438 g) all-purpose (plain) flourยฒ
- 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 fifteenย 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
ยนEggs
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).ยยฒCake 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. 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.
Matt
Made this just a little bit ago. Took it out after an hour and after I cut into it the center was still liquid. Even if I left it in ten more min it would t of mattered thatโs how liquid it was
Sugar Spun Run
Oh no, Matt! It sounds like the pound cake just needs to bake longer. Every oven bakes slightly different. I recently got a new oven and found that the temperature was off by 15 degrees. With that being said, I recommend using an oven thermometer to check for accuracy. ๐
Mayt
Thatโs what I use! Problem is the outside was already really dark golden
Patsy
Do you not use any baking powder?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Patsy! This recipe does not need any baking powder. I hope that you enjoy the pound cake. ๐
Robbie
I have tried two different pound cake recipes in the past. The first one was good but the second one that incorporated cream cheese flopped. Literally! My favorite pound cake or any cake is with a lemon flavoring. Can I use lemon extract rather than vanilla? If I use the cake flour do I still have to use the salt?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Robbie! I have others use lemon extract in place of vanilla and had success. As far as cake flour, the answer is yes. You can do a straight 1:1 substitute for cake flour. I recommend using salt. I hope that you enjoy the pound cake recipe. Keep me posted on how it turns out. ๐
Renee
I use vanilla and lemon extract for my pound cake
Marsha
I want to use a 9 x 13 glass pan…any suggestions on temperature or cooking time changes?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Marsha! I have not baked it in a glass 9″ x 13″ pan before, so, unfortunately, I can’t provide you with bake times. I recommend just keeping an eye on it. I hope you enjoy the pound cake. ๐
Sbakes
My mom and grandma always made what they called a โtrue pound cakeโ but I never got the chance to get their recipe. Iโm guessing this might just be the one Iโve been looking for to create those childhood memories. We always had a pound cake at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I do remember that they added ground mace to theirs. Any idea how much I should add? Iโve never baked with mace before. Looking forward to baking this this week!
Sam
To be honest I haven’t baked with ground mace before so I am not sure how potent it is or how it will change the flavor of the cake. I wish I could provide more insight, but hopefully you will enjoy the cake. ๐
Lori Reed Cobb
I am so excited to try this recipe! I’ve been looking for one closest to my Grandmother’s, which was lost, and I think this might be it simply by your description of the pound of sugar, pound of flour and pound of eggs!!! When she was asked her recipe, that’s exactly what she would say! I’ll post my results after I make it!!! CAN’T WAIT!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Lori! I hope that this pound cake recipe comes close to your Grandmother’s. Keep me posted on how it turns out. Happy Baking. ๐
Lori Reed Cobb
AND A POUND OF BUTTER! Sorry…couldn’t edit above comment!
Amanda
This cake is so yummy! I use all purpose flour every time. But am curious about cake flour so will try it sometime. I have also tried making pound cake with cream cheese using a receipt online and this one wins! Keep it original! I’m going to incorporate berries next time!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amanda! I am so glad that you enjoyed the pound cake. Next time, you can use cake flour if you wish. You can do a straight 1:1 substitute for cake flour. ๐
Teione
This recipe was great! Everyone loved it!!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that everyone enjoyed the pound cake, Teione! Thanks for commenting. ๐
Darlene
I just realized after rereading the ingredient list that I was neglecting to add the 6 egg yolks! Iโve made this cake at least 10 times with just the 6 whole eggs and both the taste & the texture is amazing.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Darlene! Pound cake gets its name from the fact that it calls for a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of eggs. I am happy that it worked out with just the 6 whole eggs and that you enjoyed it. ๐
Amanda
I’m curious about the difference. I have made it without the vanilla because I was out and it was still delicious!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amanda! The role of vanilla in most baked goods is just to enhances all the other flavors in the recipe. Without it, it will still turn out ok, with it… more flavor. I hope that helps. ๐
Jiyce
How many cups is this cake? My pan is nine cup capacity
Sam
Honestly I am not quite sure how many cups of batter is in the cake. A typical 10 inch tube pan holds about 16 cups of batter, but this recipe does not fill the pan completely. I would be worried that 9 cups wouldn’t be quite enough.
Michael Fitzgerald
When cooking with an electric stove do I need to lower the temperature?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Michael! You shouldn’t need to but you know your oven best. I recommend keeping an eye on it to see how it bakes. ๐
Courtney
I made a mistake I wasn’t paying attention to the the fact I was supposed to add 6 extra egg yolks but I have already put it in the oven. The batter is Soo good my fiance Even liked it
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Courtney! Oops! How did it turn out without the 6 extra eggs?
Renea Renwick
Im gonna bake this tomorrow, Im curious how my fresh eggs vs store eggs.
Rebecca
Oh my goodness I havenโt even baked it yet and Iโm eating the raw batter but I used good quality eggs so you know free range organic but I can already tell this cake is going to be marvelous thank you!
Sugar Spun Run
It’s one of my favorites! I am happy to hear you enjoy it too, Rebecca! Let me know what you think of the finished product. lol. ๐
Marcy Mulligan
Did you sift the flour??
Pamela Namakando
This sounds to be a good cake. Will bake it tomorrow
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that you enjoy it, Pamela! ๐
Cheyenne
What kind of pan do you bake this in?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Cheyenne! I typically bake this in a 10″ tube pan. If you don’t have one on hand others have used a bundt pan instead. If you do choose to use this, I recommend keeping an eye on it, as bake time may vary. I hope that you enjoy the pound cake. Let me know how it turns out. ๐
AISHA PETERSON
Thank you for this recipe… my family literally fights over this cake. I can never make just one. Heavy and moist just like its supposed to be… appreciative for this recipe…
Sam
Thank you so much, Aisha! I am so glad everyone enjoys the cake so much. Better make a second one so there are no fights! ๐
Glenda Jean Merritt
Why is salted butter not recommended?