The perfect pound cake recipes, for every occasion. A tender crumb, rich, buttery bite in all the best seasonal flavors, including classic pound cake.
Pound cake is so simple and beautiful. It’s moist, decadent, and so easy to make. Pretty pans showcase this incredible treat!
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.
Why You’ll Love Pound Cake
Easy – Made with staple ingredients in 10 minutes.
Keep Well – They are so moist, they keep incredibly well. Perfect for breakfast, snacks and desserts.
Beautiful – Make them in a classic loaf pan or ornate bundt pan for a picture perfect pound cake.
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.
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.
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.
Cinnamon Pound Cake
Learn how to make this incredible recipe that embraces the taste of fall and winter. Perfect for gifting around the holidays.
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.
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?
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!
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!
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!
Tools to Use
- Mixer (You can also mix by hand)
- Measuring Cups + Measuring Spoons
- Baking Spray (My favorite for intricate pans!)
- Wire Cooling Rack
Pan Recommendations
- Classic Loaf Pan
- Goldtouch Mini Loaf Pan
- Jubilee Loaf Pan– this one is a classic, geometrical shape that I used for my chocolate chip recipe.
- Bundt Cake Pan – Any bundt cake pan will work for these recipes, but this one is especially beautiful. (used in my cinnamon pound cake recipe photos)
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
My glazes pour onto the cake for the perfect drizzle, but harden just enough for the perfect slice and the ultimate bite.
Pound Cake Serving Suggestions
Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream, serve a la mode or drizzle with strawberry or raspberry sauce.
Tips for Baking Perfect Pound Cakes
- 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.
How to Store Pound Cake
- 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!
Easy Pound Cake Recipes: Classic Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1½ cups white granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 cups all purpose flour sifted
- ¾ cups milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or extract of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare 1 pound loaf pan with easy release spray or shortening and flour. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat butter on medium-high until light in color (about 3 minutes). Gradually incorporate sugar on medium-low, gradually increasing speed to medium. Beat until light and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 1½ cups white granulated sugar
- On low speed, add eggs one at a time until just incorporated.3 large eggs
- Using the paddle attachment on low speed, alternate adding flour and milk to the mixture until smooth. Blend in extract.2 cups all purpose flour, ¾ cups milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake 1 hour 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the crust is golden brown. Allow pound cake to cool on a wire rack. Invert to remove from pan.
Julie’s Tips
- Reduce baking time to 50 minutes.
Estimated nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and is not guaranteed.
