Pound Cake Recipe
After months of research and testing I created Pound Cake Perfection. This is the ultimate old-fashioned, buttery pound cake that melts-in-your mouth. I think this will become your go-to recipe.
How to achieve Pound Cake Perfection
A really great pound cake should have an even crumb with a melt-in-your-mouth texture and buttery, vanilla flavor. It’s beautiful in it’s simplicity.
While I’m not opposed to a little glaze or powdered sugar on a pound cake, I think pound cake is meant to be eaten without any frosting. You want all the richness in the cake itself. If you’ve got a really great cake recipe, there’s no reason to hide it under a pile of sweet frosting.
So why is it called “pound cake” anyway?
Pound cake got it’s name based on the original formula of 1 pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. It’s called “quatre-quarts” (four-fourths) by the French.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour – Bleached cake flour makes the softest cake.
- Sugar – A little extra sugar tenderizes the cake.
- Milk – A little milk moistens the cake.
- Baking Powder – To lighten the cake crumb.
- Eggs – Extra egg yolks emulsify the batter so it can hold more moisture. The yolks also enrich the cake.
How to make Pound Cake
- Combine the eggs, yolks, half the milk and the vanilla in a small bowl. Set it aside.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl with the sugar.
- Mix the dry ingredients to combine.
- With the mixer running on low, toss the softened butter into the dry ingredients.
- Mix until the flour is coated with butter.
- With the mixer running, add the rest of the milk.
- Mix on medium high for 2-3 minutes to aerate the batter.
- Add the egg mixture and mix until smooth. Scrape the bowl in between to avoid lumps of thick batter.
- Pour the batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan, Bundt pan or angel food cake pan.
- Use the tip of a small spatula to make a trench down the center of the cake.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 20 minutes before turning out of the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Pound cake is meant to be eaten without frosting so the cake itself needs to be very moist and rich. Pound cake has a high proportion of butter. This gives pound cake a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Adding a little more sugar than the traditional pound cake recipe helps keep the cake moist. Adding milk also moistens the cake.
Cake flour makes a softer and more tender pound cake than all purpose flour. Bleached cake flour allows the batter to hold more liquid for a moister cake and is also slightly acidic. Acidity weakens gluten and makes a softer cake crumb.
The traditional pound cake recipe made with equal proportions of butter, sugar, flour and eggs can tend to be heavy. A little baking powder can be added to lighten the crumb.
Why this is a Better Pound Cake Recipe
There are about a bajillion pound cake recipes out there on the interwebs and, frankly, I’m shocked at how many of them still use the original 1:1:1:1 formula.
Personally, I find that recipe is less than ideal. It’s fairly dense, a little chewy and has a slightly flat taste.
I decided to tweak the traditional pound cake recipe to make it better. I baked 100+ pound cakes over several months of research and testing. I tested each ingredient and how it works in the cake. I also tested various mixing methods, ingredient temperatures and alternative ingredients.
If you’re a baking geek like me, you can read all about how I adjusted the percentages in this comprehensive post about creating a great cake recipe. I used the same formula to make a great Vanilla Butter Cake and White Cake recipe.
If you still haven’t slaked your thirst for all the knowledge about cake batter, go ahead and read through my 7-part Cake Batter Series.
Quick tip: To make an easy petite four cut the pound cake into cubes. Line the cubes onto a clean cooling rack set over a sheet pan. Drizzle Quick Fondant Icing over the cubes and leave them until the icing sets.
Here are some other pound cake recipes for you to try:
- Pistachio Pound Cake
- Key Lime Pound Cake
- Blueberry Pound Cake
- Honey Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Marble Pound Cake
- Coconut Pound Cake
- Chocolate Pound Cake
Now that you’ve made this recipe what should you do with all the extra egg whites? Check out this collection of recipes that use extra whites for some great ideas.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider leaving a 5-star review.
Perfect Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (room temp)
- 4 egg yolks (room temp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 oz whole milk (¼ cup, divided)
- 8 oz cake flour (1 ¾ cups, see note)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 10 oz granulated sugar (1 ¼ cups)
- 9 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to at 350 °F. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan or Bundt pan.
- Combine 3 large eggs,4 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and half the milk in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.2 oz whole milk
- Sift together 8 oz cake flour, ¼ teaspoon table salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add 10 oz granulated sugar to the flour and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Add 9 oz unsalted butter to the flour and mix until combined. Add the other ½ of the milk and increase the speed to medium high. Mix for a full 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and texture. If your using a hand mixer add another minute or two to the mixing time.
- Scrape the bowl and paddle thoroughly. On low speed, add the egg mixture in 3 increments, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix just until the eggs are incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 55-65 minutes).
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn the cake out onto a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
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Hi Eileen,
I saw the comment about a shorter bake time for a bundt pan but I was wondering if you had an idea of how much shorter? I tried 45 minutes and that was too long—the cake was dry and had a hard crust, but was not burnt. Maybe start with 35? Thanks!
Sorry I didn’t see this comment sooner. If 45 was way too long then I would start checking at 30 minutes.
I made this exactly as directed and it is AMAZING! I cute it into slices and then into finger food strips and served it at a tea party with a variety of curds and every one raced about it. I will be adding this to my little notebook of favorite recipient for sure. Thanks for all the info about they why’s as well I’m a self thought home baker and am fascinated by the whole science behind why things do and do not work and his was illuminating to say the least.
Well thank you, Laura. I’m so glad you liked it.
Lovely recepie. Would surely give it a try.
Thanks for the superb testing to produce this pound cake. Just wondering. If I wanted to add some lemon juice, maybe 2 teaspoons and zest to make it a lemon pound cake, would I add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to neutralize the acid? At least that’s how I understand it from your leavener class.
Hi Ken, you’ll get the best lemon flavor from lemon zest and lemon extract. The juice is acidic, but doesn’t have as much “lemony” flavor as the zest, because the zest has the lemon oil. My favorite way to make lemon pound cake is to add the zest and extract to the batter, and then use the juice to make lemon syrup. Mix the juice from one lemon (about 2 tbsp), with 2 tbsp water and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Warm the syrup in a small saucepan until the sugar is melted. Pour the syrup over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and it will soak into the cake as it cools.
Another option would be to use the juice to make a lemon glaze. Mix the juice with powdered sugar to make a glaze with the texture of heavy cream. Take the cake out of the pan and let it cool a little bit. When the cake is still slightly warm, pour the glaze over the cake. It will set as the cake finishes cooling. Let me know how it works out.
Hi Eileen. Thanks for the reply. This is THE PERFECT pound cake. I must have tried like 4 other recipes and they were always light but dry, dense and dry, dense and soggy etc… I almost quit trying to bake since the only really “edible” cake I made was from a boxed cake mix. The cake mix had a great texture but tasted fake and plastic-ky. I made your cake for a pot luck on Sunday before I read your reply. The only thing I did different was add the juice and zest of 1 regular lemon at the very end. I was nervous since you really can’t tell if a cake is good or not until you cut into it and it would be tacky if I cut into it and brought it to the potluck. Anyway, before I knew it, it was gone!! I didn’t even know desert had started. I had to get a bite from someone else to taste it. It was light, airy and moist. And the flavor was delectable. Every one asked me where I bought it and I was like, “Why you don’t think I can make this?” LOL. The only thing they said was that I shouldn’t have called it a lemon pound cake but more just a lemon cake because it was too light to be a pound cake. I didn’t care, it is the kind of texture I like. It must be the reverse creaming method. That’s the biggest difference. Well whatever made it “store bought” is good enough for me to make again and again. Thanks Eileen!! (now I might invest in a Kitchen Aid mixer since doing any sort of creaming with a hand mixer is messy and crappy!!)
PS: No commented on anything at the pot luck except the the amazing ribs made by the host and…. your pound cake!! And there were like 10 other dishes!!
Thanks for the feedback, Ken. I can tell you that the stand mixer is a good investment if you like to bake. I’ve actually got 2. Glad you liked the recipe.
Hi
What can I use instead of milk? Also where do I get cake flour?
You can use almond milk if you don’t do dairy. In the US, you can buy cake flour in the grocery store or on-line. If you don’t have cake flour available where you live for each cup of cake flour you can substitute ¾ cup of all-purpose flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of corn starch.
Wow! I made this yesterday with the addition of 1/4 cup of orange juice and zest from 2 large oranges for my husband’s b-day. It was delicate, fragrant, rich, buttery, with a light closed crumb. Perfection! Thank you.
That sounds delicious!