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This soft, buttery pound cake recipe is perfect by itself or topped with fresh fruit. It bakes up great in a bundt pan or loaf pan too!
Perfect for brunching or afternoon tea, this pound cake recipe is a great addition to your dessert rotation. It’s a classic and rivals other delicious favorites like our Fresh Strawberry Cake and Funfetti Sheet Cake.
Table of Contents
Why I Love Pound Cake Recipe
A great pound cake recipe is a must-have in your recipe box. It’s great to top with macerated berries, icing, or just eat plain. I chose to eat it with fresh berries and my kiddo added a little Reese’s spread to his.
With only 8 easy to find, easy to use pantry ingredients, this recipe is super simple. A pound cake is hard to mess up!
Ingredients
The ingredients are all common pantry ingredients used in most cake recipes. Something magical happens when you mix them up the right way, and the result is this moist, buttery, rich vanilla pound cake!
- Butter
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- All-Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda
- Salt
- Milk
How to Make Pound Cake
We’ve got a great video for you to watch below with the printable recipe, but here are some general instructions for baking your cake.
See recipe card below for ingredient quantities and full instructions.
Combine ingredients for the batter. Mix together butter and sugar, then add vanilla and eggs. Separately mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and salt and pour them into the bowl, alternating a few times with the milk.
Pour into the pan. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan, then pour in the batter.
Bake, rest, and release. Bake for about an hour, then remove from the oven and cool slightly before turning out onto a flat surface to release the cake from the pan.
FAQs
Store your cake at room temperature, in an airtight container. It should stay fresh for several days. Don’t refrigerate – it will dry out the cake.
As you might guess from the name, a pound cake is denser and heavier than a traditional cake. Because it’s so rich, it’s best served with light toppings, like berries and fresh whipped or a simple glaze.
What’s the Secret to a Good Pound Cake?
Bundt pans can make anything look pretty, no matter how plain it is. Though, there are a couple of important things to remember when using a bundt pan.
- Always grease generously and flour the pan. If you’re making a chocolate cake, you can use cocoa powder instead of flour too. I’ve tried the cooking spray with flour added and some of the sprays work and some don’t. My go-to is the Baker’s Joy baking spray.
- Let it cool. Let the freshly baked bundt cake cool for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a cake plate to give it a chance to release from the pan. After it’s turned upside down, let it rest for 5 minutes upside down in the pan before you start tapping the pan. If it comes out before the 5 minutes are up, that’s even better.
Recipe Variations
You can make different flavors of pound cake by adding extracts, zests, and fresh fruit.
- Lemon, lime, or orange – Instead of adding 1 tablespoon of vanilla, add 2 teaspoons of the flavored extract, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and the zest of 1 lemon, lime, or orange.
- Blueberry, blackberry, or raspberry – Add 1 to 2 cups of fresh berries into a bowl with 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir to coat the berries and fold into the mixed batter before baking.
- Rum, maple, or caramel – Substitute the 1 tablespoon of vanilla with 2 teaspoons of flavored extract and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Add more or less extract depending on how you prefer it.
How to Freeze Cake
Cakes hold up really well in the freezer for up to 6 months if properly stored. Cool the cake completely and slice into individual pieces. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap or parchment paper and place in a freezer bag or airtight container. Thaw overnight and enjoy.
To freeze the entire pound cake as a whole cake, you will still want to wrap it as tightly as possible and place in a large airtight container.
More Cake Recipes
- Lemon Bundt Cake
- Cinnamon Apple Monkey Bread
- Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Bundt Cake
- Tropical Hawaiian Monkey Bread
- Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake
Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk
- fresh berries for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Tap out any excess flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugar. Beat on medium with a hand mixer until creamed.
- Add the vanilla extract and the eggs one at a time. Beat each egg in before adding the next. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- In a separate bowl, add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
- Measure out the milk.
- Alternately add the flour and milk always starting and ending with the flour. I added the flour in 3 parts and the milk in 2 parts. Scrape down the sides and mix to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan. Spread it out evenly in the pan using a spatula.
- Place into the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool for 5 minutes and turn out onto a cake plate. Let it rest for another 5 minutes. Tap the bundt pan with a knife to help loosen the cake from the pan.
- Garnish with fresh berries.
This is the best pound cake recipe I ever made . The cake was yummy and stayed moist for almost a week ? . Would definitely recommend this to everyone. Best decision I made to go with your recipe. Thank you
Thank you Mina! So glad you loved the recipe!!
Would it be ok for cup cakes?
Pound cake is pretty dense for cupcakes. I would find a yellow cake recipe and use that instead.
I did it and they came out great!
Hello can evaporated milk be used in place of milk
Evaporated milk would be different so I wouldn’t recommend it.
Hello, I made this recipe and it is the best pound cake I
have ever had!! Do you have a Chocolate pound cake
recipe, preferably without added Chocolate in it other
than cocoa?
I don’t but that sounds delicious. Think we’ll have to give it a try!
Can II bake this pound cake in an angel food pan instead of the bundt pan?
It would probably work, but since I haven’t tried it I can’t say for sure.
Thanks for replying so quickly.
You are so welcome Michelle.
I just made this cake, it is in the oven. Can’t wait to eat it!
Nice! thank you Jeanne! let us know how it came out.
Great pound cake
Can you make this ahead and freeze it?
Absolutely!
I cooked this cake tonight and it turned out well. Thank you for the recipe.
Thank you Matthew for stopping by!
Your recipe and your comments are original and well worth the read. Thank you.
I’ve been looking for a recipe similar to my mom’s … yours came the closest.
Is it alright to use skim milk?
Yes, you can use skim milk.
Well, it isn’t my grandmas but it’s just as good!
Super moist and baked up just like the picture.
Great recipe and well explained too. I am too much into baking, will surely try. Hope comes out good. Three cheers for you ??
Thank you Vandana! and thanks for sharing your experience!
Hello! Can you please tell me the size in cm of the pan? I’m looking forward to bake this cake ? thanks ?
I halfed the recipe and made it in a loaf pan. Baked for a hour, served with a strawberries sauce. It turned out perfect!!♡
That’s awesome Karlie! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank you. Miranda love you pound cake recipe
I usually can’t bake to save my life. This is the first cake I’ve baked that actually came out how it supposed too. I didn’t had vanilla extract so I added a little almond extract instead. It’s delicious. We had it with warm custard.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I will definitely make this 100 more times.
Tried this recipe with my granddaughter this evening…it’s heavenly! Everyone loved it, and we made a nice blueberry sauce to go with it. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Jen!
Delicious cake.
I like this pound cake recipe very much. Thank you for sharing with us.
Waiting for the next post…
Thank you Jacob!
Can I use buttermilk insread of milk?
It would alter the taste of the cake, but I think would could use it.