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 BeBe, will reducing the sugar by half affect the cake?
How much can I reduce?
Hi Fortune, I have not tried reducing the sugar in this recipe so I don't know for sure. If you would like to experiment, I would reduce by only 1/2 cup........2 1/2 cups in stead of 3 cups. I would love to know your thoughts if you give it a try.
Did you use unsalted butter?
Hi Christine- Yes! Unsalted butter. I'll have to clarify this in the recipe. Thanks!
Why is bleached flour specified in this recipe? Would unbleached work?
Hi Jerry, I used bleached flour when making this recipe, it gives a softer texture to your cake. You could definitely use unbleached flour and have a delicious cake. I think I'll change the wording of the recipe.
OK, thanks!
Could you please tell me how to increase to make 12 inch square cake? Thank you!!
Hi Amanda, Our recipe makes 8 cups batter, you will need 10 cups of batter for a 12 in square pan. Are you baking just one 10" layer? If so I think I would make 1 1/2 times (1.5) the recipe, you will have a bit left over for a small cake. Here is a link for easy conversion of a recipe.
http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/Recipes/scale/recipeconversions.php
I would like to make a chocolate chip pound cake. I have Nestle's mini chips. What volume or weight of these chips should I use? I do not want to compromise the integrity of the cake by using too much. I am planning on doing 2 12-inch rounds. Thanks for your guidance.
Hi Cathanne, I think 1 1/2 cups (9 oz) would be the amount of mini chocolate chips I would use. Just so you will know, baking the pound cake recipe in a layer cake pan is fine but it bakes with a crust on top (just as it does in a tube pan) and it can be trimmed off.
good morning, again i'am so glad that I joined this site, nothing but the best and always taking bakers to the next level. I have a request for petit fours in the next couple of weeks. its for a big event. I have a 16x24x1 inch sheet cake pan, I would like to use this recipe, to fill this size pan how many batches of this batter will in need and how may rose nails should I use, cake wait to hear from you. I plan on baking the cake ahead of time to help with the time it takes to decorate them. also will I need to use even bake strips?