This Sour Cream Pound Cake is absolutely the best! Dense, moist, and flavorful, this easy recipe makes a classic pound cake that’s delicious with a cup of coffee for breakfast, or topped with frosting for dessert!
If you are out of sour cream, you can try my Classic Pound Cake Recipe!
This is the BEST Sour Cream Pound Cake You’ll Ever Make!
I’ll tell you, I have made a LOT of pound cakes over the years…and I’ve shared many of those recipes here on my site. I feel like a pound cake is one of those cake recipes that aren’t fussy, are totally versatile, and are just as good for breakfast as they are topped with whipped cream or frosting!
What I’m sharing today is the moistest, pound cake recipe ever!
Why Use Sour Cream In Pound Cake?
Sour Cream is basically like a secret weapon in cake baking. I’m telling you, if you are looking for a moist, dense, rich cake add sour cream! Here’s what sour cream does:
- Sour Cream is made from cream, which has a fairly high fat content. The extra fat the sour cream adds to the cake gives moisture and richness that you won’t get from milk or buttermilk, which is what you would typically use in cake recipes.
- Sour Cream adds moisture to your batter without thinning it out too much as well, creating that dense texture you are looking for in a pound cake.
- The acidity in sour cream activates the baking soda in this recipe giving it the unique texture and tender crumb.
What Can I Sub For Sour Cream?
- Greek Yogurt is a good sub for sour cream because it it has a similar texture, and if using a full fat yogurt it has a similar fat content. The two can be used almost interchangeably.
- Buttermilk can be subbed for sour cream here, although it has a lower fat content and the texture and richness will be different.
- Cottage Cheese. This might seem like a strange option, but if you blend it up it will be a great sub in a pinch!
- Creme Fraiche will work as a sub as well. The flavor is milder, so anyone who says they don’t like sour cream will like this option!
How To Make Sour Cream Pound Cake
This cake is very easy and is prepped quickly! It needs over an hour to bake, so plan ahead!
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Butter. I use salted butter in this recipe (as I do in most of my recipes). I prefer the flavor it adds. But if you prefer unsalted that is totally fine, just increase the salt amount to 1 full teaspoon.
- Granulated Sugar. You use 3 cups of sugar in this recipe, which might seem like a lot, the amount works perfect, giving it a sweet crunchy crust on top and a mildly sweet interior.
- Eggs. You will need 6 large eggs for this recipe. It’s a pound cake after all.
- Vanilla Extract. This adds a mild vanilla flavor to the cake. You can absolutely use another kid of extract like almond, rum, or coconut if you prefer!
- Baking Soda and Kosher Salt
- All Purpose Flour. No self rising flour or cake flour for this recipe.
- Sour Cream. Full fat is best!
Tips For Perfect Pound Cake
I feel like this is a fool proof recipe but I will share a few tips to ensure success!
- Make sure to properly grease your bundt pan. There is nothing worse than making a cake in a bundt pan and then turning it over after it has baked, only to have half the cake stick to the pan. I love my Nordic Ware pan and paired with baking spray, I have never had an issue with sticking!
- Make sure you’re scraping the sides of the bowl as you mix. The batter for this cake is on the thicker side, and you want to make sure all that butter gets mixed in evenly, so periodically use your rubber spatula to scrape the sides and the bottom of the pan.
- Allow the cake to cool in the bundt pan for about 20 minutes before turning it out. You want to get it out while it’s still warm, but not too warm!
- Be patient with baking times. Just because my oven bakes this cake in 65 minutes, doesn’t mean that yours will too. I always recommend for baking cakes to set your timer for a little less than the recommended time and check it. This will prevent potential burning or over-baking! You can always add more time to your timer. Also your cake might take 80-90 minutes to bake this cake…it’s ok! Don’t stress… it will all be ok. Just check it and when your toothpick or a butter knife comes out clean you’re all set!
- If the cake is browning too much on top before it’s fully baked, no problem…just tent it loosely with a piece of foil to prevent more browning.
How To Serve Sour Cream Pound Cake
Here’s the fun part! Once your cake is baked and ready to go you have tons of options! Here are a few fun ways to serve this pound cake:
- Lightly dusted with powdered sugar. This is classic and easy. It will hide any imperfections of the cake (maybe it stuck a little bit to the pan) while also looking pretty! Enjoy on it’s own with a cup of coffee or tea!
- Serve it up with fresh strawberries and some whipped cream for a delicious Strawberry Shortcake.
- Frost it with my Creamy Chocolate Frosting and sprinkles and serve it as a birthday cake!
How Should You Store Pound Cake?
If you don’t plan on eating this cake right away you have options!
- Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days. Sometimes I even put the cooled cake back in the bundt pan and use plastic wrap to cover it. This way I know keeps it super fresh.
- Refrigerate it. But make sure you have covered the cake completely. If you’ve sliced it, you can even take a piece of bread and use a toothpick up against the sliced pieces to lock in the moisture. The refrigerator will dry your cake out, so keeping it airtight is key!
- Freeze it. If you wan to freeze this cake for later, no problem. Just make sure it is again, airtight. Double wrapping this cake is a great option when freezing, first in plastic wrap and again in foil. To thaw the cake out, just allow it to come up to room temperature!
Looking For More Pound Cake Recipes? Try These:
- Marble Pound Cake
- Strawberry Pound Cake
- Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
- Coconut Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Cinnamon Roll Pound Cake
Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: serves 12 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Dessert
Description
This dense, moist pound cake is perfect on its own, served with strawberries and whipped cream or topped with chocolate frosting!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Coat a 10- cup bundt pan with baking spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter and the sugar for 5 minutes on medium speed.
- Add in the eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt and mix until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the flour, mixing until just combined. Add in the sour cream and mix on low for 1 minute until incorporated, scarping the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is mixed evenly.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 65-75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake by running a butter knife around the edges. Invert the bundt pan onto a cake or serving plate. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
- Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
Store airtight at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 515
- Sugar: 50.2 g
- Sodium: 201.5 mg
- Fat: 20.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 75.5 g
- Protein: 7.9 g
- Cholesterol: 140.4 mg
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I have baked many pound cakes!!!! Never ever have. I had such a failure. I went exactly by your recipe read the whole section of your recipe. It was a complete flop never even formed after an hour and 45 minutes it was still liquid. I don’t know if you’ve left something out I’m so upset
What a strange result! I can’t imagine any cake in the oven for an hour and 45 minutes would still be liquid! I wish I could help more, but I have never had this issue. Oven temps do vary, so possibly there was a temperature issue?
This was absolutely delicious! The crust on the bottom was nice and that tangy flavor from the sour cream shines through. Everybody loved it!
Outrageous! I made this cake to ring in the New Year. I was a bit skeptical because I have had epic fails with pound cake recipes before. We are gluten free, so I needed to sub out the flour with a gf cup for cup mixture. The texture was outstanding and the taste delicious! Thanks so much for an inspired recipe! Happy New Year!
What a great review, thank you and so glad you enjoyed it!
I’m going to make mini bundt cakes with this recipe, can the batter be refrigerated and/or frozen so I can use it for two small bathe?
I don’t recommend refrigerating the batter for later or freezing, as the baking soda reacting with the acid reacts as soon as it is mixed and you won’t produce the exact same rise for your cake. You CAN do it, but just note that the cake’s rise and texture won’t be the same. And baking with cold batter might result in uneven bake time, and definitely a little longer int he oven.
I made this for my husband. It is his new favorite. Thank you!
I a m 80 now and enjoy making stuff. this looks like a coffee cake my mom made years ago i remember liking it so much, i do not know what she did but this looks close enough so here it goes off to the kitchen.
Should I use salted or unsalted butter? I have plenty of both for some strange reason! thanks
I use salted, but honestly you can use either in this recipe!
This is a good recipe. Baked ours for 75 minutes and it was perfectly moist and we enjoyed it. Wouldn’t call it the best pound cake ever but definitely a very good one!
Great picture!! Love seeing that!