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.
Carolyn
A taste I haven’t had since being a kid, just as delicious as I remember! I’ve tried other recipes and the is the best!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Carolyn! 🙂
Kaycee
Made my first pound cake and this is the only recipe I’ll use moving forward! Easy, simple instructions. This is what pound cake is supposed to taste like. Delicious!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Kaycee! 🙂
Paula
Followed the recipe exactly – tasted like pure butter and eggs and was super heavy. I questioned the ingredient list before making it but some of the reviews prompted me to try anyway. Cost a good $30 to make and was not worth it.
Sam
Hi Paula! I’m sorry to hear this happened! Pound cake is going to be dense. Can you be a little bit more specific? It does have a pound of butter and 6 whole eggs and 6 egg yolks, so it’s a lot of eggs and butter.
Paula
Yes we expected it to be dense but not for the end result to taste like the bare ingredients. Did not taste like a “cake” if that makes any sense! Maybe personal preference – just didn’t taste worth the ingredient cost or calories.
Gannine
excellent
Mike
I made to spec…overflowed from recc pan…huge mess…recipe should be scaled back to work with recc pans
Sam
Hi Mike! This shouldn’t overflow. I just want to check that you have a pan that can hold 12 cups of batter? Did you make any adjustments like using self rising flour, adding baking soda or baking powder, or using 12 whole eggs instead of 6 eggs and 6 yolks?
Mike Hill
Hey! Yes, pan is of size. Didn’t use self rising flour but did use gluten free. Separated 6 eggs but used large duck eggs as my norm. May have over-beaten? Cake tastes great…after clean up.
Sam
I haven’t tried gluten free flour so I’m not sure how that would work here. The duck eggs were most likely the problem as they are much larger than regular eggs.
Ashley M
I was skeptical to try this recipe after reading some of the reviews. I am so glad that I did!!! This pound cake is fantastic. I used cake flour and did the 1:1 ratio as stated. I did use a scale to make sure I had the correct amount of flour and sugar as well as other ingredients. I did forget to break the yolks of the eggs prior to adding them, but did add them one at a time and allowed each one to be incorporated into the batter before adding the next. My cake took 1 hour and 20 minutes to fully cooked and a skewer come out clean. It was perfectly cook, had a beautiful golden color and the taste was absolutely delicious. I now have my pound cake recipe that I will be using time and time again. I also used almond extract…I did about 1/4 part almond and 3/4 part vanilla and that worked great, The almond flavor is there, but not over powering. Thanks
Jenn
Great recipe! I made it as instructed in an 81/2×11” sheet cake pan and baked for just one hour. After cooling I was able to cut it into cubes for dipping into chocolate fondue. It held up beautifully without breaking or crumbling apart.
Amber Cullen
Made this pound cake yesterday as I had egg yolks left over from making your Oreo cake for a cake contest! It will absolutely melt in your mouth. Seriously delicious and so easy to make. Watch it carefully after an hour bake time , keep checking for doneness and it will come out perfectly. Thanks Sam for another amazing recipe!
Terri
Delicious and moist! I was watching the YouTube video and came upon what you feed your kids for breakfast. The entire video, I was thinking WTH??? Has she lost her mind? 🤣
Sam
🤣 I’m glad you enjoyed the cake. 🙂
Emily
I made this recipe for the cake in a trifle. This quite literally was the most delicious cake ever! I got so many compliments on how good it was and it’s now my go to recipe. Combined with the blueberries, strawberries and home made whipped cream in the trifle, it was unbelievable. Thanks for such an amazing recipe !!!!
Emma Sell
how much time would i bake it at for a 9inch round cake pan?
Sam
Hi Emma! I’m not sure how it will work in a 9″ round cake pan. You would need several. I’m not sure on a bake time and it may not bake quite right, but if you do try it, please let me know how it goes. 🙂
Ruth Reed
I make your cake today and it was as tall as the tube pan.I inverted on a wire rack.A few minutes.later I noticed that it had fallen out of the pan onto the rake.The cake deflated when the pan was removed.A toothpick came out clean when checked…..why would this happen.Instructions followed to the letter.Ruth
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Ruth, you will want to check your pound cake with a skewer, not a toothpick, to make sure you test the batter all the way through. How did it look when you cut into it?
Francine
I was looking for a recipe to make for my boss who retired yesterday. I’m a very experienced Baker and have one contest for my cakes. Though this cake tasted good, it looked absolutely nothing like the picture. It was very dense and looked almost wet and underbaked in the center when cut. And I knew it was not under baked. If anything I was in fear I had maybe overbaked. I may give it another try once the cost of eggs go down. It was very expensive to make with eggs cuz as much as they are right now and the cost of butter I’ve made many of you recipes and all have been awesome. This one not so much
Sam
Hi Francine! I’m so sorry this one wasn’t a hit for you. Are you sure the cake wasn’t underbaked? From what you’ve described it sounds underbaked 🙁
Jenn
Hi Sam! I wanted to follow up on this comment because I have made this recipe several times and had excellent results MOST of the time – a few times I had the “wet” texture described. I am wondering if it has to do with the fat content of the butter? I have had amazing results with what I would call American style butter, but seem to run into issues when I use European style butters. I just wanted to get your thoughts on this? I absolutely love this cake!
Sam
That’s very interesting. I wouldn’t think European butter would cause an issue. 🙁
Jaime Duncan
I was thinking about trying this, but after seeing there is no rising agent at all i’m not surprised it’s dense…
Sam
Hi Jaime! Pound cake is supposed to be dense and should not include a leavening agent. However, the texture Francine described is not typical (the end result should be plush and melt-in-your-mouth) and what she described is either a result of accidentally mismeasuring something or not baking long enough. If it helps, you can see the exact texture of how the pound cake should turn out in the photos in the post or watch the video in the recipe card where I make it on camera and you can see the finished product. I hope that helps!
Jaime Duncan
Forgive me, I had no idea. I’ve never made pound cake before, but lots of other cakes… I hadn’t ever seen a cake that used no leavening at all (on purpose).
Jerry Sheffield
This has been my go to pound cake recipe, it has always received rave comments.Is there a smaller size recipe for a loaf pan? Thanks.
Sam
Hi Jerry! I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! This recipe should fill 2 loaf pans so you could either make 2 or cut this in half. 🙂
Susan Shepard
Hi Sam, if using two bread pans, would the time or temperature change?
Thank you!
Sue
Casey @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Susan! The temperature would stay the same, but I suspect the time may be less.🙂
Sharon McDuff
The recipe was a good one