A homemade pound cake is an easy dessert that uses just a few pantry staples!
When looking for a sweet treat that doesn’t need a lot of ingredients, pound cake is perfect. With four main ingredients and a little vanilla and salt for flavor, it’s ready for the oven in no time!
What Is Pound Cake?
Traditionally, pound cake is called that because the recipe takes a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. This recipe hasn’t strayed far from the classic, I’ve just added vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Most pound cakes are baked in a loaf pan or a pound cake pan (a bundt cake mold) and are served with powdered sugar or a glaze.
Ingredients & Variations
BATTER
While this recipe doesn’t measure in pounds, it does keep the traditional pound cake ingredients of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs.
VANILLA EXTRACT
Vanilla is a classic flavor and while simple, it’s so delicious!
To switch up the flavor try a lemon pound cake or cream cheese pound cake instead. Use almond extract and top a simple glaze with slivered almonds. Or try peppermint and topping it with a peppermint glaze and crushed candy canes for winter!
How To Make Pound Cake
To make a perfect pound cake from scratch, have all the ingredients prepared and ready and the oven preheated.
- Beat butter, vanilla, and sugar with a stand mixer (or hand mixer) until light and fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time. Finally mix in flour & salt.
- Bake until golden on top.
Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.
Tips for Success
Ensure the ingredients are at room temperature before starting.
To make the perfect pound cake, beat the butter until the mixture is very light and fluffy. This takes about 8 minutes with a stand mixer.
Mix in flour just until combined.
To Glaze a Pound Cake
Cool completely. Pour warm glaze on top and sprinkle with chopped nuts or coconut if desired.
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- For a bundt cake, pour the glaze slowly on the top of the cake in a circular fashion.
- For a loaf pan, pour the glaze in a side-to-side fashion from one end to the other.
To store a pound cake, keep it in a covered container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can freeze it too!
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- To freeze a whole cake, wrap it in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and label with the date. Place in the freezer.
- To freeze pieces of cake, cut them into slices and wrap in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil and place them in the fridge to enjoy another day!
Remove from the freezer and let thaw in the refrigerator.
Delicious Dessert Recipes
- Pumpkin Dump Cake – 3 simple ingredients
- Classic Coffee Cake – with a cinnamon brown sugar topping
- Hummingbird Cake – light, creamy & sweet
- Buttery Vanilla Cake – made with a boxed mix!
- Pineapple Upside Down Cake – incredibly moist vanilla cake
- Sour Cream Coffee Cake – the best afternoon treat
Did you enjoy this Easy Recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Classic Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease an 8x4 loaf pan.
- Cream butter, vanilla and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 7-8 minutes. Add eggs one at a time and beat to combine.
- Combine flour and salt. Add flour mixture a little bit at a time, beating just until combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool completely.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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The cake turned out perfectly. I did place parchment paper on the bottom of the pan for easy removal. This cake did not get overly brown and I think it is because it is baked at 325° and not 350° like other recipes. I did have to bake mine for 75 minutes and I let it cool in the pan 10 minutes before turning out. I added 2 tsp vanilla instead of one, which was common in all the other recipes I looked at. Using 1 2/3 cup flour was less than other recipes I looked at, but found it to be the perfect amount for a nice texture. I will be keeping this recipe. This is the perfect size for a small family. Thank You!!
I made this pound cake today. I beat that butter and cream cheese for 8 solid minutes and that cake rose to a glorious height. I looks amazing and made two loaf pan size cakes. One for my company and one for the freezer. Amazing flavor and texture. Thank you so
Much for the good directions.
Very easy pound cake. Makes an appropriately dense cake with good internal color and crust that is just right. Mine did rise properly with a classic dome and slight crack. I baked it for the full 70 minutes. Another 5 minutes probably wouldn’t hurt.
I baked mine 75 minutes and it was perfect.
Delicate, flavorful and so incredibly easy to make. I have to ‘laugh’ when people say it didn’t rise. Even though you explained multiple times, people are impatient and don’t first read the instructions through, thoroughly and second don’t follow said instructions. As you’ve said the ‘volume-rise’ comes from creaming the butter and sugar for a MINIMUM of 7 minutes. That is what gives this delicious pound cake its ‘rise’. Excellent recipe!
I made it for the first time today, followed directions exactly. Delicious! I will bake it a few minutes longer next time as the center was a little less done. Thanks for another great recipe, Holly!
What flour are you using, cake or all purpose? Thanks
I always use all purpose flour unless otherwise stated. Enjoy Anita!
I made this recipe for the first time and it turned out amazing. I made sure my butter and eggs were at room temperature. Beating the butter for 8 minutes is important, as my pound cake rose beautifully. I was going to top with strawberries and whipped cream, but everyone was so full, I just cut off slices for everyone to try. My parents loved it, as did my hubby and I. It had a delicate vanilla, buttery flavor. And it wasn’t dense like store bought pound cakes, but it definitely would have soaked up my strawberry sauce. We’ll be having that tonight. This recipe is definitely going in to my dessert recipe collection.
Those who have noted the cake didn’t rise- I must agree with the posters of this recipe- you may not have taken the time in the first step to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until fluffy. I have this in the oven right now and it’s risen beautifully to the top of the loaf pan. It smells heavenly and will be served this evening with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Love and patience makes the best cakes!
Holly,
Upon reviewing your Classic and Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipes, I noticed that the two main differences in the ingredients are cornstarch and cream cheese. I understand the distinction with the cream cheese, but why isn’t cornstarch an ingredient in the Classic recipe?
Thank you for your timely response. I plan to try one of the recipes today.
Traditionally pound cake was made with a pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs. This classic version uses only those ingredients plus a bit of salt/vanilla for flavor.
Taste great. WHY did you not put baking powder in the recipe? Did not raise at all. If I make this recipe again, I will put 1 tsp. Baking powder.
Hi Sharon, great question! In a classic pound cake, it gets its rise from the air that is incorporated into the butter. So in step 2, you will want to make sure to cream your butter for a good 7-8 minutes before adding the eggs to ensure enough air is incorporated. If not, that may cause your pound cake not to rise. Hope that helps!
Is this recipe enough to fill a bundt pan? It says it is okay in the recipe, but in the comments, it says to only use a small loaf pan.
This recipe is best baked in a loaf pan.
It will NOT even fill a regular loaf pan. There is no baking powder in the recipe so it does not expand. The recipe needs to be edited.
Hi Sharon, this pound cake gets its rise from the air that is incorporated into the butter. So we don’t add baking powder to this recipe, instead, the butter is mixed for 8+ minutes in step 2. If not that may be what is affecting the rise of your cake.