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Pound Cake

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  • Prep 20 min
  • Total 4 hr 0 min
  • Servings 24
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Both dense and rich with a fine crumb texture, our pound cake can be made in an angel food pan, a fluted tube cake pan, or even in loaf pans. Use the pan(s) you own or borrow one from a neighbor or friend—you won’t want to miss this cake.

The texture of pound cake is more condensed than a layer cake, making it a sturdy cake that travels well. Several eggs and baking powder give lift to the other basic pantry ingredients. Butter, milk, and vanilla lend their buttery, vanilla flavor that just can’t be duplicated in a store-bought cake. You’ll know the instant you take a bite, why this cake is worth it!

Delicious on its own, pound cake can be the launching spot for several other desserts-- enjoy several other desserts with just one cake! From the perfect dunker for fondue to shortcake and more, bake one up today—it’s like a step back into grandma’s kitchen!
Updated Mar 10, 2024
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How Do You to Make a Pound Cake from Scratch?

Our best pound cake recipe from scratch starts with simple, down-to-earth ingredients in your kitchen! Our easy pound cake recipe takes just 20 minutes prep to get it to the oven. When the tantalizing aroma fills your kitchen, you’re going to wish you were already at the eating! Here’s how to make pound cake. You’ll quickly see just how easy it is to make it. Follow the recipe for all the specifics.

Mix the Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking powder and salt are mixed, to be ready to add to the mix in a just a minute.

Beat Until Fluffy: Sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla are mixed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Alternate Adding Ingredients: The flour mixture is added alternately with milk, to get the best cake texture.

Pour into Pans and Bake: It is simple, really!

Cut it When it is Cool: The cake is cooled in the pan for a bit before it can be removed from the pan. Wait until the cake is completely cool to cut it.

Dust with Powdered Sugar and Cut: Use a serrated knife with a light sawing motion, for the prettiest slices.

What Are Some Delicious Pound Cake Toppings?

Our traditional Pound Cake recipe can dress to the nines, or it can stay sweet and simple! Try any of these pound cake toppings when you’re looking what to serve with pound cake:

For super-simple ways to top homemade pound cake, top slices with sweetened whipped cream (either homemade, from the container or aerosol can), a scoop of your favorite ice cream (any flavor you desire) or cut-up fresh, canned, or frozen fruit (thawed) fruit. Use whatever you have on hand, or you’ve got a craving for!

If you are looking for more indulgent toppings (who could blame you, with deliciously moist pound cake like this), try our Chocolate Ganache or Lemon Glaze drizzled over the entire cake or individual servings. Or pretend you are at your own sundae bar and layer the yumminess with whipped cream and your favorite candy bar (chopped), Ice cream, whipped cream, and a cherry, or whipped cream, toffee bits and mini chocolate chips.

With old-fashioned pound cake this versatile, you can change it up to suit your mood. The combinations are endless.

How to Store Pound Cake


Covered at Room Temperature: Leftover pound cake can be stored loosely covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for up to 3 days, and still be as fresh as the day you made it.

Can you freeze pound cake? Absolutely! Its sturdy texture makes it a great friend of the freezer. You can wrap up half of a cake made in a tube pan or one of the loaves and stash it away for another occasion. It’s a delicious treat to have on hand for when unexpected guests show up at your door or you need a sweet fix after a grueling day. Wrap it tightly with a layer of plastic wrap and place it into a freezer food storage bag. It can be kept for up to 4 months. To thaw it, simply take it out of the bag and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour, and it should be thawed and ready to enjoy!

How do I know when my pound cake is done?

Betty Crocker recipes almost always include both a bake time and a doneness test, so that you can be sure your cake is baked to perfection. Bake it for the minimum time, then check to see if the toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. If it does not, add a minute or two more of baking time and test it again. Even though you have set your oven temperature to 350°F, your oven temperature can be different. Older ovens tend to get uncalibrated over time. By starting with the minimum time, it will be impossible to over bake it, and using the toothpick test will help you know exactly when it’s done.

What are other variations of this Pound Cake recipe?

There are many ways to hack a pound cake! To change the shape, simply bake it in one of the other pound cake pans called for in the recipe. Or try one of these easy ideas from the baked cake:
Change the Shape:

Kabobs: cut pound cake into cubes and thread on skewers with bite-size pieces of fruit.

Shortcakes: Fill and top slices of pound cake with sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.

Party Bites: Cut slices of pound cake with 2-inch cookie cutters. Drizzle with your favorite glaze and top with sprinkles.

Or you can stir in an ingredient or two and change the flavor:

Flavored Pound Cakes:

Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake: substitute 1 teaspoon lemon extract for the vanilla and fold in a tablespoon of lemon zest and 1/4 cup of poppy seed into the batter.

Almond Pound Cake: Swap almond extract for the vanilla, for a delicious Fudge Marble Pound Cake has a decadent fudgy filling as well as a glaze.
Cranberry-Orange Pound Cake is a sure hit for the holidays.

Grapefruit Pound Cakes are perfect for smaller households.

Sweet Potato Pound Cake is loaded with the flavors of fall.

We have oodles of pound cake recipes to try, with assorted flavors, fillings, and toppings! Which one will you make next?

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour*
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1 cup milk or evaporated milk
  • Powdered sugar, if desired

Steps

  • 1
    Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom, side and tube of 10x4-inch angel food cake pan (tube pan), 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or two 9x5-inch loaf pans with shortening; lightly flour.
  • 2
    In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. In large bowl, beat granulated sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 5 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Beat flour mixture into sugar mixture alternately with milk on low speed, beating just until smooth after each addition. Pour into pan(s).
  • 3
    Bake angel food or fluted tube cake pan 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, loaf pans 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove from pan(s) to wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Tips from the Betty Crocker Kitchens

  • tip 1
    Substitute 1 teaspoon lemon extract for the vanilla. Fold 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel and 1/4 cup poppy seed into batter.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get my Pound Cake out of the pan?

It is easy if you pay attention to the details!

Grease and flour the pan: Start by greasing the pan with vegetable shortening on a paper towel, getting every nook and cranny. Then spoon in a few tablespoons of flour. Rotate the pan while you move and tap the flour around the pan to dust the entire inside. (If you missed any spots with the shortening…you’ll now see them because the flour will not stick. Go back and grease these spots and do the flour thing again.) Once the entire inside is covered, turn the pan upside down and tap it to get any loose flour out.
Cool Cake in Pan: Cool the cake in the pan for just 20 minutes. Any longer than that, and the cake may stick. If this happens, you can try putting the cake back in the hot oven for about 2 minutes to get it to loosen. Any time less than 20 minutes, the cake will be too fragile to remove.

Take it Out of the Pan: After 20 minutes, you can tip the pan over onto a cooling rack, and it should slide right out!

How do you make Pound Cake moist?

Baking is a science, so you need to do things accurately if you want to get satisfactory results. The good news is, they are not hard to do!
Measure ingredients correctly: Spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup; tap it slightly for the flour to settle and level it off. Measure milk in a liquid cup (one with a spout), reading it on the counter at eye level.

Ensure Your Oven Temperature: Get an inexpensive oven thermometer in the baking aisle of large grocery or discount stores and place it in the center of your oven, to be sure you’re baking at the right temperature. Adjust your oven control if needed, so that the temperature is correct.

Bake for Time and Doneness: See How do I know when my pound cake is done? (above).

Why did my Pound Cake Overflow?

Most likely, you used a pan that was smaller than the one called for. To avoid a mess in your oven, before you even grease the pan, measure the volume of a tube pan by filling it with water. If it is less than 12 cups, you’ll need to use the two 9x5 pans or borrow a pan from a friend or neighbor. The only other way it could overflow was if you incorrectly measured the ingredients. If you use extra-large eggs, the volume will also be more than intended for the pan.

Why did my Pound Cake Fall?

There are three reasons pound cakes can fall.
Incorrectly Measured Ingredients: in baking, measuring accurately is critical to success. Use dry measuring cups for dry ingredients, like flour, and liquid measuring cups (those with a spout) to measure liquids, like milk.

Incorrect Oven Temperature: Be sure your oven temperature is correct (see How do you make Pound Cake moist?), for how to measure the actual temperature your oven is at, despite what you’ve set the dial to.

Pound Cake was Underbaked: The pound cake will fall if it is underbaked. When a cake is baked long enough, there is enough structure on the inside to prevent it from falling. Follow the tips in How Do I Know When My Pound Cake is Done?

Why is it called pound cake?

Before the times when it was easy to get fabulous recipes like this one online, written recipes were not easy to come by. This cake was appropriately called pound cake because you made it with one pound each of flour, sugar, butter, and eggs, and added whatever flavorings you had on hand. Over time, the recipe has evolved to include leavening in the form of baking powder or soda, to give the cake an even better texture, but the name stuck as an effortless way to remember the amounts of the basic ingredients needed!

Nutrition

230 Calories, 9g Total Fat, 3g Protein, 33g Total Carbohydrate, 22g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Serving
Calories
230
Calories from Fat
80
Total Fat
9g
14%
Saturated Fat
4 1/2g
22%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
65mg
22%
Sodium
115mg
5%
Potassium
45mg
1%
Total Carbohydrate
33g
11%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
22g
Protein
3g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
8%
8%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
4%
4%
Iron
4%
4%
Exchanges:
1 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 2 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
2
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

More About This Recipe

  • Whether you are finding your way around the kitchen or have been around the counter a few times, few things can make you prouder than baking a homemade cake! Put the icing on top of your cake skills with our fool-proof How to Bake a Cake article. Then arm yourself with a great apron and pull on those oven mitts and give this crazy popular Pineapple Upside-Down cake a try. For even more whisk taking, check out these irresistible cake recipes!
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