Sour Cream Pound Cake is a beautifully dense, melt-in-your-mouth cake. This classic recipe uses just eight common ingredients and pairs perfectly with berries and whipped cream. Recipe includes a how-to video!
A Soft, Perfectly Dense Cake
Straight from my grandmother’s archives, this sour cream pound cake is a true gem of a dessert. While hot milk cake was her go-to recipe, I was excited to find this one in her box of recipes and couldn’t wait to share it.
What to Know About This Recipe:
- Spot-on texture. Egg whites and a touch of baking soda lighten the batter so the sour cream pound cake is still classically dense, but with a tender, melt-in-your mouth crumb.
- Lower egg yolk ratio. Compared to my classic pound cake, this recipe uses fewer eggs (specifically egg yolks).
- Sour cream = secret weapon. Maybe not-so-secret since it’s in the name after all, but the sour cream adds richness, moisture, and tenderness. The texture is great even days later.
- Doesn’t shy away from the sugar. 3 cups of sugar, that’s not a typo and yes it’s actually over a pound of sugar. But the sugar isn’t just for sweetness, it’s a key contributor to that perfectly moist crumb, too. Reduce it and the cake as a whole just won’t be as good.
- No fancy tools (but a few dishes). Fair warning: today’s recipe uses several bowls and is somewhat time consuming, but the technique is simple and it is 100% worth the effort (and the long bake time). Once its cooled, I suspect you’ll still want to dirty a few more to serve with macerated strawberries and whipped cream
Jump to:
What You Need
Today’s ingredients are super basic and fairly similar to a traditional pound cake, with a few exceptions:
- Sour cream. As mentioned above, this is a key ingredient that adds moisture, flavor, and tenderness to the cake. I use it in my blueberry muffins and zucchini cake for the same reason.
- Eggs. You’ll be using six whole eggs in this recipe, and unlike my regular pound cake, you’ll be separating them to whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. This creates a soft, beautifully textured cake.
- Baking soda. Many traditional versions don’t include a leavening agent, but today’s sour cream version needs a small amount for a nice rise.
- Flour. Do NOT use self-rising flour! All-purpose works fine here–just make sure you know how to measure your flour properly, or your cake could come out dry. I like to use a kitchen scale to measure mine.
- Optional toppings: This cake is perfectly sweetened as-is and doesn’t really need any addition. However, for a subtle touch add a dusting of powdered sugar, or add a citrus twist with lemon glaze (or a decadent one with a drizzle of chocolate ganache).
Remember, 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!
SAM’S TIP: Make sure to thoroughly grease and flour your pan! I like to use shortening and my hands to get in all the nooks and crannies of the bundt. After adding the flour, remember to tap out an excess, or your sour cream pound cake will come out looking floury.
How to Make It
- Thoroughly cream together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer (or you can use a stand mixer!).
- Add the egg yolks one at at time (remember, keep the egg whites separate for now!), then add the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and sour cream to the egg yolk mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. It’s fine to use your electric/stand mixer for this step, but you’ll want to be done with it and switch to using a spatula once it’s time to add the egg whites.
- Whip your egg whites to stiff peaks in a separate clean, dry, and grease-free bowl.
- Gently fold your whipped egg whites into your batter (spatula for this step, not a mixer!).
- Pour the batter into a thoroughly greased and floured pan (so important!) and bake for 90 minutes.
- Use a wood skewer to test your cake for doneness (a toothpick isn’t quite deep enough), then let your cake cool in its pan for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
SAM’S TIP: The particularly low and long baking temperature allows this cake to cook thoroughly through without over-baking. This yields an unbelievably soft texture and a less firm, lighter exterior compared to traditional pound cake. That being said, you still can overbake this cake, so keep an eye on it!
Frequently Asked Questions
I recommend storing in an airtight container (or tightly wrapped in plastic wrap) at room temperature. While my grandmother’s notes indicate that the fridge may be used to store this cake and it’ll keep longer that way, since the refrigerator has a tendency to dry out cakes I generally try to avoid storing cakes in there unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Yes, cake flour works great here. You will want to use 3 ⅓ cups or 375 grams (note the weight will be the same as it is for all-purpose flour, but the volume will be different; this is because cake flour is lighter and finer than all purpose so you need more by volume to substitute properly).
The most likely culprit is that the cake was simply baked for too long or on too high of a temperature. Keep in mind many ovens run much hotter than they let on, so it’s a good idea to keep an oven thermometer in your oven (keep it near the center, where you will do most of your baking) to know whether yours is being honest with you or not.
Perfect Pairings:
If you’ve tried my other pound cake recipes (I have a lemon pound cake and a classic bundt cake, too!), I’d love to hear how you feel this one compares!
Enjoy!
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
Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs whites and yolks separated (room temperature preferred)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon table salt
- 8 oz (226 g) sour cream
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F (145C) and thoroughly grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan or ten inch tube pan. Set aside.
- Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) and use electric mixer to beat together until thoroughly creamed.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition, then stir in vanilla extract.6 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and table salt.3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon table salt
- Alternate adding flour and sour cream to the sugar mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture (I do the flour in 4 parts and the sour cream in 3).8 oz (226 g) sour cream
- In yet another bowl (this one medium-sized and completely clean, dry, and grease free), place egg whites and use a clean electric mixer to beat until you have stiff peaks. Fold gently into batter.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared pan and transfer to 300F (145C) oven and bake for 90 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
Notes
Different pans
This cake may be baked in two 9×5” bread pans. Thoroughly grease and flour the pans and bake in the center rack for approximately 60-70 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean or with moist crumbs.Storing/Serving
This cake may be prepared up to several days in advance and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. It also may be frozen, allow to return to room temperature before serving.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.
Colleen
First time making a pound cake and everyone raved about it. Definitely a keeper, served with raspberry compote and whipped cream. Also delicious on its on. My new go to recipe. Thanks
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for trying our recipe, Colleen! We are so happy this one was such a hit for you 🥰
Donnie
This is the exact recipe of my Grandmother, a wonderful Southern cook. I have been making this cake for over 30 years since she passed away. It is a delicious cake.
Sam
It tastes so good! 🙂
Courtney Brown
This was my first attempt at making a pound cake. Your recipe with step by step instructions was so easy to follow for a novice like me. The cake turned out wonderful!
Sam
This is so wonderful to hear, Courtney! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out, I really appreciate it!
Giulia B,
This cake is delicious! I added only one cup of sugar and it is still sweet and very good.
Melinda
My daughter came to visit from Georgia, but one of her demands :0 is that I make my sour cream pound cake for while she was visiting and one to take home. I have been using a particular recipe for many years, but decided to change it up! That’s when I found this one! Incorporating stiff egg whites into the batter was definitely a bonus as the cake came out so much lighter than my old recipe and the one’s my mom and grandmother used to make. Don’t get me wrong, the heavier pound cakes were just as good, but this one was definitely not as sweet and a much lighter texture which my family loved. Thank you for my new recipe and your extra time with the video.
PS… Will be trying your Lemon Curd Cake next.
Sam
Thank you so for the kind feedback, Melinda! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Zora
The texture and consistency of the cake was fabulous but the cake is way too sweet. Next time I’m going to cut the sugar to 2 1/2 cups.
Megan Mollett
I have a client who wants a butter pound cake but in layer cake form. Which of your recipes would work best as a layer cake! I’m torn!!
Sam
Hi Megan! I honestly am not sure how they will work as a pound cake. The layers from my chantilly cake could work for you. 🙂
Megan Mollett
Awesome! I will give it a try! What makes that similar to your pound cake as opposed to your vanilla cake?
Sam
Sorry for the delayed response, the chantilly cake is a more dense crumb where the vanilla cake is a more open, kind of airy crumb. 🙂
Beth Bush
This is an excellent recipe! I’m making it right now for the second time. Even my husband who isn’t a fan of pound cake enjoys it. It’s much less dense than the traditional traditional sour cream pound cake. But every bit as delicious!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Beth! We are so happy our recipe is a hit for you both 🥰
Miranda
I made this pound cake along with homemade whipped cream and strawberries to break in my new stand mixer and it was truly perfect. I can’t wait to make it again!! Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved it, Miranda! Congrats on the new mixer–we’ve got LOTS of recipes to help you break it in 😉