Pound Cake Recipe
There’s nothing better than a slice of warm pound cake fresh from the oven.
This easy and delicious pound cake recipe has long been a southern staple and is one of my personal favorites!! If you're looking for a wonderful go-to pound cake, you've come to the right place!
Table of Contents
Why we Love It
There are so many reasons to love this classic pound cake recipe. Here are just a few:
- Quick and easy scratch pound cake to make
- Buttery flavor and moist, fine crumb
- Perfect cake for any occasion, whether a birthday cake recipe, holiday cake, potluck dessert, and more!
- Perfect served just as it is or topped with berries and ice cream!
- Versatile! We've used this as a layered cake (as with our Strawberry Shortcake Cake as well as for our Petit Fours).
We have so many delicious variations as well, from Cream Cheese Pound Cake to Lemon Pound Cake, Strawberry Pound Cake and so many more!
The Pound Cake recipe that I am sharing with you today was my grandmother’s recipe, and is our long time go-to recipe for our pound cake cravings.
It is simple, has a nice even crumb, is super moist, and it has so much flavor!
We’ve been making this cake for years for special occasions or for no occasion at all. This easy pound cake recipe is sure to become a favorite- sometimes the simplest recipes are best!
How to Make a Pound Cake
*You can find our full, printable recipe card for this Pound Cake Recipe- but here is a quick rundown of the steps!
- Grease and flour a tube pan or bundt pan.
- Lower the oven rack to the next to lowest position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- In a separate bowl whisk the all purpose flour and baking powder to combine, set aside for later.
- Cream the softened unsalted butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer (using a paddle attachment). Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy 3 to 5 minutes. Add the room temperature eggs one at a time blending after each to incorporate.
- Add the vanilla extract and lemon extract to the 1 cup of milk. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk to the butter, sugar, egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I add the dry 3 times and milk twice.
- Pour the cake batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow the pound cake to cool for about 10 minutes or so before carefully flipping out onto a wire rack.
Easy Vanilla Glaze
After baking our pound cake, we drizzled it with a Simple Vanilla Glaze.
This quick glaze can be whipped up in minutes, and I just love the look!
You can drizzle it by the spoonful, or pipe it through a disposable piping bag with the tip snipped away. (The piping bag will give you a little more control).
Recipe FAQs
Other Favorite Pound Cake Recipes!
We love pound cakes, and have many more pound cake recipes for you to put on your must bake list! Don't miss our Bundt Cakes and Pound Cakes section of recipes as well!
Some of our most popular are Lemon Pound Cake, Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake, Strawberry Pound Cake, and Coconut Pound Cake.
More Classic Cakes
In addition to this pound cake recipe, there are several more classic cakes that belong on your "must-bake" list! You'll find German Chocolate Cake, Hummingbird Cake, Black Forest Cake, and so many more!
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
Pound Cake Recipe- A Classic Southern Favorite
Ingredients
- 3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (339g)
- 3 cups sugar (600g)
- 5 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.)
- 3 cups all purpose flour, (not self-rising) (375g)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (2g)
- 1 cup whole milk (235g)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional) (4g)
Instructions
- Grease and flour a tube pan.
- Lower the oven rack to the next to lowest position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a separate bowl whisk the flour and baking powder to combine, set aside for later.
- Cream the butter with the paddle attachment in your mixer, gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time blending after each to incorporate.
- Add the vanilla and lemon extract to the l cup of milk. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk to the butter, sugar, egg mixture. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. I add the dry 3 times and milk twice.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- This makes approximately 8 cups of batter.
- Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before flipping out onto wire rack.
- **This is also the recipe that we use in our petit fours video! For petit fours, we pour into an 11x15 inch pan so that they are nice and short (approximately 1 ¼ inches tall).
Hi Elvia, Yes, you can make the pound cake using an electric hand mixer. It will take just a bit longer mixing. When creaming the butter and sugar mix until it has lightened in color and has a fluffy look. Mix in the eggs until the yolk of the yellow disappears. When mixing the batter with the dry and wet ingredients mixing until the additions are blended in but don't over mix. Hope all goes well.
Hi! Found this jem as I was searching for petit four and ❤ it!!! Would this be ok to bake as cupcakes? Any modifications needed??
Thanks!!
Breezy
Hi Breezy, We have never used the recipe to make cupcakes, but I think you could do so. The cupcakes will have a more dense texture just as a pound cake does. In the instructions I say to lower the oven rack to next to lowest position, no need to do this with cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees, when a toothpick pulls out clean or with just a few crumbs attached they are done. Check at 18 minutes.
Thanks so much!! I was asked to do 250+ cupcakes for a charity event!! I loved the texture and crumb in sheet cake form, so I was hoping it would convert well! I will post back how it goes ?
I want to bake this cake in a standard loaf pan. How should I adjust this recipe?
Hi Pam, This recipes makes 8 cups of batter, you may have leftover batter if using a 8x4 inch loaf pan, fill 1/2 to 3/4 's full. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes. If baking in glass or a dark colored pan, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees and increase the baking time. Test for doneness with a toothpick inserted in the center.
Hi there. I made the Classic Pound Cake and ABSOLUTELY loved it! Thanks so much for the recipe, it is truly gorgeous! My family loved it so much that I would like to make it a chocolate pound cake by adding some cocoa (don't wish to make the Double Chocolate Pound Cake this time). If so, how much cocoa would you recommend adding, would 60g suffice? Many thanks, Emma
Hi Emma, Thank you for you nice post, I am so happy your family enjoyed the cake. To make this a chocolate pound cake we add 1/4 cup (20g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch Processed). Measure then sift the cocoa powder. Whisk it into the flour and baking powder mixture.
Thanks for another awesome recipe! For a sheetcake, how long would you suggest to it bake for?
Hi Katherine, Below is a link to a cake batter amounts and baking times chart. I think you will find them helpful.
This pound cake bakes up with a crusty top, you can level it off with a long knife or flip over. This recipe makes 8 cups batter
Thanks!!
Hi Bebe, can you please let me know the size of this tube pan.
Thanks in advance