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!

Moist and Delicious Classic Pound Cake Recipe

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!

Deliciously Moist and Flavorful Classic Pound Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com

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

Yes! Just as with most of our cake recipes (from banana pound cake to maple pound cake, lemon cream cheese pound cake and more), this cake freezes perfectly!

In order to freeze your pound cakes, flip out the cake onto your cake board, wrap in plastic wrap and follow with a tightly wrapped layer of foil. Freeze. (We like to wrap our cakes while they are still warm but room temperature is fine also!) The cake can be frozen for up to three months.

Pound cakes and bundt cakes take longer to thaw than layer cakes. For this reason, we move the wrapped, frozen cakes to the refrigerator the day before we need them. The next morning, place the cake on the kitchen counter.

This pound cake is fine to leave at room temperature for 2-3 days, preferably in an airtight container or cake dome.

Have you ever wondered where Pound Cake gets its name?

Pound cake first originated in 18th century Europe. The original classic recipe was a delicious, easy cake recipe that called for a pound of each ingredient: a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, and a pound of sugar.

These days, pound cakes have been modified from the original recipe proportions, often in favor of a lighter more buttery cake. However, they still incorporate many of the same simple ingredients.

You can find pound cake recipes in just about every flavor, from Peach Pound Cake to Buttermilk Pound Cake, Brown Sugar Pound Cake and more.

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!

The BEST Classic Pound Cake Recipe by MyCakeSchool.com! This is a southern favorite! So simple to make, moist, and flavorful! MyCakeSchool.com Online Cake Tutorials, Cake Recipes, and More!

Pound Cake Recipe- A Classic Southern Favorite

BY Melissa and Bebe

This moist pound cake is SO delicious and easy to make! Serve it plain or topped with berries and cream!

Course: Dessert

Servings: 15

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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).

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170 Comments

Bebe love love your site please help I have a pound cake receipe I want to make a pineapple upside down cake in a sheet pan. What size do I use. Thanks

Hi Bessie, Thank you for your nice comment about the site. Our pound cake makes approximately 8 cups of batter. If your pound cake recipe is similar in quantity , you can use a 9x13 sheet cake pan. You can put 8 to 10 cups in a 9x13 pan.

Hello, I love u site. I've made a lot of your cakes which turned out fantastic. Can I add raisins/dried mixed fruits into the batter, I mean a whole lot of it? Will it affect the outcome of the cake? A client wants a pound cake but with lots of raisins in it. Will it work?

Hi Fortune, Thank you for your nice comments about the site. Sounds as though your client might like a fruit cake recipe but we don't have that type recipe on the site. I have never tried adding dried mixed fruits into this cake batter but I think it would be fine to add about 1 1/2 cups. Also, you might try cutting the raisins into smaller pieces so they would be less likely to sink to the bottom. Dusting the dried fruit with flour is suppose to help keep them from sinking but that does not seem to make a difference when I have tried it. I would fold in about half of the raisins at the end of the recipe, then put all the batter into your pound cake pan. Sprinkle the remaining raisins on top and press those down into the batter with a fork or spoon. I think that helps to keep them dispersed more evenly through the cake. Let me know how it goes.

Hello, so I'm making this cake with lots of dried fruits in it next week. Don't have a Bundt pan, will it work in a 10" pan that's about 4" deep or will it be better for me to bake it in layers?

Hi Fortune, If you do not have a Bundt or tube pan, I am not sure about baking this in 10x4 inch pan. Even with a heating core some bakers have a problem with the outside of the cake becoming too dark because of the long baking time. I have not tried this so I can't say for sure. This pound cake recipe is rather dense. I have another pound cake recipe that is a bit less dense that you might like to try for cake layers. We used this recipe for a Lemon Raspberry Cake that Melissa will be posting in a few days. Here is a link

Pound Cake…..A less dense recipe

1 cup (116g) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened ( do not soften in microwave)
2 cups (400g) white sugar
3 cups (300g) cake flour (sift then measure) if you do not have cake flour see note below
4 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup (180g) milk
2 teaspoons ( 8g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ( 3g) salt
2 1/2 teaspoons (10g) lemon extract
3 Tablespoons (38g) lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

**If you do not have cake flour, you can make your own using the following method. For each cup of all purpose (plain in the UK) remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. For this recipe, there is 3 cups of flour so measure out the flour and remove 6 Tablespoons, then replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.

**For best results when using a tube or bundt cake pan, lower the oven rack. I lower mine to the next to lowest position in the oven.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Grease and flour an 8 or 10 cup tube or bundt cake pan, I used an 8 cup pan for a taller cake

In a separate bowl, add the cake flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk at least 15 seconds to blend and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, cream butter for 2 minutes, gradually add sugar, continue creaming for 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy

Add eggs one at a time mixing after each egg until the yellow is blended into batter.

Add flour mixture alternately with the milk, at this time also add the extract,lemon juice and zest. Begin and end with dry ingredients (3 additions of dry, 2 of wet). Blend after each addition just until ingredient is blended in…..Do not over mix as this could dry the cake.

Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 5 minutes. Time may vary for your oven. If you find the top of the cake is becoming too dark, cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

The cake is done when a toothpick inserted come out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.

Cool in the pan 15 minutes on wire rack. Remove from pan and let the cake continue to cool.

Do you have the baking time if you use the 11x15 pan? Thank you!

Hi GuppyLove, In a 11x15 pan, bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes

HELLO MELISSA

CONGRATULATIONS I MADE IT WOO....... IS THE BEST THANKS FOR SHARING THE RECEPI.

LOVE

MARIA

Hi Maria, That's great!! I glad you made it!! Thanks for posting!

Hi Maria,
So awesome your sheet poundcake came out nicely.Ive been searching for the perfect recipe for a sheet poundcake.Also did you have to double the recipe .How high was your cake please?Thanks for sharing!