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If you’re looking for a simple dessert that doesn’t require a lot of fussy ingredients but tastes like a million dollars, Easy Pound Cake is exactly what to make. Enjoy it plain, with a drizzle of chocolate sauce, or stacked with fresh berries and whipped cream to make shortcake.
The best Pound Cake recipe has a buttery vanilla flavor and a soft but tight crumb. It is somehow sturdy and light at the same time, it’s absolutely delicious.
I love that this classic pound cake is made in one bowl with just 5 minutes of prep time. Then pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake – like magic!
Serve it with berries and whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or salted caramel… so many ways to enjoy this easy dessert recipe.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Cake flour: This finely milled, bleached flour has a lower protein content (about 8%) than all-purpose flour. Making cakes with cake flour gives your desserts a soft, tender texture and an excellent crumb.
- Vanilla: Or substitute almond extract. See Recipe Tips and Variations for other flavor combinations to try.
Step-by-step instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together the sugar, melted butter (you can use unsalted butter if you prefer), eggs, and vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl while mixing.
- Scrape into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, about 55 to 60 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake. Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 loaf of Easy Pound Cake, enough for 8 slices or so depending on how you cut them.
- Storage: Store wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Freezer: Wrap in plastic wrap and transfer to a freezer bag. Label, date, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- Serving suggestion: Pound Cake is delicious plain, but it’s heavenly when served with a mound of whipped cream and a pile of fresh strawberries (the pound cake version of Strawberry Shortcake).
- Mixer: If you prefer to use a standing mixer, start with your dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk your wet ingredients together separately, then add to the dry and combine on medium speed.
- Mini pound cakes: This recipe will also make 4 miniature pound cakes. Use four 2-cup mini loaf pans and reduce the baking time to 40 minutes.
- Lemon pound cake: Add 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest and 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice to the sugar before processing in Step 2.
- Orange pound cake: Add 1 tablespoon grated orange zest and 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice to the sugar before processing in Step 2.
- Ginger pound cake: Add 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger, 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger, and ½ teaspoon mace to the sugar before processing in Step 2.
- Bundt cake: For a similar cake made in a bundt pan, try my Hot Milk Cake. It also has a light yet tight crumb and a delicious vanilla flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
The secret is the butter. While cakes don’t actually contain a full pound of butter anymore (they used to), they are still made a lot of it and it gives pound cakes their signature buttery taste.
To produce a properly risen pound cake that doesn’t fall, make sure your leavening agent is fresh, not expired. We use baking powder in this recipe, but the same would apply to baking soda. Do not over-mix the cake batter either. Over-mixing can incorporate too much air which gives an artificial lift to the batter while it’s baking but ultimately, it might fall. Last, be sure to keep the oven door closed until the baking time is up. No peaking!
This easy pound cake recipe is made in a standard loaf pan, approximately 8 ½ inches by 4 ½ inches by 2 ½ inches.
Serving suggestions for pound cake
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Easy Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour (see note 1)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup butter melted (2 sticks)
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (see note 2)
- powdered sugar for dusting, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In a second bowl or a large measuring cup, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients, whisking constantly until most of the lumps are gone. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with a few crumbs attached, about 50 to 60 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through baking.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and peel the parchment from the bottom of the cake. Cool completely before slicing. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Cake flour: This finely milled, bleached flour has a lower protein content (about 8%) than all-purpose flour. Making cakes with cake flour gives your desserts a soft, tender texture and an excellent crumb.
- Vanilla: Or see Recipe Tips and Variations for other flavor combinations to try.
- Yield: This recipe makes 1 loaf of Easy Pound Cake, enough for 8 slices or so depending on how you cut them.
- Storage: Store wrapped at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.
Easy peasy recipe!
That’s what we like, Sandra! – Meggan
Great recipe! I ran out of vanilla extract but I still wanted the vanilla flavour so I added 100g of vanilla yogurt and reduced the butter a little. Turned out to be a perfectly moist cake.
That’s good to know. Happy it turned out perfectly! – Meggan
One more question Megan.
Can I bake the pound cake in a convection oven?
And at what temp and time?
Hi Linda! I haven’t tested this particular recipe in a convection oven, but the general advice is to reduce the baking temperature by 25 degrees AND check the time 10 minutes earlier than what the recipe says. So for this recipe, you’d bake the cake at 325 degrees and start checking it for doneness after 40 minutes. Again, I haven’t tested this, but that’s the formula most people seem to suggest. Good luck! Thank you! -Meggan
Hi Meggan – I used Orange extract. Love the recipe but have a few questions:
1. Am I correct to assume you use a metal pan (rather than a glass pan)?
2. Salted or Unsalted butter?
3. If adding Craisins (coated with flour) do I need to make any adjustments to the ingredients?
Thank you.
Hi Linda! This recipe is SORELY lacking in process shots, you shouldn’t have to wonder what kind of pan I used. I’m so sorry about that. Yes, I always use a metal pan. I always use salted butter! I know that’s unconventional. People always talk about “controlling the salt in a recipe” and while that’s true, I will inevitably run out of salted butter while buttering toast. Then I sub in unsalted, and my day is ruined. I also don’t think salted butter is overly salty, one to the next. I just use salted in almost every recipe and I’ve never had a problem. Now – adding Craisins. I “think” that should be fine, but I haven’t tried it, so I’m hesitate to make promises. Gun-shy, we’ll say. I don’t want to lie to you. It’s “probably” fine, but without testing it I cannot say for sure. I have added Craisins to other quick breads like pumpkin bread, and it was always fine. You’ll have to test it at your own risk until I have a chance to find out for myself. Thanks for the questions, I hope it all works out for you. Take care Linda! -Meggan