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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 cake is so fantastic. My bundt pan is a bit thicker than most, so I had to bake an extra 15 mins on top of the suggested hour and 15 minutes, but it came out really tender, tasty, and the crust is crisp. I love this cake!
Thank you so much for stopping by Jennifer.
Any thoughts about adding dried mixed fruit to the recipe?
I haven’t tried any mix-ins. I’d worry they’d just fall to the bottom, but it would be worth a shot.
This is a absolutely delicious and moist pound cake recipe. I have made it several times now and every time it’s a winner!! I added vanilla extract and almond extract …. so delicious. I would like to do a glaze but it isn’t good as is. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
You are so welcome Skeet! Thanks for taking the time to leave some positive feedback.
This recipe is so easy and quick to make and it tastes amazing!!! The first time I made this it was for a berry trifle. This is my second time making it and I’m just going to be adding a quick easy powdered sugar icing with some fresh fruit. Can’t wait!!!!
I appreciate the simple ingredients.. it didnt require sour cream or cream cheese or vegetable shortening.. and it came out fantastic!! I’m serving it wth sliced strawberries!!
Thank you Piper! and thanks for sharing your positive experience.
This pound cake had a sweet light flavor. The outside of the cake was slightly crunchy and full of flavor.
Hi Julia! Thanks for leaving your positive experience.
Made this cake a few times it is one of my favorite cakes to make. My Family reallyl love it. I usually icing it with creamcheese frosting. Delicious. Thank you??❤️??
You’re so welcome Sellie! thank you so much for stopping by!
when i made the batter it smelt so good then when i tried it i wanted to eat the whole thing before I even put it in the oven I’m only 12 but it was easy to cook and smelt delicious and tasted even better and the best part was it looked exactly like the picture I’m writing this recipe down!!!
Hi Brielle! That’s so awesome. Keep up the good work and come back and visit us again.
awesome and good
Thank you Brielle!
Sure looks good n easy to put together
Awesome recipe! I’m making it today for the 3rd time. However my cakes ? keep coming out dark. Only on the sides and bottom. My pan is dark/nonstick. Should I adjust the over temp? And if so any suggestions?
Oven temperatures can vary, so adjusting the temp could help. Try lowering it by 25 degrees and see if that does the trick.
my first pound cake and it was wonderful. I don’t usually make comments but this was great, family loved it. My only change was I used vanilla almond milk because that was what I had on hand. Really a great vanilla flavor
Thanks Ardis! great idea about the Vanilla almond milk!
The best pound cake???Thank U soo Much,,They loved it,its really good???
You’re so welcome Anabelle! thank you so much for stopping by!
Your recipe is delicious. How can I convert to make in Loaf Pan?
You can bake it in a 9″ loaf pan.
I normally like to make a recipe the first time exactly as posted then adjust to my taste after that if I need to, but I was in the middle of making this when I realized I was out of milk. I substituted buttermilk instead and it came out fantastic. Thank you for the recipe.
You’re so welcome Dave! thank you so much for stopping by!
my pound cakes do not rise. they are sad!!? any clues.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you! Without being there it’s hard to say what may have happened so I can only speculate. Could be oven temperature, over-mixing or even humidity or altitude.
Made individual mini cakes…came out perfect, nice & moist. A spoonful of rhubarb sauce, Garnish w/ a mint leaf…pretty & delicious!!
Thank you Susan! and thanks for sharing your positive experience!
Great recipe! And, a shout out to @Karlie. I recently moved and couldn’t find my bundt pan…so used 2 loaf pans. Worked perfectly. Thanks!
Thanks Deena for stopping by!
This is the best pound cake I ever tasted! It stays moist after many days. I suck at baking but this was so easy for me to do and the result came out really great! I also like the fact that it is not too sweet, everything is perfect regarding this recipe!
Thanks Christelle! Thank you so much for stopping by!
Can I use almond milk
I can’t say for certain because I haven’t tried it, but it’s a reasonable substitution.