This Classic Pound Cake recipe uses only 4 simple ingredients that all weigh in at 1 pound each. It’s a traditional butter cake that is perfect topped with strawberries and whipped cream!
Table of Contents
- Classic Pound Cake with Only 4 Ingredients!
- Pound Cake Can Be Used In So Many Desserts
- Why Is It Called Pound Cake?
- How To Make Pound Cake
- Bake It In A Loaf Pan:
- How To Make Pound Cake Moist?
- Pound Cake FAQs:
- Variation Ideas
- How to Store Pound Cake? Can I Freeze It?
- More Pound Cake Recipes To Try:
- Get the Recipe
Classic Pound Cake with Only 4 Ingredients!
Pound Cake is one of those old fashioned cake recipes that will always have place on my dessert table. I have created all sorts of variations on pound cake like my Million Dollar Pound Cake which includes (among other things) buttermilk to tenderize the crumb, and of course my Kentucky Butter Cake which is a MUST make!
But today we’re talking about traditional CLASSIC old-fashioned Pound Cake. This is a cake recipe that has been around for ages, and I wanted to share my tips and tricks on how to bake a homemade pound cake from scratch…because I feel like we all need to know the classics! Once you know the basic recipes, you can build and adapt them to suit your tastes and creativity, which is when the real magic happens!
Pound Cake Can Be Used In So Many Desserts
BUT don’t be misled…there is magic in the basics too. This pound cake recipe is the building block for a pretty epic strawberry shortcake. Macerated strawberries and whipped cream add extra moisture and sweetness that pairs beautifully with the dense crumb of traditional pound cake. Or imagine how INSANE French Toast would be made out of thin slices of this cake!? But, if you were able to ask my Grandpa, I think he would have taken a slice of this plain with his coffee over just about anything else.
Why Is It Called Pound Cake?
Nope, it’s not because you will gain a pound by eating a slice…and no, not because it weighs a pound. In fact, it weighs about 4 pounds because you use these 4 simple ingredients that weigh a pound each.
Ingredients:
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. Since there is no additional salt, using salted butter is a great way to get a little more flavor in the cake! You can use unsalted butter if you prefer. Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar is perfect sugar for this recipe. You could absolutely use light brown sugar as well to jazz it up.
- Eggs: Make sure you’re using large sized eggs, and I always recommend using all room temperature ingredients when you are baking. Everything will mix up and bake evenly when all your ingredients are the same temperature.
- Flour: In a classic pound cake recipe, you just use all purpose flour. This is a sturdy cake, and all purpose flour works great. You absolutely could use cake flour, but in this recipe it wouldn’t make a huge difference.
How To Make Pound Cake
Mix the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes on medium speed. You want the butter to be fluffy and light.
Add the eggs one at a time to ensure even mixing, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Then turn the mixer to low speed and add the flour slowly, and stop mixing once it’s just incorporated. Over-mixing the batter will give you an even denser cake.
I suggest using a nonstick bundt pan and then grease it heavily with butter/shortening or baking spray. This will give you double the insurance that your cake won’t stick.
Bake the cake for 70 – 80 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Home ovens can bake differently and vary in temperature, so the bake time might need to be adjusted. If it isn’t done on the inside, but you notice the cake is getting too brown on top, loosely tent the pan with foil to slow the browning.
Bake It In A Loaf Pan:
You will need 2 loaf pans for this amount of batter. Coat them with baking spray, and line them with parchment paper. This will make removing them from the pans easy. I like to spray the parchment again with nonstick spray too. Bake the loafs for 50 – 60 minutes.
How To Make Pound Cake Moist?
The trick to moist pound cake is to make sure not to over-bake it. This classic recipe is a completely authentic pound cake where the butter flavor is the star, Here are some more tricks if you want to make this extra moist:
- Weigh your ingredients. The biggest problem with dry cake is that the flour was not measured properly. Luckily this is a pound cake and you know exactly how much flour to add…1 pound!
- Poke holes in the baked cake while it’s still in the bundt pan and pour a simple syrup on top. Allow it to soak in and this will add both sweetness and moisture.
- Mix sour cream into the batter along with the butter. A 1/4 cup will work!
- Some milk or buttermilk in the batter also can moisten it up a little bit. Start with 2 tablespoons and that should do the trick.
Pound Cake FAQs:
Traditional Pound cake doesn’t include baking powder or baking soda. There are many recipes out there that include these leavening agents, but a classic pound cake doesn’t.
A classic pound cake recipe includes a pound of each ingredient, hence the name. There are many variations out there of pound cake, but a true pound cake has a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, a pound of sugar, and a pound of flour.
Pound Cake can be made into cupcakes, although it’s not ideal due to the dense, heavy texture.
Variation Ideas
The sky is really the limit with the recipe. Let’s start basic with what you can add IN to the cake before baking:
- Flavored Extracts are a simple way to switch up the flavor. You can go for a simple vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon, coconut, rum…the list goes on. You will need to start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you would like. Vanilla extract is a milder flavor, so you can certainly get away with adding at least 2 teaspoons or up to a tablespoon! Some extracts are a little more powerful, so start with less. You can always add more if you would like!
- Add chocolate chips! Of course you can add chocolate chips to this pound cake. I like to add mini chips!
- Fresh citrus juice and zest! Make this a lemon pound cake by adding 2 tablespoons of lemon zest and no more than 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.
- Berries. Not only are berries excellent on top of pound cake you can add them to the batter. Use fresh or frozen and thawed!
- Sprinkles! Of course!
- Mashed banana to add extra moisture.
- Nuts. Add some pecans or walnuts to the batter it nuts are your thing.
Icing or Frosting is a Great Idea Too!
This is a no brainer! Beyond strawberries and whipped cream, you can easily top this cake with all sorts of sweet glazes!
- Pipe on some buttercream!
- Spread on some chocolate frosting 🙂
- Mix together 2 cups of powdered sugar and 1/4 cup milk and pour this sweet glaze icing on top!
- Mix a little rum with powdered sugar to create a boozy icing!
While all cake is delicious warm out of the oven, this cake, like most pound cake recipes, is actually better in my opinion the next day. It will become moister and more flavorful the longer it sits unsliced.
How to Store Pound Cake? Can I Freeze It?
You can store your pound cake in an airtight container for up to three days. You can also wrap your pound cake with saran wrap and foil, then freeze it for up to six months. Let frozen pound cake thaw on the counter before unwrapping for best results.
More Pound Cake Recipes To Try:
Print
Classic Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 80 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 16 slices 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This Classic Pound Cake recipe uses only 4 simple ingredients that all weigh in at 1 pound each to create a traditional butter cake that is perfect topped with strawberries and whipped cream!
Ingredients
- 2 cups salted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 9 large eggs
- 3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 10- cup bundt pan liberally with nonstick spray and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar together for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined, scraping the sides as needed.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour slowly until combined, again scraping the sides to ensure everything is combined evenly.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 70-80 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. If you notice it is browning too much on the top, tent with foil.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes and then release onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Store airtight for up to 3 days.
Notes:
I find that this cake is best if it sits overnight before slicing, as it becomes more moist.
Storage tip: Carefully flip the cake back into the bundt pan if storing overnight before slicing. You need to remove it from the pan to endure it doesn’t stick, but carefully flipping it back in and covering it tightly to sit is an easy way to store it airtight!
Serve with whipped cream and fruit, icing, or ice cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 433
- Sugar: 25.1 g
- Sodium: 223.1 mg
- Fat: 25.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.6 g
- Protein: 6.4 g
- Cholesterol: 165.6 mg
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I made this and had to force myself not to eat the whole thing. This is like the cakes from the 50’s which were so really “homemade”. Being 67 years old, I haven’t had a cake this good in years.
Didn’t like this cake at all it didn’t have a taste looked good
you could’ve added extract or zest to amplify the flavor. I’ve made this plenty of times and it always comes out perfect.
Assume I know nothing about baking a cake. My hubby’s bday is next week, and we’re isolating. Can’t seem to get a cake mix in our grocery delivery. I have no baking powder or shortening, so a yellow cake from scratch is not possible. His aunt used to make a pound cake he loved, and I thought I’d try this recipe, as I have all the ingredients except a proper butter or margarine. We have Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery spread. Can anyone tell me if that would work in place of butter? Also, I have no frosting but figured I could use powdered sugar with milk. Your thoughts on that would be appreciated too.
I’m no expert but I don’t think you can sub a butter spread for butter in any baking recipe.
actually you can can make the pound cake with a mix of two sticks of butter and two sticks and margarine or 3 sticks of butter and 1 stick of margarine and it will come out delicious. the margarine amplifies the butter flavor in the cake
Your hubby will love this pound cake….yesterday my husband took one out of the freezer and ate it for breakfast! I make 2 small ones instead of one big one and it does freeze well (wrap in 2 layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of foil and put it in a ziplock bag). Instapot makes Bundt cake pans that are 6 cup (half the normal recipe size).
I wouldn’t substitute anything for the butter because it will change the flavor and texture. And seriously, it won’t need frosting! You can put a dusting of powdered sugar over it for making it look pretty. I always serve it with fresh or macerated berries and whipped cream. And as already suggested, make it the day before so it will get even more moist. Good luck!
There is no substitute for butter in baking. Margarine is not a butter substitute, it was a byproduct of refining oil, that someone decided could be marketable if they just added a little yellow food coloring. This was heavily marketed as a better product than butter during the War Years of 1900’s.
Your grocery store delivery can certainly get butter to you. Please, make your husband happy by using real butter. You both will love the results!
I’ve used this recipe for many years. I found it in a cookbook from about 1968. By the way, recent research has concluded that (gasp) real butter is much better for you than any substitute!
The cool thing about a pound cake recipe, is since every ingredient is one pound, it is very easy to customize.
I have often made half a recipe.
Made this cake last night to use with strawberries and cool whip……DELICIOUS??
I added two teaspoons of vanilla extract to the batter and after the cake had cooled I lightly drizzled a simple icing I made with just powdered sugar, a drop of vanilla extract and a splash of cream. It was absolutely delicious! I will definitely be making this again!!
Great ideas! This is a traditional classic recipe and it’s a great starting point…and isn’t everything better with a little icing? 🙂
Since I don’t have a bundt pan, could I use a loaf pan instead? Or maybe a 9×9 or 9×13? Also, what would the bake times be?
I don’t have a bundt pan either. Please answer the question above. Anyone? Thank you.
You could bake it in a 9×13 pan, but the bake time would be less. I would recommend starting at 30 minutes and checking from there. I have never made this cake in a 9×13, so this is just an estimate 🙂
I made it in a 9 x 5 loaf pan. (Half the recipe.) It baked in 50 minutes. I had checked after 40 minutes but needed a bit more.
First time making a pound cake, and I found this recipe. Looks good out the oven, but unfortunately tastes like egg. Would not recommend or make this recipe again. Quite honestly, this was a pure waste of all my eggs. Once cut, you can smell the eggs instead of a nice cake. However on a positive note the cake was moist. I also did not cook the full amount of time told. I pulled it out with almost 20 to 25 minutes to spare.
Hi, you can’t divert from the recipe. I made it and it was great. You have to go strictly by the recipe. Try it again making sure the temperature in your oven is spot on. If you took that out too early, chances are your oven temperature is off.( probably too high) Buy yourself an oven thermometer. They are cheap. Put a thin knife in the center to make sure it comes out clean. Try it in loaf pans too. Good luck. This recipe has to be at least 60 years old. I remember it as a kid. I’m 67 years old.
Mine tasted like egg too! I could not eat it.
Eggs should be 1 pound so if you have larger eggs and use the same # of eggs instead of weighing, you can get something that is too “eggy” if that’s even a word! Good luck. Nothing beats an old fashioned poundcake 🙂
Hi Shelly, I’m sorry but I did not like this recipe. It was dry and tasted very eggy. I’m used to moist, buttery pound cakes made with more than 4 ingredients. So, I searched for another recipe and found the million dollar pound cake, which for me, was more to my liking.
A Classic Pound Cake isn’t for everyone. That’s why I do have so many variations here on my site like the Million Dollar Pound Cake, and the Sour Cream Pound Cake, or even my Kentucky Butter Cake! Classic Pound Cake has a pound of every ingredient so I wanted to include a “classic” version here on my site because some people do prefer this! So glad you found the other recipe and enjoyed it!!
Thank you, Shelly, I will try the other cakes but I really like the million dollar pound cake. Thank you so much for sharing!
First time making cake from scratch, it turned out great guys! Absolutely delicious. Thank you for this recipe!
I tasted it and it was delicious ?
Just made the Bundt cake can’t wait to try it!!
May I use two loaf pan with this recipe and how long to cook it …..what oven temp.
Thank you