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).
Would you like to save this recipe?
We’ll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
HI EILEEN I TRIED YOUR CAKE ON YESTERDAY I FOLLOW YOUR RECIPE AS DIRECTED BUT WHEN THE TIMER WENT OFF AND ME TAKING A TOOTH PICK TO MAKE SURE CAKE WAS DONE IT CAME OUT CLEAN SO I TOOK THE CAKE OUT LET IT COOL IT WAS VERY SOFT BUT WHEN I CUT INTO IT THE BOTTOM WAS STILL WET LOOKING WHAT DID I DO WRONG FOR IT TO TURN OUT THE WAT IT DID
I couldn’t say without knowing all the details and seeing exactly how you made the cake. A few general tips: make sure your butter is not too soft. Room temperature butter should be pliable but not soft and greasy. Batter made with soft and greasy butter won’t emulsify as well. Is your oven temperature accurate? If you oven isn’t baking at the right temp it could affect the way the cake bakes.
How do I use this recipe to make a regular size in a tube pan? My usual calls for 3 C of flour, sugar and 3 sticks of butter, 6 eggs. The liquid varies depending on what I use. I’m really curious about how many eggs and egg yolks I would need.
You can make this recipe in a tube pan. Depending on the size of the pan the cake may be slightly shorter than your usual recipe since the volume of your recipe (based on 3 cups (15oz) of flour) is more than this recipe.
Hi Mary and Eileen,
I have baked this cake in an 18 cup tube pan by doubling the recipe. It came out perfect. I was aiming for a “mile hi” cake. It didn’t come out “mile hi” but it was as tall as an average pound cake baked in a tube pan. I love this recipe! This recipe makes the best pound cake I’ve ever made. It doesn’t dry out by the next day. It stays moist with a tender crumb for several days after it’s baked.
One note about doubling the recipe, it uses A LOT of eggs (14 eggs total) so be prepared, I also left it in the oven a little longer since it was bigger. Just use the toothpick method and you should be fine.
This cake was amazing. I was drawn in by the crumb in the photos and it did not disappoint. The perfect texture all the way through. My cake was yellower than yours, probably just the colour of the egg yolks.
I used 3/4 tsp of table salt and salted butter for this, and it was exactly right. I recommend upping the salt from the 1/4 tsp in the recipe.