Pound Cake
Easy homemade Pound Cake is a sweet, dense, and tender buttery cake that is perfect as-is or topped with whipped cream and lots of berries!
Pound Cake is a moist and buttery cake that is perfect for any occasion, and so simple to make! Gather your pantry ingredients like flour, sugar, and baking powder, along with milk, eggs, and butter to make a rich and tender cake that everyone loves with or without toppings!
Pounds of Yum
These cakes are not over-the-top desserts that most people immediately list in their top 5 favorite cakes, yet there is something irresistible and magical about them. I’ve seen it repeatedly when I make this moist cake that whomever I am serving it to looks a little “ho-hum” about it- until they take a bite. Just one bite of this, and they are hooked on this sweet, delicious cake! There is also no shortage of toppings on this cake, from berries to lemon curd to chocolate. Any way you serve this cake will surely be the meal’s highlight!
You can serve your cake in slices or choose a beautiful, berry, colorful presentation like No Bake Red, White, and Blue Cake or a bright, gorgeous Lemon Trifle!
Other Recipes to Serve with Pound Cake
- Need a reason to enjoy cake for breakfast? Lemon Pound Cake French Toast Skewers is a fun and delicious way to add pizzaz to breakfast or brunch!
- Save some of the berries you bought to top your cake and use them to make a light and refreshing Summer Berry Sangria!
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients: You will need room-temperature unsalted butter, whole milk, eggs, and a little vanilla extract.
Dry Ingredients: For this recipe, set out the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Toppings: While this cake is amazing (yes, it’s that delicious!), some optional crowd-favorite toppings are whipped cream, sliced strawberries, a mix of berries, and more, so go with what you like.
How to Make Pound Cake
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Combine the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until fluffy.
STEP TWO: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until just combined, careful not to overmix.
STEP THREE: Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes. After 45 minutes, begin testing the cake with a skewer. The skewer will come out clean when the cake is ready.
STEP FOUR: Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Then, using the parchment paper, transfer the cake to a wire rack to cool for another 30 minutes before serving.
Tips for Success
- You can use a mixer or beaters to cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. Mixing the wet and dry ingredients by hand is better still to avoid overmixing.
- Check for doneness after 45 minutes. If the cake is browning too much, you can cover it with foil to prevent it from burning.
- Store the leftover cooled cake tightly wrapped on the counter or in the fridge for up to four days. You can also freeze the cake for up to three months. If you choose to freeze the cake, cut the cake into slices and wrap the individual slices in plastic wrap to enjoy a slice whenever you want!
Why is it called pound cake?
Don’t be scared that this cake is called “pound cake” because of how much it weighs! Traditionally, pound cake was made with one pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs, and a pound of flour. You can see why the name of this cake is an easy way to remember the amount of ingredients to use!
If you own a food scale, you can adjust the size of the cake yourself simply by remembering that the name for this cake comes from the fact that all main ingredients have the same ratio: 1 pound. Using a food scale, measure out the eggs with the shell. Based on that weight, you will use the same weight for flour, sugar, and butter and adjust the remaining ingredients accordingly.
What is the difference between pound cake and regular cake?
A few key differences exist between regular cake and pound cake, the first being weight. As you read above, only a few ingredients are needed to make a pound cake, but the amounts are much larger than you would find in a regular cake recipe.
The number of eggs used to make this cake creates a much richer and more dense cake, which is one reason why using only one or two eggs to make a regular cake produces a light and fluffy cake.
Enjoy a Pound Cake for Every Occasion!
- Strawberry Pound Cake with Champagne Glaze
- Lemon Pound Cake
- Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Chocolate Pound Cake
- Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake
- Red Velvet Pound Cake
- Double Glazed Lemon Pound Cake
Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or vanilla paste
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the sugar, butter, milk, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until just combined. (Do not overmix! It will make the cake dense.)
- Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread it into an even layer.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Start checking for doneness after 45 minutes of baking.) If the cake starts to get too dark on top, loosely cover the pan with foil.
- Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Then use the parchment paper to lift the cake from the pan and transfer it to a wire rack to cool for another 30 minutes before serving.
