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After numerous rounds of testing I’ve finally found the BEST Easy Pound Cake Recipe from scratch. This is a classic sour cream pound cake that’s rich and dense with a moist and tender crumb. It’s going to be the ONLY recipe you want to make from now on.
I love a good pound cake, don’t you? A good easy pound cake recipe doesn’t even need frosting, which is perfect for me because I like cake more than I like frosting. This is a sturdy moist pound cake recipe with a tight crumb but it’s also tender and perfectly sweet with tons of vanilla flavor.
If you love a dense yet moist and tender, flavorful vanilla pound cake recipe with the perfect texture, then you’re going to want this recipe for classic pound cake! Every time I make this I have to re-home it immediately because I love it so much. It’s usually the cake I ask for at my birthday – and it’s better than the one from that cake shop!
Ingredient Notes
Originally, pound cakes were made from just four ingredients: a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour – that’s where it got the name!
- Butter is the backbone of this cake. Without it, it wouldn’t be a pound cake! Use unsalted butter of a good quality.
- Sugar is the sweet in this cake. Granulated sugar is traditional for pound cakes.
- Flour is the body of the cake, and I use all purpose flour. Be sure to measure it correctly.
- Eggs are one of the most important pound cake ingredients. They provide richness and moistness and stability. It’s good if they are room temperature, and make sure to mix them in one at a time.
My recipe has those base ingredients with just a few others to make it rich and delicious without sacrificing the classic taste:
- Sour cream keeps the cake moist and adds a nice flavor. I add the baking powder because of the sour cream.
- Baking Powder: While traditionally, pound cake recipes didn’t call for leavening (the eggs do all the work of rising), I added a half teaspoon baking powder because the sour cream adds weight to the cake so the eggs need a bit of help.
- Cornstarch is in the recipe because several of the recipes I’d tried before called for cake flour. I always forget to buy cake flour (and if you’re just going to make this cake once for a special occasion it’s annoying to have to buy something special). Cake flour is a combination of cornstarch and all-purpose flour, so I added some cornstarch to emulate it.
Want to see process shots? Look below the recipe card.
Best Pan to Use
This cake is best baked in a 9-10″ bundt pan, but you can also bake it in a tube pan (angel food cake pan). You can’t bake angel food cake or cakes that are constructed for a tube pan in a bundt pan but you can bake this one in a tube pan if that’s all you have.
What if I don’t have a tube pan or bundt pan? You can also bake two pound cakes in two 9 x 5-inch loaf pans, but baking time will be affected.
Easy Pound Cake Recipe
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (339g) unsalted butter softened
- 2 ¾ cups (550g) granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (184g) sour cream room temperature
- 3 cups (372g) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (16g) cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch fluted bundt pan (or spray well with the nonstick cooking spray that has flour in it).
- Place butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream the mixture for a few minutes, or until it’s light and fluffy and light in color.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time, beating just until the egg is mixed in before adding the next one.
- Add baking powder, vanilla extract, and salt and stir, then add the sour cream, cornstarch and flour. Mix just until combined.
- Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for about 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from close to the middle of the cake.
- Let cool 15 minutes then turn out onto serving plate and cool completely. (The cake will come out easier when it’s warm.)
- Dust cooled cake with powdered sugar for serving. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Recipe Notes
- Do not over bake this cake! Ovens bake differently, which is why I give a range of times, but it’s done when a skewer comes out clean.
- Be sure to scrape your bowl while mixing, especially the bottom if you’re using a stand mixer.
- Be sure to use room temperature ingredients and measure your flour correctly.
- How to serve pound cake: Dust the cake with powdered sugar and serve with berries or whipped cream. Get my whipped cream recipe!
- Want to serve with frosting? Try Cream Cheese Frosting on top – it’s delicious with the cake.
- Store the cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Or you can freeze it for up to a month!
Recipe Nutrition
How to Make an Easy Pound Cake
- Butter and flour your bundt pan very well. This will ensure your cake won’t stick to the pan.
- I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for this recipe. At the very least you must use a hand mixer.
- Make sure your eggs are ROOM TEMPERATURE – this also goes for the sour cream and butter.
- Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes, or until it’s nice and fluffy. Don’t over cream it but make sure you do it long enough.
- Once you mix in the eggs (one at a time) then add the remaining ingredients, the last being the flour.
- How to know a pound cake is done baking: I like to do the toothpick test right next to the center of the cake. For best results, use a long skewer instead. The toothpick should have just a few crumbs sticking to it.
Favorite Pound Cake Recipes
This is the BEST Pound Cake Recipe! It’s an easy old fashioned sour cream pound cake that’s moist and tender and full of vanilla flavor.
My family and I loved it! My results were delicious moist and a dense poundcake. It was reminiscent of a traditional Haitian cake that I grew up eating. My grandmother would make layers and use homemade guava jelly as a filling 😋! I will be making this again!