The Best Pound Cake Recipe
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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 great served alone or pairs beautifully with whipped cream and fresh fruit.Recipe includes a video tutorial!
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 like my chantilly cake.
If your experience with pound cake recipes 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.
Why you’ll love this pound cake recipe!
- The perfect crumb. Thanks to incorporating plenty of extra egg yolks (they make such a difference). It’s heavy (as pound cakes should be!) with a dense, velvety crumb that’s never dry or crumbly.
- Great on its own, but even better dressed up. Serve with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit or strawberry sauce, a drizzle of chocolate ganache, or a dollop of lemon curd.
- Highly rated. I first shared this recipe eight years ago, and its garnered hundreds of 5-star ratings since then.
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 take into account its origins while fine-tuning things for the best possible flavor (adding vanilla was non-negotiable). 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 plus 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 or cause the cake to overflow the pan. 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’ll 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 certainly 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 NOTE 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
- Beat the butter until its smooth and creamy, then add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl (or a large measuring cup works great), whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. With your mixer on low, slowly drizzle in the egg mixture to incorporate. Pause and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, then increase speed and beat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually add the flour, pausing periodically to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl with a spatula.
- Once all the flour has been added, beat well for another minute longer until you have a completely smooth, uniform, and silky batter.
- Pour batter into a well greased and floured tube pan or bundt pan. You can grease the pan with butter or shortening, but make sure it is thoroughly greased/floured and tap out the excess flour before adding the batter.
- Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Cool the cake for 20 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the sides and center and carefully invert onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before cutting in (it could look underdone in the center if cut into warm).
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). This cake is so tall that a regular 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! Since the top of the cake tends to form a firm crust, you may need to make a slightly larger hole at the top with the skewer so it doesn’t scrape off the batter, making it difficult for you to tell what the crumb actually looks like.
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? 😉 My recipe doesn’t stick strictly to the original formula, I think you’ll like it even better.
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 a pan that was too small, used 12 whole eggs, or added baking powder to the recipe. Please do not make any of these alterations.
Enjoy!
Top your pound cake with…
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The Perfect Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 10" tube pan or 12-cup bundt pan (must hold 12 cups batter)
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
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and generously grease (with shortening) and flour a 10 inch tube pan or 12 cup bundt pan (pan must be able to hold 12 cups). 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 3/4 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This pound cake recipe was first published in 2018. I’ve since updated it to include new photos, notes, and tips. The recipe remains the same.
I made this punt cake today, and it turned out perfect. I weighed everything to make sure it was precise. I also used Kerigold butter and added an additional teaspoon of almond extract. It is super moist and almost chewy in places. I have a convection oven which decreased the temp to 325. Also, it was finished in 1 hour. Great recipe. Will be a favorite moving forward.
I am so glad that you enjoyed it, Scott! Thank you for sharing what worked for you using a convection oven. I am happy to hear that it turned out perfectly for you. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I tried this recipe and it turned out good I broke it up in small loaf pans and reduced the cooking time so it wouldn’t dry out the cake making more to share with family and friends. Thank you for this recipe Love it
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cake, Beulah, I hope that your family does too. Thanks for trying my recipe. 🙂
I was not impressed with the results.
I am really sorry that you did not enjoy the cake, Vinet. What was it that you did not like?
I tried this recipe, baked it in a 12Lx6Wx4D loaf pan, but it took a long time to cook, 1.75 hours, and was burnt on the outside by the time the insides were almost done (still a little undercooked). Any ideas or suggestions? It tasted great, just need to get the cook time correct.
Thanks!
Hi, Andrew! It sounds like your oven may be running too hot. If you haven’t done so, I highly reccomend checking your oven temperature for accuracy. I recently purchased a new oven and found that is was running 15 degrees hotter than what was indicated. I would lower the temperature so the outside doesn’t burn before the inside is cooked through. Also, this recipe makes a lot of batter so when you bake it in smaller pan than indicated it will take a long time to bake. This recipe can make (2) 9″ loaf pans. Ii hope that helps! 🙂
Hi!
I wanted to know if it would be too dry if I omit the egg yolks and just include the 6 eggs?
Thank you!
Hi, Jowana! Yes, it would alter the texture. You need to include all egg + egg yoks listed. Enjoy!
I didn’t realize it was 6 eggs plus 6 egg yolks. I’ll let you know how it comes out since it’s in the oven!
This recipe is the best I’ve ever tried!!!
Thank you for sharing.
I am so glad you enjoyed the pound cake, Jackie! 🙂
I have made this recipe 2 times, the first time was a bust because I accidentally used gluten-free flour and the texture ended up being too dense and deflated. The second try, I used the proper AP flour. However, I used completely softened butter and followed all of the steps exactly, yet the butter did not reach the consistency I observe in the video. Additionally, the cake deflated significantly in the center and does not even remotely resemble the results in the video and photos. Is there a particular butter that should be used? I used land-o-lakes butter both times, and the creamed butter and sugar resembled slightly fluffy wet sand, rather than the silky smooth texture in the video. I’m totally stumped on this one.
Hmm just to clarify you used land-o-lakes butter not margarine? Maybe your butter wasn’t quite as soft as mine, which may make it look different but it should still turn out. Are you using a tube or bundt pan when you are baking this? Under-baking could cause the center to sink if you aren’t using a tube or bundt pan. I hope this helps. 🙂
I had the same issue. The inside was custard, even at an hour and twenty minutes. Also I felt the finished product was too sweet. Maybe just a bit too much sugar and not enough egg white?
The batter tasted incredible.
Hi Robin! I’m so sorry you had this issue! Is your oven temperature accurate? Sometimes it can take longer but not that much longer to still be under-baked. Also if your oven wasn’t properly preheated it could cause this issue as well.
Can I use two round cake pans with this recipe? How should I adjust the bake time? Thank you!
Hi Carol! You can bake this in round cake tins, be careful not to overfill them you may have a little extra batter. I’m not quite sure how long they would need to bake. I would just keep an eye on it. 🙂
Can I use salted Butter?
Hi Katrina! You can use salted butter, just omit the salt. 🙂
I used this recipe today. I followed all the directions. Except I didn’t bake it as long. I only baked it for 55 minutes and yet the cake still came out dry. It was a very dry batter. I thought that seemed unusual hence why i baked it for a shorter time. I’m not sure if maybe adding water or maybe less flour would have worked. But the butter, sugar, and egg mixture were dense and dry. Any suggestion? Thank you.
Hi Desi! I am so sorry this happened. Did you happen to weigh your ingredients? It sounds like there may have been too much flour in the mixture. I hope this helps. 🙂
Can I use a regular loaf pan for this recipe?
Hi, Bess! Yes, you can! This recipe makes enough to fill two loaf pans. If you only would like to bake one, I would recommend cutting this recipe in half. Since you will be changing the pan size, the baking time will also be different than what is listed so you’ll want to keep an eye on it while it bakes. Enjoy!
The recipe has great flavor and was almost perfect but I think maybe I over baked it some? Came out a little dry. Or maybe too much flour? How do you measure out the flour?
Thank you for trying my recipe, Michelle! Overmixing the batter and over measuring flour are the most common mistake when baking a cake. I have created a guide on how to properly measure flour that can be used as a reference for next time. Regardless, I hope that it still tasted delicious! 🙂
So good!
I made this cake with my kids yesterday and it is unbelievably delicious! I can’t believe how dense and moist it is. My only error was not placing it on the middle rack, but everyone seemed to like the crispier crust. I will definitely be making this again!!!
What is your bake time recommendation for a traditional metal loaf pan?
Hi Rupali! I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cake so much! I haven’t made this in a loaf pan so unfortunately I do not know how long it will need to bake in a loaf pan.
Way too long is the answer. I baked it in a 12x6x4 loaf pan, and it tool nearly 2 hours to bake, was still a little underdone, and was burnt by the time it was almost done. I need to try a angel food or bundt cake pan next time around.
Can I use a Bundt pan instead?
Hi Jenni! As long as the pan will hold all of the batter that will work perfectly fine. 🙂
Thanks! I’ll let you know how it goes.