Looking for the best pound cake recipes? This guide will answer all of your questions about making pound cake, plus we’re sharing the best collection of nine incredible pound cake recipes to inspire your baking.

Pound cake is one of the most delicious and beautiful treats to serve to friends and family. It’s moist, decadent, and so easy to make.

It’s also so beautiful to serve – I love to use my prettiest baking pans to showcase this incredible treat! Let’s learn all about pound cake today!

Discover 9 of the best and easiest pound cake recipes.
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Oh, pound cake. I gain all the pounds just by looking at these recipes! Do you think that’s why it’s called pound cake?

Why is it called pound cake?

True story: It’s called that because back in the day, it was made with one pound of each ingredient because it was easy to remember!

It’s one of our favorite, most-requested desserts in this house. I have shared several of my favorite recipe variations with you over the years. With that in mind, I wanted to create a recipe guide that features each of our eight favorite recipes.

Pound cake features the most tender, delicate crumb- moist, full of decadent buttery flavor, and it’s so easy to customize for the seasons. 

A slice of orange pound cake on a white plate.

The Best Pound Cake Recipes

This recipe collection is more than just free printable recipes! We’re also sharing our favorite molds and pans for your pound cake baking needs. We’ll go over temperature guidelines, baking techniques, and so much more!

It’s your one-stop shop for learning my favorite tips and tricks, along with all the links to the free printable recipe cards.

Why You’ll Love These Recipes

  • Crowd Pleasers – So moist and decadent, you won’t believe how rich and delicious pound cake can be.
  • Quick + Easy – Each of these recipes feature minimal staple ingredients and require just 10 minutes hands on time.
  • Great for Entertaining – Pound cakes are so moist, they can be made ahead and still delicious a day or two later for serving!
  • Serving Suggestions – Get ideas for how to serve these delicious desserts and elevate them with toppings, frosting and more.
A glass bottle of orange glaze, pouring over an orange pound cake.
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Tips

  • Bring ingredients to room temperature so that you achieve the perfect crumb.
  • Use full-fat ingredients for the best results (no margarine, no low fat cream cheese). You get the idea!
  • Set your oven to just 300 degrees. This is lower than most of your baking, and it’s with good reason!
  • Use a high quality baking spray. This ensures a clean, proper release. You won’t regret it!
  • Be patient! These cakes bake at a lower temperature, for longer than many other cakes- my recipes require at least one hour of bake time.
  • Do not overbeat your batter- alternate ingredients exactly as stated in directions.
  • Pour into loaf pan allowing a little space to compensate for rise (discard or use excess batter in mini loaf pans).
  • Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the crust is golden brown.
  • If baking in miniature loaf pans, reduce baking time to 50 minutes.
  • For many of our traditional pound cake recipes, you’ll want to double to fill a bundt pan.
A Christmas bundt cake topped with powdered sugar and a sprig of rosemary.
Gold bakeware on a marble surface

Tools to Use

A Christmas Bundt Cake with a silver bow on top.

Variations

Add An Extract

Use the high quality extract of your choice to change the flavor. Some options include:

  • Almond Extract
  • Lemon Extract
  • Orange Extract
  • Rum Extract

Add A Glaze

These are a few of my favorite glaze recipes that work so well on pound cakes!

A slice of iced pound cake on a white plate.

Serving Suggestions

There are so many ways to have fun with this dessert – that’s the beauty of it! It’s gorgeous and delicious to serve completely on its own, believe me…but adding a few elements of surprise can delight guests as well! 

  • Add a dollop of homemade whipped cream and a side of berries. You will never regret making homemade whipped cream.
  • Slice your cake into cubes and layer it with whipped cream and fruit in a pretty glass for beautiful individual parfaits. 
  • Top with Greek yogurt and your favorite kind of nuts or granola to pretend you’re going a little healthier. Cake for breakfast- are you with me? 
  • Slice and serve with delicious homemade jelly or jam on top – you can even make sandwiches or serve tiny jam sandwiches for parties. So sweet! 
  • Top with any of my homemade no churn ice cream recipes. Why not?  
Two slices of lemon pound cake on a marble surface, showcasing the perfect pound cake recipe.

How to Store

  • Room Temperature – Store covered for up to five days. Once you cut into this cake, moisture begins to escape. Use plastic wrap to cover the exposed slice. Sliced pound cake keeps for 3-4 days.
  • Refrigerate – They can be store refrigerated up to 4 days as well. Wrap with plastic wrap and store in an airtight container or bag.
  • Freeze – Simply wrap in plastic wrap – you can add an extra layer of aluminum foil for a secondary layer of frost resistance. Add a heavy duty freezer bag and label appropriately. Freeze up to 3 months.

Frozen pound cake is sold in the freezer section of grocery stores with good reason! All the butter in this cake keeps it moist and flavorful even after time in the freezer.

While most cakes freeze beautifully, this one is especially wonderful directly from the freezer.

You’ll have an incredible dessert at a moment’s notice when guests arrive! You can freeze with or without a glaze – your choice. Just remove from freezer and bring to room temperature on the day of serving. So delicious! 

An easy pound cake recipe with powdered sugar on top.

The BEST Pound Cake Recipes

Classic Pound Cake

This easy six ingredient recipe is always a crowd pleaser and serves beautifully with all kinds of toppings and frostings!

It’s rich, moist and dense with vanilla flavor, with a tender crumb and texture.

A loaf of pound cake in a box on a marble surface.

Christmas Bundt Cake

Learn how to make the simplest Christmas bundt cake. Here, we’ve taken our favorite classic pound cake recipe and adjusted it for a beautiful holiday bundt pan!

This one is sure to wow your guests for holiday entertaining, and it’s surprisingly easy to make with only six staple ingredients.

A white plate with a cranberry wreath on it, showcasing a delightful Christmas Bundt Cake.

Lemon Pound Cake

This easy and classic lemon recipe is a refreshing breakfast, brunch and dessert favorite! It’s just as good as it is simple and beautiful! Finished with a flavorful glaze and deliciously moist.

Easy lemon pound cake recipe with icing.

Cinnamon Pound Cake

Learn how to make this incredible recipe that embraces the taste of fall and winter. Perfect for gifting around the holidays.

A Christmas Bundt Cake with rosemary and powdered sugar.

Apple Pound Cake

This delicious variation is dense, full of buttery flavor synonymous with this dessert, and loaded with fresh apples that keep it moist. It’s drenched in a delectable glaze that slices perfect, every time.

apple pound cake recipe

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This is an incredibly delicious but oh-so-simple chocolate chip recipe, made with pantry staples. It’s a thick, buttery, moist classic… with a twist.

It’s easy and yet elegant to serve, taking just 10 minutes hands on time to make. And with that layer of irresistible glaze drizzled everywhere, who can say no to this beautiful dessert?

chocolate chip pound cake recipe

Orange Pound Cake

This recipe is packed with sweet orange flavor! It is made with staple ingredients in just a few minutes hands-on time.

It’s incredibly moist with a bright citrus flavor and covered with a sweet orange glaze to make it irresistible!

An orange pound cake recipe topped with glaze.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

This is the ultimate fall breakfast or dessert that takes just 10 minutes hands on time! This simple yet beautiful pumpkin recipe is topped with a luxurious cream cheese glaze and will become your favorite fall staple!

A frosted pumpkin bundt cake on a white marble surface.

Brown Sugar Caramel Pound Cake

This brown sugar recipe has a luxurious dense texture and is covered with salted caramel sauce that seeps into every bite. Make a statement with this amazing dessert that is made with just six staple ingredients!

A brown sugar caramel pound cake on a white platter, baked in a bundt pan and topped with caramel sauce.

More Cake Recipes

Discover 9 effortless pound cake recipes.
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9 Easy Pound Cake Recipes

Looking for the BEST pound cake recipes? This recipe collection includes NINE easy + free printable pound cake recipes and variations.
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 1 hour
Total: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 10
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Instructions 

  • Select your favorite free printable recipe.
  • Gather, prep and combine ingredients.
  • Make an easy pound cake in just 10 minutes hands-on time!

Tips

  • Bring ingredients to room temperature so that you achieve the perfect crumb.
  • Use full-fat ingredients for the best results (no margarine, no low fat cream cheese). You get the idea!
  • Set your oven to just 300 degrees. This is lower than most of your baking, and it’s with good reason!
  • Use a high quality baking spray. This ensures a clean, proper release. You won’t regret it!
  • Be patient! These cakes bake at a lower temperature, for longer than many other cakes- my recipes require at least one hour of bake time.
  • Do not overbeat your batter- alternate ingredients exactly as stated in directions.
  • Pour into loaf pan allowing a little space to compensate for rise (discard or use excess batter in mini loaf pans).
  • Bake until a toothpick comes out clean and the crust is golden brown.
  • If baking in miniature loaf pans, reduce baking time to 50 minutes.
  • For many of our traditional pound cake recipes, you’ll want to double to fill a bundt pan.
Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 737mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 182IU | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg

Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.

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