Absolutely Perfect Sour Cream Pound Cake
This Sour Cream Pound Cake is a variation of my favorite all-butter pound cake. I spent months testing cake batter mixing methods and ingredients to achieve Pound Cake Perfection.
If you’ve read through my “Cake Batter Course” you know that it took lots of work and testing to come up with a really great pound cake recipe. If you’re interested, over 7 classes (blog posts) you can learn all about the ingredients and mixing methods for cake batter. It’s pretty detailed stuff, but what you learn about baking can be applied to all your recipes, not just cake batter. And it’s free here on Baking Sense.
Ingredients
- Cake Flour – Bleached cake flour makes the softest cake.
- Sugar – A little extra sugar tenderizes the cake.
- Sour Cream- Sour cream moistens the cake. Because it is acidic, sour cream tenderizes the crumb of the cake and adds an every-so-slightly tangy flavor.
- 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 Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Combine the eggs, yolks, half the sour cream 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 sour cream.
- 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.
Why this is the best Sour Cream Pound Cake
For this pound cake I used sour cream in place of whole milk as the liquid in the batter. Since sour cream is acidic it adds a nice flavor to the cake and the acidity tenderizes the cake crumb.
If you have read through the “Cake Batter Course” (first of all THANKS) you might notice that even though I’ve added an acidic ingredient to the recipe, I haven’t used any baking soda. I purposely did this because I didn’t want to neutralize the acidity of the sour cream. I wanted a little edge to the flavor.
This really is a melt-in-your-mouth cake. It’s also a super easy recipe to make. I use my favorite reverse creaming method and it’s mixed in one bowl.
FAQs
Sour cream adds extra fat and acidity to cake batter. Fat enriches and tenderizes the cake. Acidic ingredients weaken the gluten formed in the batter, which tenderizes the cake crumb. If you don’t use baking soda to neutralize the acid, sour cream will also lend a slightly tangy flavor to the cake.
No. Store the cake at room temperature for 2-3 days. For longer term storage the entire cake, or individually wrapped slices, can be frozen for up to 3 months.
This cake bakes up nicely in the traditional loaf shape or you can bake it in a Bundt pan for a pretty presentation. I think you only need a sprinkle of powdered sugar for a pretty finish. But is would also be delicious with fresh berries and cream for a more indulgent dessert.
Here are some other pound cake recipes for you to try:
If you like this recipe as much as I do, please consider giving it a 5-star review.
Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (room temp)
- 4 egg yolks (room temp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz sour cream (½ 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)
- 8 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 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 of the sour cream in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.
- 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 8 oz unsalted butter to the flour and mix until combined. Add the remaining sour cream and increase the speed to medium high. Mix for a full 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and texture. If using a hand mixer add another minute to the mixing time.
- Scrape the bowl and beater 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. Bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 55 minutes).
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This pound cake is delicious. The texture is tender. I baked mine in 3 mini loaf pans for about 40 minutes. I will definitely use this recipe again. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for all the info! I’m trying this today, in my effort to copy a commercial coffee cake that I love. I’ll be adding the streusel topping to bundt pan and then as a middle ribbon. Otherwise all will be the same. I’ll post back my results. 😀
The cake has no cracked line on top for pound cake.
My cake does crack along the top. Are you baking in a loaf pan? What size pan did you use. Also, after spreading the batter in the pan use the tip of your spatula to form a groove down the center of the cake.
If I wanted an extra high/pronounced dome what would I change with this recipe? Or should I use your vanilla sponge recipe? I’m baking in a single 4″ deep 8″ round tin and wanted that madeira cake look. Most recipes try to get a level top to a cake so it’s hard to find the opposite. Thanks so much for all your work, so few bakers actually post controlled experiments like you do!
I’m not sure what the “madeira cake look” is. A “pound cake” probably makes the biggest dome sense it’s a relative dense cake.
Hello! Love your recipe, I have been using it for a couple years now. Just wondering if I can replace the soured cream for buttermilk?
Yes, I think you could make that substitution.