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.
Zibiah
I found this recipe after my husband requested pound cake. I cut the recipe in half and made it in my 9×5 loaf pan since I don’t have a tube or bundt pan. It came out perfect. Will definitely be making this recipe again. Thank you.
JoAnn Caliendo
I can use a bundt pan for this correct? I can’t wait to try it
Sam
Hi JoAnn! A bundt pan works well as long as it is a 12 cup bundt pan. 🙂
JoAnn
so I tried it in a Bundt pan and it was delish. filled our mouths with joy!!!
Katy
I followed the recipe to a T. While baking the batter overflowed my Bundt pan and the middle of the cake fell. I am about 5500 ft. Did this happen because of the altitude? Should I have changed something?
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Katy! I just want to make sure that you only used 6 whole eggs and 6 egg yolks, not 12 whole eggs? Did you make any additions or substitutions? I don’t think the elevation would cause this. 🙁
Katy Maunu
I followed the recipe exactly. The only thing I can think of is the altitude. I’m still trying to get the hang of baking at a higher altitude. My cake looked terrible but tasted great. I just cubed it up and used it in a trifle with whipped cream and strawberries:)
Amanda Himel
Pretty good cake! I misunderstood and slightly melted the butter versus letting it soften. It still came out pretty well. Thanks for this recipe, this was my first pound cake and I must say it was pretty easy. My husband has already eaten half the cake 20 minutes after it cooled.
Katy
This is great! Would it be possible to halve this recipe and have it turn out the same?
Sam
Hi Katy! You should be able to cut this recipe in half without an issue. I’m not sure what a bake time would be or what size pan it will fit in.
B. White
I have baked this cake so many times. I use 3 cups cake flour and additional 1/4 t. pure lemon extract. Thank you for such a perfect cake recipe.
Donna Quire
I made your pound cake recipe. The flavor was good but the texture was off. It was a bit chewy. Any thoughts on what happened? Thanks
Sam
Hi Donna! Is it possible that it was under-baked?
Cassidy
Hello! What recommendation would you have for adding fruit? My grandfather loves pound cake with pineapple in it but I wouldn’t want to disrupt the moisture balance. How might I add that successfully?
Sam
Hi Cassidy! Without having tried it I can’t say for sure how to do it. Adding the extra moisture could require changes in the recipe.
Yvonne
I’d love to try this recipe. Do you think adding a teaspoon of almond flavoring in addition to the vanilla will be ok?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Yvonne! The almond flavor is tricky because it is more potent. We would probably start with ½ to ¾ teaspoon and then increase it as needed 🙂
Lisa
This is the absolute BEST pound cake I’ve ever had. Easy, delicious and freezes well
Ada A.
Sam, do you have a chocolate cake replica of this pound cake?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We have a chocolate bundt cake recipe that’s pretty similar 😊
Ada A.
I’m not sure how this isn’t working for few folks. I tried it the first time a couple of years ago, it was more than a hit in my household. My husband does not touch cakes, cakes are not his thing. He tried this cake and he was the one that literally finished it, and still does each time I make it.
One thing is very clear- this remains the best pound cake out there!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are so happy it is such a hit for you (and your husband), Ada! Thanks for the review–we really appreciate it 🩷
Emma
Fantastic cake! It was so delicious, my husband loved it.
Shana
Horrible. Never cooked through and just smelled like eggs. Had to throw it out and waste all my ingredients. Would give 0 if I could.
Sam
Hi Shana! Did you use a full dozen eggs instead of 6 eggs and 6 egg yolks?
Shana
I followed the recipe as stated with 6 eggs as well as 6 egg yolks.
Sam
Hmm was it mixed well enough? Did you make any omissions or alterations to the recipe?
evelyn gager
Literally did not actually bake. Stayed as batter in the oven for hours.
Sam
Hi Evelyn! I’m not sure how that is possible? Even if everything possible went wrong it would still be cooked after hours. Is your oven working?
Jess
didn’t bake through. burnt by the time the center cooked. followed the directions to the T
Sam
Jess, if everything was followed truly to a t, this sounds like your oven is running much hotter than it should be. While you may not notice burning happening so badly with other recipes, with a recipe that bakes as long as this one you will end up burning it if your oven is running hot because of how much time it spends in the oven. You can see from the photos and video that when everything is running smoothly the cake should brown but certainly not burn. Do you have a thermometer in your oven? I would recommend getting one and testing the center of your oven.
Alane Dotson
My first pound cake, and WOW ! Delicious