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.
Imari S.
Came out fantastic, definitely added to the baking book!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you loved the pound cake, Imari! Thanks for trying my recipe. ๐
Tina
Iโm not sure what I did wrong with this. I got the batter all done and there was way too much batter for my cake pan. It came all the way to the top of the on and then I spent 2 hours watching it overflow in the oven and trying to clean it up. I know your post said it makes a lot of batter, but is this a double recipe or something?
Sam
Oh no! That is frustrating… what size cake pan did you use? This recipe fits in a standard 10″ tube pan. It is not doubled.
Harriett Payne
I just made this recipe as well and the same thing happened to me! I had the transfer some of the batter (that didnโt spill out) into a loaf pan.
suzanne
any way to make this a lemon pound cake
Sam
I think some lemon extract and lemon zest could do it but I haven’t tried it myself yet to tell you exactly how much, I’m sorry! I’d also definitely recommend a lemon glaze, probably like the one I use on my lemon brownies.
Dottie Spurlock
Can you use Stevia instead of sugar.. for those of us that can’t do sugar
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Dottie! I have never tried it so unfortunately, I can not advise. ๐
Terina
So this cake does not require any liquid?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Terina! No, it does not. Traditionally, pound cake was made with a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour, and so the name pound cake was born. I hope that you love the recipe! ๐
Michael
I cut the sugar by half a cup but it’s still too sweet for us. Will try cutting one cup next time. Otherwise it’s a very nice cake with a lovely texture.
Sugar Spun Run
I am glad that you enjoyed the pound cake, Michael. Thank you for commenting. ๐
Leslie
After 11 years of marriage, my husband tells me pound cake is one of his favorites (never have I ever seen him eat it, haha). I was short one egg, so I left out one yolk, but it was so delicious! It was just a bit too sweet for our liking. After looking at conversions, I see that 700g of sugar is a lot more than a pound. Do you think the cake would turn out just as awesome (taste, texture, etc) if just an original pound of sugar was used? Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe!
Sam
Hi Leslie! While I personally think the taste is best with the amount of sugar that I’ve used here, I think you would definitely be fine to reduce the sugar some. I’d probably try reducing the recipe by 1 cup (so use 2 1/2 cups or 500grams), I’m not sure that I’d advise cutting much more than that (but I also haven’t tried it myself with the sugar reduced quite so much), and see if that suits your taste. I hope that helps! ๐
Lyns
I could prob google this question, but Iโll try here first. If I halve the recipe, is a shorter bake time in order?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Lyns! If you half the pound cake recipe and bake it in the 10″ tube pan listed, then yes, the bake time will be less. No matter what pan you use, I recommend just keeping an eye on it. I hope that you enjoy the cake. ๐
Kathy
We had a yen for something sweet at our vacation home and I wanted to make a pineapple upside-cake. We like a heavier, dense cake so I decided o try it! I cut the recipe in half, and used prob 2/3 in an 8โ round pan. That one had butter, brown sugar, crushed, drained pineapple, and cherries in the bottom. The rest I put in a small casserole dish. Iโm starting with 30 min and will check frequently. No matter how it turns out, it will taste delish! Iโll let you know!๐
Sugar Spun Run
I hope that they turn out wonderfully, Kathy! Keep me posted. ๐
Kathy
Absolutely delicious! But they were both slightly underdone in the center. This recipe was perfect as a pineapple upside down cake. We loved the denser texture and the flavor was to die for! I would let it go 5 – 10 min longer. Thanks!
Jewell M Dickerson
I have wasted so much money trying to make pound cakes never do they come out right!! so’ happy I came across this page cause, I have made the best pound cake ever prefect Thanks so much not just for sharing but for step by step instructions, I have a feeling I’m going to get tired of making it family loves it.
God Bless
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear that your pound cake came out so well, Jewell! Thank you for trying my recipe. I am so glad your family enjoyed it! ๐
Katekani
I’m asking if we put baking powder or soda
Sam
Nope!
Laura
Great cake! Loved this recipe
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the pound cake, Laura! Thanks for commenting. ๐
Lyna
Do you melt the butter in cups??
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Lyna! I do not melt the butter, I let it sit at room temperature 30 mins to an hour before I am ready to use it. You can watch my video located at the bottom of the post that shows you the full process of making this pound cake. I hope that helps! Happy Baking! ๐
Heather
I baked this in a bundt pan and it didn’t turn out well. Kept getting wet skewers when I checked, but the outside was burning. I pulled it out when the burning smell got too strong and ended up with wet spots on the top/in the middle and the outside was way overcooked and burnt. I think if I make it again, I would try it in loaf pans but only fill them halfway or lower and then discard the extra batter.
Patricia Mitchell
Best pound cake I have ever made. Crispy crust ,soft center. Looked for this kind forever.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the pound cake, Patricia! Thanks for commenting. ๐
Lisa Jordan
Are you using six eggs plus 6 eggs whites
Sam
Hi Lisa! You need 6 whole eggs and 6 additional egg yolks. ๐
Charon
Do you think it would be ok to half this recipe?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Charon! Yes, that will be fine. ๐
Charon
Turned out delicious. I was a bit unsure on the baking times though since i was using a loaf pan. I believe it took about 50 mins. Also, i only had raw brown sugar which tends to be more coarse, i lowered the sugar to 330g, it didn’t melt into the cake all the way ๐, my pound cake had a bit of additional sugary texture.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that your pound cake turned out well, Charon. Sorry that the brown sugar substitute didn’t melt into the cake as you had hoped. Thanks for trying my recipe! ๐