The Best Pound Cake - Preppy Kitchen (2024)

Whether you’re enjoying a slice of this traditional pound cake on its own as a treat or with a cup of coffee for breakfast, you will always want a second slice. While heavy and dense, this classic pound cake recipe is shockingly moist with a soft and smooth crumb. The flavors are perfectly balanced as it’s not overwhelmingly sweet so that you can enjoy it any time of the day. You will love the subtle vanilla flavoring and the tanginess from the sour cream.

Far from boring, this cake is perfect for any occasion as it keeps and travels well. For another simple but delicious treat that everyone will love, try my butter cake recipe, chiffon cake recipe, or orange cake recipe.

What You Need to Make This Recipe

Flour — all-purpose flour is all you need to make a delightfully tender and buttery pound cake. Some recipes call for cake flour, and you can certainly use that if you’d prefer. Sub 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of it for AP if measuring with scoops. If measuring by weight, the gram amount is that same!

Butter — make sure you bring the butter to room temperature for the cake batter, which means it’s soft enough so when you press into it, your finger leaves a dent, but not too soft that it’s greasy or oily. Room temperature creams much better than cold butter. Also, make sure to buy unsalted butter to ensure the cake doesn’t turn out too salty.

Sugar — I do not recommend swapping out or decreasing the amount of sugar. You will need the entire cup to cream the butter and sweeten the cake.

Eggs — this recipe calls for four eggs. The eggs keep the pound cake moist and assist the baking powder in helping the cake rise. As the eggs mix into the batter, they create air bubbles that expand in the oven, helping the cake rise.

Baking Powder — not all pound cake recipes include a leavener, but I like it because it lightens the crumbs just enough. Without the baking powder, pound cake be so dense it’s almost chewy or feels underbaked if not properly mixed. Think of the baking powder as a little extra insurance. You still get that traditional dense texture with just a bit of rise from the baking powder to make a perfect buttery crumb texture every time.

Sour cream — I recommend using full-fat sour cream. Sour cream helps keep the cake stay moist and provides an irresistible tangy flavor.

This is just an overview of the ingredients. For the full recipe please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!

How to Make Pound Cake

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder, then set aside.

2. Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until light and fluffy.

3. Add the eggs in one at a time while mixing at medium speed. Scrape the sides of the bowl down and beat until fully incorporated.

4. Add the sour cream and vanilla to the mixer. Mix until incorporated.

5. Add the flour mixture in and mix until combined.

6. Transfer batter into a loaf pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until the center is set and a skewer comes out clean. Allow the pound cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.

Double The Recipe To Make It In A Bundt Pan

Follow the recipes as directed, but double the ingredient amounts and bake it in a 12-cup Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan. Butter and flour or grease the pan with baking spray right before you fill it with batter. You will also need to increase the baking time to about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Depending on the size of your pan, the bake time may vary, so start checking it after 1 hour. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then invert it onto a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.

What Is The Secret To A Moist Cake?

The secret ingredient in this cake is sour cream. Do not skip it, as it adds a lot of moisture to the crumb. For best results, avoid overbaking the cake, or it will be dry. If you have leftovers, be sure to keep them wrapped or covered so the moisture stays inside of the cake.

How Do I Get a Crisp Crust On My Pound Cake?

The sugar content in a pound cake naturally makes a delicious, sweet, and crisp outer crust. To ensure it’s crisp and not soft, remove the cake from the pan after 10 minutes of cooling and finish cooling on a wire rack. If the cake cools in the pan, the crust will steam and be soft on the sides.

Why Is There A Gummy Streak In My Pound Cake?

If you have ever seen a thin line that runs through a pound cake, sometimes called a “sad streak” or “gummy streak,” it’s a sign that the pound cake batter was over-creamed. More specifically, the butter and sugar were beaten too much and too much air was incorporated. When the cake is baking, it will rise quickly but then fall when cooling, creating a streak of very dense cake that feels underbaked but is actually fully cooked- it just got compressed when it lost the air and sank.

What Makes A Pound Cake More Dense?

When I talk about what makes a delicious cake, I often want a soft, moist, and airy crumb texture. Pound cake, on the other hand, is the opposite! Pound cake has a higher butter, egg, and sugar ratio to flour than many sponge cakes, and it uses much less of a leavening agent (baking powder or soda) in the batter, which creates less air. These factors all create a denser texture.

What’s The Best Way To Tell If My Cake Is Done Baking?

Use a wooden skewer inserted directly into the center of the cake, ideally through the crack formed on the top. You are looking for the wooden skewer to be removed without any streaks of wet batter on it. If it comes out clean or with just a few crumbs stuck to it, then the cake is done! If it has batter smears, then continue baking in 5-minute intervals and recheck between each one. Also, by inserting the skewer into the cake through the crack on top, you will check the spot that is potentially the most “underdone.” Plus, you won’t poke holes in your pretty sugary crust!

Can I Make A Lemon Version Of This Recipe?

You can easily flavor this pound cake with lemon by adding the zest of 2 lemons to the butter and sugar mixture before creaming it. Or, try my lemon pound cake recipe for more tips and tricks for baking the perfect lemony pound cake!

Pro Tips for Making This Recipe

• Should you line the pan? Up to you! You can simply grease and flour your loaf pan or line the pan with a parchment paper sling for easy removal. Both ways will back up great. If you are using a nonstick pan, I find the parchment isn’t really necessary.
• Use a long wooden skewer to check for doneness as the pound cake is so thick and dense that a toothpick will not get the job done. The cake will continue to bake while it cools, so be careful not to overbake it. Pull it from the oven when a few crumbs come out clean or with just a few crumbs on the skewer.
• Avoid overmixing the cake batter, as it’ll lead to a tough and rubbery cake.
• Measure your ingredients accurately. I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour. However, if you don’t have a scale, be sure to fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method is the best way to measure flour without overpacking the measuring cup.
• Use room temperature eggs. If you forgot to set out your eggs, quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes. Room temperature eggs mix much more effortlessly into the batter.
• Do not adjust the oven temperature. While you may be tempted to speed up the baking with a higher oven temp, you do not want the cake’s exterior to burn before the middle bakes through.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve tried this recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!