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The Flavor Bender   ›   Recipes   ›   Delicious Desserts   ›   Cakes and Cupcakes   ›   The Best Pound Cake Recipe

The Best Pound Cake Recipe

Author:

Dini Kodippili







Jump to Recipe


Updated: 8/17/2023
Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
Quick and Easy Recipes
Cakes and Cupcakes
Classic Pound Cake - A complete guide on how to make perfect, delicious and moist Pound Cake even if you're a baking novice! Tips + Tricks and Troubleshooting guide. 

The only guide you’ll ever need to make delicious, moist, perfect pound cake! A comprehensive step by step pound cake recipe with all the troubleshooting tips to ensure success!

The perfect pound cake is dense but soft, rich, buttery, and moist, and is easy to make. This extensively tested, foolproof pound cake recipe will guide you to make the best pound cakes that you’ve ever made!

A slice of pound cake on a blue plate, served with a dollop of whipped cream on top, with fresh raspberries. A bowl of fresh raspberries, more sliced pound cake in the background.
Contents
 [hide]
  • What is a pound cake?
  • Ingredients for this recipe
  • Pro tip about ingredient measurements
  • Pro tip about ingredient temperature
  • How to make pound cake
  • Serving suggestions
  • Storage instructions
  • Ingredient variations and comparisons
  • Pound cake recipe variations
  • More expert tips and recipe troubleshooting

What is a pound cake?

Pound cakes first originated in Europe. They’ve been around since as early as the 1700s, and the term traditionally referred to a cake that weighed four pounds. That’s because a classic pound cake consisted of 1 pound of each of the following FOUR ingredients,

  • Butter
  • Sugar
  • Eggs
  • Flour

A classic pound cake doesn’t rely on any leavening agents (such as baking powder or baking soda) to give the cake any lift, or any extra liquid to make the cake moist. The result is a dense cake, that is also somewhat dry (especially when over-baked).

As pound cakes have become more popular throughout different parts of the world, different variations of the vanilla pound cake have emerged, that are lighter and more moist. 

Each region (or country) has their own version of a pound cake, incorporating different ratios of the main ingredients, and sometimes including extra liquid and baking powder too.

A close up look at the sliced pound cake. The crumb is close, but moist and soft, with a thin brown outer crust.

Ingredients for this recipe

Start with good ingredients. Well, that’s a given, but it’s especially true with pound cakes. Rather than using generic ingredients, try and use brand name ingredients when possible.

Sugar

Make sure to get cane sugar because it has a finer grain than other white sugars (if it doesn’t say cane sugar, then it’s probably beet sugar). If you can get your hands on pure cane caster sugar (superfine sugar) that’s even better!

Butter

Use GOOD quality butter to ensure a good butter pound cake. Not margarine, not spreadable butter, but classic butter. I prefer to use unsalted butter, but you can use salted butter as well. However, due to the higher water content in salted butter, there’s a higher chance for inconsistent results when using salted butter.

Eggs

Use organic, free-range eggs whenever possible. However, avoid using really fresh eggs. Shocker right?

I prefer to use eggs that are about 1 week old and here’s why. The egg whites in fresh eggs are tighter and thicker whereas in older eggs, the egg whites are thinner and looser. These older eggs mix into the cake batter more easily and readily, resulting in a pound cake that’s lighter in mouthfeel and crumb texture. 

Another reason is that fresh eggs are heavier than older eggs – so 8 fresh large eggs would be way heavier than 1 lb, while 8 older large eggs would be closer to 1 lb.

Flour

I prefer to use unbleached all purpose flour (AP flour) for my pound cake recipe. Mainly because it’s more widely available.

But you can also use cake flour instead. This is lighter, and has less gluten than AP flour. Resulting in pound cake that rises a little more, and has a tender crumb.

If you choose to go with pastry flour, you can substitute cake flour for AP flour at a 1:1 ratio – BY WEIGHT (not volume).

Salt

We add salt to balance the sweetness of the pound cake. Without salt, the cake can either taste too sweet or a little bland. A little salt goes a long way to improve the flavor of the cake. 

Vanilla extract

Vanilla also adds flavor to your pound cake. A vanilla pound cake has more depth to its sweetness. 

Baking powder (optional)

Baking powder is a chemical leavener (read more about it in my baking powder vs baking soda article). The acid and base react in the presence of liquid and create CO2, which helps to expand the batter and rise. However, unlike other cakes, pound cakes rely on air and eggs to rise. So it’s inherently a dense cake with a close crumb.

But baking powder can be added to make the cake rise a little more – especially if you’re not fully sure that you mixed the ingredients well. This is why baking powder is an optional ingredient. 

Ingredients needed to make pound cake in separate bowls.

Pro tip about ingredient measurements

Always WEIGH your ingredients, rather than relying on cup measurements.

I am a HUGE advocate for using an inexpensive kitchen scale for all your baking needs as I’ve discussed at length in my measurement conversions page. Baking needs some precision and a cheap weighing scale will ensure consistent baking results every time, which in turn will save you so much more time and money in the long run from failed recipes and wasted ingredients.

If you do use cups however, it’s important to fluff up the flour and sugar in the container, and then scoop the flour and sugar into the measuring cup to the point of overflowing. Then, using a flat knife, level off the excess flour/sugar. It would still be difficult to guarantee consistent results this way, however.

If you’re in the US, then 1 stick of butter = 4 oz / 115 g / or 0.5 cups. But for anywhere else in the world, the best thing would be to also measure the butter using a measuring scale.

Pro tip about ingredient temperature

It’s absolutely crucial that all the ingredients are at room temperature (70-75°F or 20 – 23°C).

Butter temperature

Butter should be softened, but not too softened. Here’s a crude way of checking if your butter is at the right consistency – make an indentation in the butter with your finger. If the butter is too hard to make an indentation, then well, the butter is too hard.

But if the butter does make an indentation, but it doesn’t keep its shape, and the butter around the indentation loses shape, then the butter is too soft (the butter can also be too oily when it’s this soft).

If it’s easy to make an indentation but it also keeps its shape without distorting any of the butter in the surrounding area, then it’s at the correct consistency!

In the winter, I remove the butter from the fridge and keep it outside overnight. But in the summer, this could make the butter too soft. So instead, in the summer, I prefer to cut the butter into tablespoon-sized pieces and then leave them out to soften for about 30 minutes or so. If the butter gets too soft, then you can simply stick it back in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes to let them chill just a little bit.

Room temperature butter creams and whips easily. This is important because the butter will incorporate air during creaming/whipping which is essential for a light pound cake. If it’s too cold/hard, or too soft/melted, then it cannot hold air while being whipped.

Egg temperature

Eggs should also be kept outside overnight, so that they are all at room temperature. This will help the eggs retain air as well, while being mixed.

Flour and sugar temperature

These should also be at room temperature. I usually store flour and sugar at room temperature anyway, but if you store flour in the fridge, remember to remove it from the fridge the night before.

two slices of classic pound cake on a blue plate, with the rest of the pound cake, sliced, in the background. with a bowl of berries and more serving plates in the background.

How to make pound cake

There are only FOUR STEPS for this easy pound cake recipe.

  • Creaming butter 
  • Adding sugar 
  • Adding eggs 
  • Incorporating flour

Each step is equally important. Make sure EACH INGREDIENT has been weighed and prepared (and sifted), BEFORE you start to make the pound cake.

Since a classic pound cake does not rely on baking powder or baking soda for the cake to rise, the process of mixing the ingredients is crucial. That’s because this classic pound cake relies heavily on the air that is being incorporated during the mixing of butter and sugar, which further gets trapped by the gluten and eggs during baking.

All the ingredients needed to make a classic pound cake. Make sure to measure and have all ingredients prepared before making the cake.
All the ingredients measured before I begin

Stand mixer vs hand mixer

I prefer to use a stand mixer over a hand mixer for convenience. You need to cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes to incorporate the air, and trust me, your hands will thank you if you use a stand mixer instead of a hand mixer.

Creaming butter

The butter needs to be mixed for a few minutes (about 3 – 7 minutes, depending on the room temp. and the butter temp.) by itself first. 

Use the standard mixer attachment in your mixer to do this (not the whip or the dough hook), and this will ensure the incorporation of air in the butter, making it light, fluffy and creamy.

Another mistake to avoid is running the stand mixer at high speed to speed up the process. DO NOT DO THIS! The high speed can knock the air out really fast. So run the mixer at medium speed to let the air in slowly but surely!

Creamed, fluffy and soft butter in the mixing bowl. Make sure the butter incorporates air properly.

Adding sugar

When the butter is fluffy, then you add the sugar. Make sure not to dump all the sugar in at once. The weight of the sugar can cause the butter to deflate, which is NOT good. 

So add the sugar in a thin, steady stream, while the stand mixer is running. This will help cream the butter and sugar together, evenly, adding more air, rather than knocking out the air.

The butter and sugar are creamed together for a few minutes as well. This is for two reasons – one, to incorporate more air and two, to dissolve the sugar. This is why I prefer to use caster sugar which dissolves much faster. 

The sugar may not need to be completely dissolved before the addition of the eggs, but they definitely should be completely dissolved after you add the eggs. If you’re using regular cane sugar, you can whiz the sugar separately in a food processor for a few seconds to make it finer, if you like.

A close up of the creamed butter and sugar in the mixing bowl.
Butter + sugar creamed together

Adding eggs

The next important step is the addition of eggs. The same principle as earlier of not weighing down the batter by adding all the eggs in at once, applies here too. There are TWO ways to achieve this,

  1. Lightly whisk all the eggs in a jug, and then add the eggs slowly in a stream, with a few breaks in between.
  2. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing each one well before adding the next.

Both techniques work, but for convenience, I usually go with the second method. I always crack an egg into a small bowl first, and add it while the stand mixer is running. I mix in the eggs for about 20 – 30 seconds, until the yolk has disappeared, and then I add the next egg.

Eggs being mixed into the cake batter. Make sure the yolks and whites are completely incorporated.

It’s important to not let the eggs overbeat in the batter as well. If you overbeat the eggs, the cake WILL COLLAPSE AFTER BAKING!

Some recipes call for more egg yolks, instead of using whole eggs only. YOU CAN SUBSTITUTE TWO WHOLE EGGS, with FOUR YOLKS IF YOU PREFER. This will result in a cake that is richer in taste and more moist. The cake will have a richer yellow color as well.

But remember that egg whites add lift to the cake, while egg yolks add richness. The reason why some prefer to add egg yolks is because egg whites, while adding volume and lift to the cake, can also dry out the cake.

CHEAT NOTE 1 – Instead of two of the whole eggs in the recipe, add four egg yolks for a more moist pound cake recipe that tastes richer.

CHEAT NOTE 2 – I would also add 1 tsp of baking powder IF I substitute 2 eggs with four egg yolks. This is to compensate for the lack of egg whites.

A bowl of creamed butter and sugar with the eggs mixed in. The flavoring has been added to this as well.
All the eggs added and mixed into the cake batter 

Incorporating flour

Make sure the flour is sifted before you add it to the cake. It’s even better if you can sift it AGAIN when you’re adding it to the cake, but that’s not necessary. This is to reduce the likelihood of flour lumps forming when mixing the flour.

Flour in a sieve, over a bowl. Make sure to sift the flour before adding it to the batter.
Sift the flour

If you’re able to incorporate the flour with a baking spatula – DO IT! Folding in the flour by hand (spoon), will make sure that you don’t overwork the gluten in the flour.

If you do use your stand mixer, use the lowest speed on the stand mixer, and use it for the smallest amount of time.

If the gluten is overworked, you will end up with a tougher and dense pound cake – NOT good. Another way to avoid this is to use cake flour instead of AP flour.

A spatula folding in the flour into the cake batter. Fold the flour in carefully without overworking the gluten.
Folding the flour into the cake batter

CHEAT NOTE 1 – CAKE FLOUR can be substituted for AP flour because it’ll give a lighter texture to your pound cake. This will make your cake rise more in the oven too.

CHEAT NOTE 2 – If you’re worried that your cake wasn’t beaten enough, you CAN add just the smallest amount of baking powder to make sure your pound cake rises properly. I ONLY do this if I use a hand mixer to mix my pound cake batter, because I know that then there’s a chance that I may not have incorporated enough air.

The bowl of cake batter with all the flour added, and completely smooth (no flour lumps), ready to be placed into cake pans.
Smooth cake batter, with all the flour incorporated and not overworked 

Baking the cake

ACCURATE oven temperature is important. It’ll be great if you know that your oven is properly calibrated. You can do this by placing an oven temp. reader in your oven, and then comparing the temp. displayed on your oven with that of the reader. If by chance your oven is not calibrated, you can adjust the baking temp. based on how your pound cake turns out on the first attempt.

If the cake is too dry, then the oven is too hot, and you may need to lower the temp. OR remove the cake from the oven earlier. If the cake is not done by 70 minutes, then the oven temp. needs to be increased, or the cake needs to bake longer.

A buttered and floured loaf pan to bake pound cake. This is the traditional size and shape of a pound cake pan.
A buttered and floured loaf pan to bake pound cake.
The prepared loaf pan, with a little of the cake batter on the bottom of the pan. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
The first measure of cake batter placed in the pan.
The pan with the first layer of cake batter spread out, making sure to reach the corners.
Spread this layer out evenly, making sure to spread it all the way to the corners.
More cake batter placed on top of the first layer of cake batter in the loaf pan.
Top with the rest of the batter and spread this evenly on the surface as well.

Also make sure to PREHEAT THE OVEN for a good 10 – 15 minutes before putting your cake in. This way a stable oven temp. is guaranteed.

Your baking pans can have an effect on the baking times as well. If you use glass cake pans or dark metal pans, the baking time will shorten. If you’re using a light baking pan, then this recipe will be accurate, because I use a light baking pan as well.

I use two 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans for this classic pound cake recipe. You can adapt this to make the cake in two 9.5 x 5.5 inch loaf pans, but be mindful to check on the cake earlier, as it will bake faster.

An overhead view of a freshly baked pound cake in the baking pan, while cooling down.

The final result is an incredibly buttery, soft, classic pound cake! The crumb is tight and together, but not dense or gummy – it’s buttery and soft and just so addictively delicious!

A sliced classic pound cake on a wooden board, with serving plates and a bowl of raspberries in the background.

Serving suggestions

You can enjoy this classic pound cake in SO MANY different ways! Serve it as is, or top it with various additions to make simple but delicious desserts. Check out these creative ways to serve this moist pound cake recipe.

  • Berries and cream (pound cake with strawberries is always popular! You can also use raspberries, blueberries or any other type of berry).
  • Banana and butterscotch sauce – this would taste like bananas foster, but with cake.
  • Chocolate sauce or hazelnut chocolate spread. Who doesn’t love cake and chocolate (or Nutella) together?
  • Whipped cream and nuts or praline or praline paste – to enhance the nutty flavor even more, you can flavor your cake with nut flavoring as well (almond, toasted coconut, pistachios, or peanuts).
  • Lemon glaze or lemon curd – a refreshing and tangy twist to your butter pound cake! Either cover the pound cake with lemon glaze or pour it over cake slices. Alternatively, you can serve it with lemon curd or any kind of citrus curd (such as passion fruit curd, pineapple curd, or lime curd).
  • Whipped cream and Kahlua – this is my favorite! It tastes like tiramisu. A shot of kahlua (or any other sweet liqueur that you like) poured over a cake slice, and then topped with whipped cream or ice cream. An irresistible option for the adults.
 An overhead image of 6 slices of pound cake with creative and delicious ways to serve Classic Pound Cake. Lemon and Pound cake, Berries and Cream with Pound cake. Kahlua and cream with Pound Cake (Tiramisu). Banana, butterscotch and pound cake. Chocolate Hazelnut or Chocolate sauce and poundcake. Toasted nuts, whipped cream and pound cake.

Other options not pictured here,

  • Grill the pound cake slices (especially if you have stale pound cake), and serve them warm with grilled fruits and ice cream.
  • Cut the cake into cubes and add them in trifles (like I do in this chocolate brownie trifle).
  • Cut into cubes, then lightly toast them, and add them into fruit salads – they’ll be like dessert croutons!
  • Make ice cream sandwiches with the pound cake.
A close up of a slice of pound cake on a blue plate, served with a dollop of whipped cream on top, with fresh raspberries.

Storage instructions

When the cake is at room temperature, it can be wrapped well with plastic wrap, and stored in an airtight container, and be consumed within a week. If the cake isn’t wrapped properly, it can become stale, BUT stale pound cake will taste even better when toasted or grilled.

OR you can wrap the cake in plastic wrap, and foil, and then stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Ingredient variations and comparisons

Get a perfect pound cake, that is moist and delicious by following these tips.
Use cake flour to make the pound cake even lighter.
Should I add more egg yolks to my pound cake?
Why is my pound cake heavy and rubbery? Find out in this post.
Why did my crust collapse after baking my pound cake? (Wrinkly, crumbly cake crust)

Pound cake recipe variations

  1. Lemon pound cake – To make lemon pound cake, add the zest of two lemons, and about 1/4 cup of lemon juice to the recipe (for two loaves). To make the cake taste even more lemony, mix 1/2 cup of lemon juice and 1/4 cup of sugar over low heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, pour it over the pound cake while it’s warm and still in the loaf pan. The cake will then absorb the lemon syrup. 
  2. Orange pound cake – To make an orange pound cake, add the zest of two oranges into the batter. Make an orange syrup by reducing 1 cup of orange juice to 1/2 a cup. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour over the cakes while they are still warm and inside the loaf pans. 
  3. Almond pound cake – In addition to the vanilla extract, add about 1 – 2 tsp of almond extract. Make sure it’s a good, all-natural almond extract, because some almond extracts can taste medicinal and bitter when too much is added. Reduce the flour to 300 g, and add 100 g of almond flour to the batter. 
  4. Eggnog pound cake – I’ve shared my recipe for eggnog pound cake with an eggnog glaze. You can follow that recipe to make a delicious and nutmeg spiced pound cake, perfect for the holidays!

More expert tips and recipe troubleshooting

Why is my cake so dense and heavy?

Reason #1 – Chances are not enough air was incorporated into the butter and sugar. This could be because the creaming time wasn’t long enough, or because the sugar, eggs or flour were incorporated too quickly.

Solution – cream the butter until fluffy, and then incorporate the sugar in a thin stream. Add the eggs one by one, or in a stream. Add the flour in batches.

Reason #2 – The gluten in the flour was overworked, causing the gluten to make the cake too heavy and too dense. Use minimal force to incorporate the flour.

Solution – Preferably, fold in the flour in batches using a spatula, or use the absolute shortest time with your stand mixer to mix in the flour on the lowest speed.
Make sure the flour is fully incorporated too – because dry flour streaks can result in a gummy pound cake.
Use cake flour instead of AP flour.

How to ensure a moist pound cake recipe (not dense and very dry)

Pound cake is SUPPOSED to be a little dense. But it’s not supposed to feel heavy or dry. If it’s dry, the cake may have been over-baked. Pound cake can also be too dry if you added too much flour (or not enough butter or sugar).

Solution – You can try lowering the oven temperature.
Or remove the cake from the oven a little earlier.
Or follow the recipe exactly – and refrain from adding extra flour or reducing the amount of sugar or butter. This will make sure your pound cake stays moist and delicious.

Why does my pound cake have a very tough crust?

This usually happens because the oven temperature is too high. Then the crust cooks a lot faster than the inside of the cake, creating a tough crust and a soft middle.

Solution – Lower the temperature of the oven and cook the pound cake for longer.
Using a light colored loaf pan instead of a dark loaf pan also helps.

Why does my pound cake have gummy streaks?

The butter and sugar were creamed too fast and too much! The cake rises, and then collapses while cooling, causing the cake to have dense, gummy (or gluey) spots.

Solution – DON’T increase the speed of your mixer beyond medium speed. And lower the speed to the lowest setting when adding in the flour (or fold in the flour by hand).

My pound cake crust separated from my cake after baking

If you over-beat the eggs, the air in the eggs will cause the cake to rise. It will create a crust that will rise higher than the cake (the same way that eggs can create a crust in brownies, they can create a crust in cakes as well). However, since the rest of the cake did not rise as much (since there is no baking powder etc), the crust will fall as the cake cools down, creating a wrinkled cake crust.

Solution – Make sure to only beat the eggs to the point of incorporating the eggs. If you beat each egg for more than a minute each time, you may run into this issue.

My pound cake crust has little spots on it

These are sugar crystals. As the cake is baking, the unmelted sugar crystals melt with the heat of the oven, causing little spots to appear on the cake crust.

Solution – Use cane sugar that’s a little finer than granulated white sugar.
Caster sugar is even better (super fine sugar – NOT confectioner’s sugar).
If you can’t find caster sugar, you can process the sugar for a few seconds (a few pulses) in your food processor to turn them super fine. If you’re using measuring cups, make sure to WEIGH THE SUGAR FIRST before putting it through the food processor (super fine sugar measures differently than granulated sugar when using cups)

My pound cake sunk in the middle

This classic pound cake should not sink in the middle, unless the cake was under-baked or extra liquid was added.

Solution – If you’re using salted butter, try the cake with unsalted butter, and eliminate all other extra liquids (if you added milk for example)
Bake the cake for longer.

My cake overflowed from the cake pan (8 x 4 inch loaf pan)

If you over-beat the eggs, or beat the butter and sugar too fast, or added too much baking powder, the cake can rise too much and flow over the edges of the pan.

Solution – Reduce the mixing time and don’t use high speed to mix the ingredients.
If you prefer to use baking powder, consider using a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, instead of a 8 x 4 inch loaf pan.

Why does pound cake have a crack on top?

Pound cake is an inherently dense cake, and has no (or very little) chemical leaveners. As such, the cake doesn’t rise much. Also pound cakes are made in pans that are fairly deep that bake a little more unevenly, and take a longer time to cook. This results in a cake where the batter will burst through the middle as it heats slowly, and expands, and has no place to go, which creates this crack on top.

However, this is a desired characteristic of pound cakes! So it’s nothing to worry about!
If you do by chance want to avoid that crack on the surface, then the cake needs to be baked in a larger pan, with a shallow amount of batter, so that it bakes more evenly and faster. 

Why is my pound cake wet in the middle?

As previously mentioned, pound cake is baked in a deep pan – which results in a slow bake time and uneven heat transfer (the surface heats a lot faster than the middle). 

If the pound cake is baked in an oven that is too hot, the outsides will bake way faster than the middle, and result in a wet, raw middle. This can also happen if the cake is taken out of the oven too soon – in which case the outside will also be lighter in color than desired.

To make sure that the middle is baked through, while the outside is not burnt, you must reduce the heat of your oven and bake it for longer until the pound cake is baked through. And ALWAYS let your cake rest and cool down before cutting into it. A hot cake will have a softer crumb that will become dense if you cut into it too quickly. 

What type of pound cake glaze or frosting should I use?

The sky is the limit here, really. Typically, pound cake glaze is a simple confectioner’s sugar glaze made with confectioner’s sugar and a liquid, and then poured over the cake.

The options to mix with confectioner’s sugar include, 
Water
Milk
Egg white (for a glaze like royal icing that hardens)
lemon juice or lime juice
Rose water or orange blossom water
Any flavor extracts + water / milk
Spices + water / milk

But if you’re not a glaze person, you can also top your pound cake with, 
Chocolate ganache (either pourable or spreadable), whipping cream, buttercream (because, why not?), or just serve it as is!

If you liked this recipe, you may also like,

  • Perfect Vanilla Cake
  • Swirled Pastel Easter Cake 
  • Classic Chocolate Cake
  • Fudgy One Bowl Chocolate Sheet Cake
  • Lemon Raspberry Cake

Recipe

Classic Pound Cake - A complete guide on how to make perfect, delicious and moist Pound Cake even if you're a baking novice! Tips + Tricks and Troubleshooting guide. 
5 from 34 votes

The Best Pound Cake Recipe

Author: Dini Kodippili
Yield: Makes two 8.5 x 4.5 inch cakes. 
Cuisine: American, European
Classic Pound Cake - A complete guide on how to make perfect, delicious and moist Pound Cake even if you're a baking novice! Tips + Tricks and Troubleshooting guide. 

 Difficulty: 

Easy
The only guide you'll ever need to make delicious, moist, dense but soft, buttery and perfect classic pound cake! A comprehensive step by step recipe with all the troubleshooting tips to ensure success!
EASY – This recipe is easy to make with this detailed guide. Make sure to read the recipe and post to be familiar with how each stage should look like. It is a technical recipe, but easy to follow.
US‌ ‌based‌ ‌cup,‌ ‌teaspoon,‌ ‌tablespoon‌ ‌measurements.‌ ‌‌Common‌ ‌Measurement‌ ‌Conversions‌.‌ ‌‌Weight‌ ‌measurements‌ ‌are‌ ‌recommended‌ ‌for‌ ‌accurate‌ ‌results.‌ ‌You‌ ‌can‌ ‌access‌ ‌metric‌ ‌weight‌ ‌measurements‌ ‌using‌ ‌the‌ ‌toggle‌ ‌button‌ ‌below‌ ‌the‌ ‌ingredient‌ ‌list.‌ 

US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Weight‌ ‌measurements‌ ‌are‌ ‌recommended‌ ‌for‌ ‌accurate‌ ‌results whenever available.

Common Measurement Conversions
Prep: 35 minutes mins
Cook: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins
Cooling in Pan: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
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Makes: 22 servings

Ingredients:
 

  • 1 lb unsalted butter softened at room temperature (4 sticks of butter)
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 lb cane sugar or caster sugar (about 2 ¼ cups)
  • 8 large eggs 1 lb of eggs (with the shell)
  • 14 oz AP flour or cake flour roughly 3 ¼ cups AP flour, spooned and leveled
  • 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
  • 2 tsp good quality vanilla extract you can add almond extract, or any other flavor extract you prefer

Instructions:
 

  • Butter two 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pans, and dust the inside of the pans with flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. Set aside.
  • Preheat the oven to 325°F / 170°C.
  • Weigh out all the ingredients and keep them close at hand. Sift the flour and baking powder (optional) and set aside in a bowl.
    14 oz AP flour or cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder
  • Optional step –
     if you're using granulated cane sugar, place the sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to get a finer sugar texture.
  • Place your mixer bowl on a weighing scale and note the weight. Remove the mixing bowl from the weighing scale and place it in your stand mixer with the beater attachment attached.
  • Place the softened butter and salt in the bowl and cream the butter until light, creamy, and fluffy (between 3 – 7 minutes), at medium speed (speed 4 – 5 on a kitchen aid mixer). Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure you collect all of the butter.
    1 lb unsalted butter, ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • Add the sugar in a thin, steady stream WHILE the butter is being mixed (you can also add the sugar a tablespoon at a time). It should take approximately 1 min to incorporate the sugar into the butter. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure that the sugar is evenly mixed.
    1 lb cane sugar
  • Cream the butter and sugar for a further 2 – 3 minutes.
  • Break an egg into a small bowl, and make sure there are no egg shells. Break the egg yolk, and then pour the egg in a stream into the butter-sugar mix. Mix for about 20 – 30 seconds until the egg has incorporated into the batter, and there are no traces of egg yolk. Repeat with another egg. After 2 eggs have been mixed into the batter, stop the mixer and scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl.
    8 large eggs
  • Repeat with the rest of the eggs, making sure to scrape the sides and bottom as you go (I do this after every 2 eggs that I add).
  • When all the eggs have been added, add the vanilla and mix for a further 30 sec – 1 minute.
    2 tsp good quality vanilla extract
Mixing in the flour by hand – You will need a long-handled baking spatula to fold the flour into the batter
  • Stop the mixer and remove the mixing bowl from your stand mixer. Sift about ¼ of the flour over the batter. Fold the flour into the batter, while rotating the bowl after each fold, until the flour is just incorporated. Repeat 3 more times with the remaining flour, so that you carefully incorporate all of the flour while folding it into the batter (rather than vigorous mixing). This will give you a smooth cake batter.
    14 oz AP flour or cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder
  • Make sure there are no dry bits of flour in your batter.
Mixing in the flour with a stand mixer
  • Reduce the speed of the stand mixer to the lowest setting (stir speed in a kitchen aid mixer).
  • Add ¼ of the sifted flour into the batter and mix for a few seconds until just incorporated. Repeat with 3 more additions. After the final addition, only mix the batter until you have a smooth batter. Stop immediately.
Baking the pound cakes
  • Weigh the mixing bowl with the batter inside. Subtract the weight of the empty bowl to get the weight of the batter. Divide this in two, as this will be the amount of batter needed for each cake pan.
  • Add an equal amount of the batter to the bottom of each loaf pan. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly to the corners of the pan. Add the rest of the batter (equally divided between the two loaf pans) to the two loaf pans. Evenly spread on top to have an even surface. Gently shake the pans (just a little) to make sure the batter is evenly spread (don’t knock the cake pans on the counter!).
  • Transfer the loaf pans into the oven (ideally in the lower third of the oven, and right in the center of the oven rack). Set the timer for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, rotate the cake pans, and bake for a further 20 minutes.
  • Check the cake after a total of 60 minutes of bake time to test the done-ness of the cake with a clean toothpick or a cake tester. Insert the cake tester into the cake, and if it comes out clean, then the cake is done. In my oven, these cakes take about 67 – 70 minutes to bake.
  • Remove the cakes from the oven, and allow them to cool down for about 10 – 15 minutes. Carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling wire rack to cool down completely.
  • Eat warm, or at room temperature.
How to store pound cake
  • When the cake is at room temperature, it can be wrapped well with plastic wrap, and stored in an airtight container, and be consumed within a week. If the cake isn’t wrapped properly, it can become stale, BUT stale pound cake will taste even better when toasted or grilled.
  • OR you can wrap the cake in plastic wrap, and then foil, and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Recipe Notes

Using different-sized pans
  • If you’re using two 9.5 x 5.5 inch pans, check on the cakes after 45 – 50 minutes. This is because this cake can cook much faster in these bigger pans.
  • Bundt cake pan – this recipe is enough for 1 large bundt cake. Keep an eye on the cake after 50 minutes of baking time.
CHEAT NOTE – Instead of two of the eggs in the recipe, add four egg yolks to get a more moist and richer tasting pound cake.
CHEAT NOTE – I would add 1 tsp of baking powder IF I substitute 2 eggs with four egg yolks as suggested above.
CHEAT NOTE –  CAKE FLOUR can be substituted for AP flour because it’ll give a lighter texture to your pound cake. But this will make your cake rise more in the oven too.
CHEAT NOTE –  If you’re worried that your cake wasn’t beaten enough, you CAN add just the smallest amount of baking powder to make sure your pound cake rises properly. I ONLY do this if I use a hand mixer to mix my pound cake batter, because I know then there’s a chance that I may not have incorporated enough air.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 300kcal (15%) Carbohydrates: 34g (11%) Protein: 4g (8%) Fat: 18g (28%) Saturated Fat: 11g (69%) Cholesterol: 103mg (34%) Sodium: 78mg (3%) Potassium: 46mg (1%) Sugar: 20g (22%) Vitamin A: 600IU (12%) Calcium: 17mg (2%) Iron: 1.1mg (6%)

“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”

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About

Dini Kodippili

Dini Kodippili is a professional food writer, recipe developer, food photographer, cookbook author, and baker. Dini has been featured on HuffPost, Cosmopolitan, Forbes, Delish, Food & Wine and more. Learn More

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119 responses

  1. Suzanne Kennison
    May 23, 2023

    I want to make a strawberry swirl poundcake and a tube pan. How much strawberry glaze would you suggest?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      May 23, 2023

      Hi Suzanne
      I’m not sure what you mean by strawberry glaze. Ususally a glaze is used to put on top of a cake to “glaze” the cake. And cannot be used to create swirls in the cake. Are you talking about adding a strawberry glaze to your pound cake?
      As for how much strawberry glaze will be needed to cover a cake, will depend on how thick you want the glaze to be. I would make about 2 cups of the glaze, and then pour it over the cake carefully to cover the cake. If the cake is cold and the glaze is thick, you can achieve a thicker glaze.
      Hope that helps

      Reply
  2. Dave
    April 26, 2023

    5 stars
    Love

    Reply
  3. Missy
    April 7, 2023

    I’m looking forward in trying this recipe. Should I divide the recipe in half for an Easter Lamb cake mold where I fill the one half of the mold and cover it with the other half of the mold and then bake? Should I then bake it at 325 x 60 mins?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      April 8, 2023

      Hi Missy
      I unfortunately cannot answer this question. Without knowing the volume of the lamb cake mold, it is hard to determine how much batter it will need.
      I also think a pound cake requires more even baking because it does not contain any leaveners. I recommend a regular vanilla cake recipe to make a shaped 3D cake, or you can even add color to it by following my Ribbon cake recipe.
      To calculate how much batter you will need, I recommend checking the instructions from the cake mold. They usually say how many cups of batter it will require OR to which level you should fill the mold before baking.
      The toothpick test is a good indicator of when the cake is done (when a toothpick is inserted into the thickest part of the cake, it should come out with only just a few dry crumbs).
      I hope that helps!

      Reply
  4. Gabby
    October 20, 2022

    5 stars
    Hi Dini, May i know how to avoid streak. Is it try avoid overmix the batter and when mix with flour must set in low speed right as i used hand mixer. the speed is quite powerful even low speed.

    The slow speed for me consider high speed should i shorten the mixing time.

    Because my pound cake always have a gluey steak at the bottom center.

    Reply
  5. Kathleen Mc
    October 1, 2022

    I took the time, read all, good reading, alas, I couldn’t find in the instructions on how much lemon citrus, orange citrus, how much of the juices of same and when to add lol this. It’s listed as an orange lemon pound cake. Did I miss that part?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      October 8, 2022

      Hi Kathleen
      I think you may have been misdirected to my recipe? This recipe is for a CLASSIC POUND CAKE and troubleshooting tips for a regular pound cake. I have not mentioned that this is an orange lemon pound cake anywhere in the post or recipe. I hope that helps.

      Reply
  6. Terry van der Peet
    August 25, 2022

    This sounds like a really good recipe to try. But I am confused. Please help.
    I want to make 2 loaf pans (2 loaves). How many servings must I choose to get the correct measurements of the ingredients?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      September 6, 2022

      Hi Terry!
      Sorry for the late reply!
      The recipe is for two pans as noted in the recipe. Each loaf is roughly 10 – 11 servings, and the full recipe is 20 – 22 servings (for two loaves).
      I hope that helps!

      Reply
  7. Tania
    August 25, 2022

    5 stars
    Thanks so much for this great step by step recipe walk through!

    If I wanted to add coffee flavouring, would it be okay to add a table spoonful of fluid to the batter (espresso mix)?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      September 6, 2022

      Hi Tania
      Yes you can add about 1 tbsp of any kind of flavoring without altering the recipe much! I often like to add about 2 – 3 tsp of coffee extract or lemon extract to my cake too!

      Reply
  8. Aparajita Dubey
    July 9, 2022

    Hey! I am new to this website! Wonder why o didn’t discover it before. I am also new to baking but I don’t eat eggs. Can you tell me a substitute for eggs in pound cake .. thanks!

    Reply
    1. Dini
      July 11, 2022

      Hi Aparajita
      Unfortunately I am not very familiar with eggless baking. With this pound cake recipe, eggs are very crucial for the structure and consistency of the cake, and it would be hard to find a proper substitute, and get the same results.
      However, I do encourage you to search for a vegan pound cake recipe that might have better advice on how to replace the eggs.
      I hope that helps!

      Reply
  9. Joanne
    March 17, 2022

    5 stars
    Finally, the science of pound cake explained!
    I was about to give up…No matter which recipe I followed, my pound cakes always came out dense, greasy, and gummy. Totally inedible!
    Your recipe, and more importantly, your thorough explanation, resulted in a perfect pound cake!
    Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Dini
      March 18, 2022

      Thank you so much Joanne, I’m so glad you found the recipe and post helpful! 🙂

      Reply
  10. Grace
    March 7, 2022

    5 stars
    LOVE all your recipes!

    Reply
  11. Beverly Rowland
    January 8, 2022

    5 stars
    This is a very thorough article and I hope will be helpful in solving my recent problems with my pound cakes. I have been baking pound cakes for about 20 years and have very recently started having issues with my tried and true recipes. It is very frustrating to not be able to trust your recipes and have confidence that my pound cakes will turn out with the expected results. I have been doing quite a bit of research to try and solve some of my issues. I would love to email you and discuss since I feel like it would be a lengthy comment for this review. Please let me know if you are open to an email exchange to help me with my pound cake dilemmas. Thanks so much.

    Reply
    1. Dini
      January 8, 2022

      Hi Beverly, thank you! And yes, absolutely you can email me, I’d be more than happy to help any way I can. My email is [email protected]
      Cheers!

      Reply
  12. Darlene
    December 24, 2021

    5 stars
    All of the questions I had about baking pound cake were addressed here. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Reply
  13. Mal
    September 27, 2021

    I have a problem… the recipe (and others) call for 325 but our oven won’t go below 350 (too old to get the part), but works okay otherwise. Is there any way to bake a pound cake? I have an air fryer that I can set bake/325.

    Reply
    1. Dini
      September 28, 2021

      Hi Mal
      The air fryer uses convection to heat, so if you bake at 325 F in an air fryer, it will be like baking in a 350 F conventional oven.
      You could reduce the heat to 300 and see if that would work, but I haven’t baked in an air fryer, so I can’t be sure of the result.
      You can also use a larger metal pan and bake a shallow pound cake, and bake it at 350 F in your oven. This way it will bake faster, but also bake all the way through.
      Hope that helps

      Reply
      1. Mal
        September 28, 2021

        5 stars
        Thanks. I really appreciate your response. I’ll give your suggestions a try very soon.

        Reply
  14. Claudia
    August 11, 2021

    Love it

    Reply
  15. Catrin
    May 19, 2021

    5 stars
    Hi Dini – I loved your blog! It was so interesting – I felt like I went to Pound Cake U-lol…thank you for sharig this excellent knowledge for all of us to become better at our craft! I am now going to make your cake! Thanks again for sharing…You definitely “take the Cake’ (in a good way!)

    BTW – I was looking for a good Peach Pond Cake Recipe and maybe other fruits like raspberry, strawberry – do I need to change anything in this base and how much and when would you add the fruit and maybe different flavorings? Thank you.

    Reply
  16. Michelle
    May 10, 2021

    5 stars
    Thanks for sharing this info because I certainly need it. My pound cake which I baked yesterday needs help. It has dense wet looking areas in it. The texture is not ideal but the taste is good. Pound cakes have been a challenge for me;while I have finally gotten the technique down for layer cakes, I’m ready to get the pound cake perfected. Thanks for your expertise. I will definitely be applying to my next pound cake venture

    Reply
  17. Paula foya
    April 19, 2021

    5 stars
    This helped me a lot

    Reply
  18. Kelli
    April 11, 2021

    5 stars
    What icing would yu use for this?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      April 11, 2021

      Hi Kelli
      I typically don’t use frosting for pound cake, but a glaze would be more common on pound cake.
      Any easy, quick glaze would be a mixture of milk and confectioners glaze with a little vanilla (whisked until you have a thick but pourable consistency). You can also make a fondant glaze, that’s made with white sugar cooked with water and corn syrup, but I prefer the quicker version.

      Reply
    2. cathy y crawford
      December 15, 2021

      What icing wou ld you use for this?

      Reply
      1. Dini
        December 21, 2021

        Hi Cathy
        I personally don’t like to frost a classic pound cake, but you can frost it with any kind of frosting you like! A glaze frosting would probably be more traditional (confectioner’s sugar and milk) and I made an “eggnog” glaze for my eggnog pound cake here. But you can also make a chocolate ganache glaze, caramel sauce, or even regular buttercream if you like!
        Hope that helps!

        Reply
  19. Beverly
    March 5, 2021

    In your recipe for pound cake it calls for 8 eggs. In the cheat section it says add 4 egg yolks for two eggs. Am I still adding a total of 8 ?

    Reply
    1. Dini
      March 5, 2021

      Hi Beverly!
      The note says “Instead of two of the eggs in the recipe, add four egg yolks to get a more moist and richer tasting pound cake.” Which means, that 2 of the eggs can be replaced with 4 egg yolks. So you will be adding 4 egg yolks + 6 eggs if you want a richer, egg yolk heavy pound cake.
      Hope that helps!

      Reply
      1. Dee
        March 15, 2021

        So, 10 eggs instead of 8?

        Reply
        1. Dini
          March 15, 2021

          Hi Dee
          The recipe uses 8 whole eggs.
          As stated in the recipe, if you want a richer cake you will be using 4 egg yolks plus 6 eggs (instead of 8 whole eggs). So yes, you will technically need 10 eggs, but only the yolks from 4 eggs for that richer version of the recipe.
          Hope that helps

          Reply
  20. flubna
    November 15, 2020

    Wow! Looks so good. Want to ask something, i’m using a small oven with only 3 rack level, lower, middle and top. Should i bake it at the lower level or middle? Hoping for you to answer. Can’t wait to bake!!!

    Reply
    1. Dini
      November 15, 2020

      Hi Flubna
      I have a conventional oven and I bake the cake in the middle rack because it’s the spot where the cake will bake the most evenly.
      For most ovens, the middle rack is sufficient. But if your oven is hotter from the bottom or top, you may need to adjust it.
      I hope that helps!

      Reply
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Hi! I’m Dini, a third culture kid by upbringing and a food-geek by nature. I was born in Sri Lanka, grew up in New Zealand and lived in Australia, and then the US, before moving to and settling down in Canada. My food is a reflection of those amazing experiences!

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