Best Pound Cak
A couple of tricks like using cream, cake flour, and alternating the wet and dry ingredients make this the Best Pound Cake Recipe you’ll ever taste! Dense and moist, with a fine crumb, it’s an amazing staple for your dessert repertoire.
The pound cake got its name from the simple proportions used to make the batter. British in origin, the first recipes called for a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. I’m not sure what my ingredients weigh, but I guarantee the results are scrumptious!
Why You Should Make this Pound Cake
Woodshop, metal shop, sewing, and home ec. In junior high, I took a quarter of each. I haven’t made a trowel or wood carving since then, but I do think some of those baking lessons paid off. Mrs. Johnson (was that her name?) gave us the assignment to bake something at home.
I perused my mother’s cookbooks and found an easy recipe. Pound cake. Even though I forgot the vanilla, my teacher admired the wonderful taste and texture. And I learned that I could bake! Years later I found this easy pound cake recipe in Gourmet magazine. I promise that it’s the BEST!
- It’s Elvis’ favorite pound cake! So it’s a tried and true recipe that’s been around for decades.
- A vanilla pound cake is the perfect show case for fresh seasonal berries, ice cream, whipped cream and more!
- It’s dense, buttery and delicious. Just look at the perfect, dense crumb.
Elvis Presley Pound Cake
When Epicurious became my primary recipe resource about 2 decades ago, I discovered Elvis’ Favorite Pound Cake. Cream and cake flour give it a marvelous crumb.
With all the fabulous seasonal berries, it is a wonderful spring and summer dessert. Try it with a sauce made of frozen raspberries in the winter or with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Make sure to bake up this whipping cream pound cake for your next gathering but take note that it’s delicious any time of year. You won’t be disappointed. Plus, it’s got Elvis’ endorsement!
Frequently Asked Questions About Making a Pound Cake Recipe
You’ll need a tube pan, which looks like a tire from above. The opening in the middle helps the cake to bake evenly instead of having the outside fully baked and the middle raw. But do not use a two-piece angel food cake pan, which has a removable bottom. When the batter is poured in and placed in the oven, there will be leakage out of the seams where the two components meet. This will make a mess in your oven.
Scroll down to see a link to the nonstick tube pan I use. Note that you can also use a Bundt pan to bake this cake or divide the batter between loaf pans, decreasing the baking time.
The culinary term Pound Cake came from the original measurements which called for a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.
Pound cake freezes very well. Just wrap your cake so that it’s airtight and freeze up to 3 months. I wrap first with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil. This gives a double dose of protection from freezer burn. Make sure to mark the date on the outside of the packaging so you can use it while it’s at its prime.
How do you make a pound cake?
As with most cakes, there are a few universal tips, like having your eggs and butter at room temperature. But some other pointers are a little different for making a perfect pound cake.
Mixing the Batter
- PRO-Tip: Start with room temperature ingredients. You can set the eggs, butter and cream out on the counter about an hour before mixing. On occasion, I will hurry along the process by putting my eggs into a bowl of warm water.
- Using room temperature ingredients will help increase the volume of the batter.
- PRO-Tip: Use the paddle attachment to beat the butter and sugar. This will ensure a velvety batter without incorporating a lot of air. This assists in giving the pound cake the dense crumb for which it’s known.
- Like with a cheesecake, you only want to beat the eggs until they’re just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Use cake flour for a finer, more delicate crumb. Sifting three times lightens it up even more.
- Also do not over mix the flour once it is added. Over mixing will activate the gluten, making for a tougher cake.
Baking the Cake
- Grease and flour your tube pan or use a non-stick flour and oil spray like Baker’s Joy. Do not use a 2 piece angel food cake pan as the batter will spill out of the bottom as it bakes.
- PRO-Tip: This recipe calls for starting the cake in a cold oven. I’m not a chemist, but this may be because it will delay the leaveners from forming carbon dioxide. CO2 is responsible for making air bubbles and therefore creating a lighter, airy cake. This step is unique to some pound cake recipes.
- Most pound cakes take an hour or more in the oven. Be patient. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. It should come out clean or with a few moist crumbswhen the cake is done.
- Let the pound cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes before gently shaking from side to side, then flipping it out onto the cooling rack to finish cooling.
Storing Your Cake
- Keep your pound cake covered at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
- To store any longer than 4 days, cover with plastic wrap, then heavy-duty (or regular) foil and freeze.
More Pound Cake Recipes You’ll Love:
Helpful Tools:
Ingredient Notes:
- Kitchen staples: Sugar, Butter, Vanilla Extract, Salt – Check your supply
- Eggs (you’ll need 7!) – Have them at Room temperature for the best incorporation into the batter
- Cake Flour – find this in the baking aisle in a box. PRO-Tip: You can make your own cake flour by substituting 2 tablespoons of each cup of flour with 2 tablespoons of corn starch. This decreases the amount of gluten in the flour making it more suitable for tender cakes.
- Heavy Cream – one of the unique ingredients in this pound cake. It should have 36% butterfat content.
This recipe was first shared in July 2010. Text was updated in 2021.
The Recipe: Best Pound Cake
Elvis' favorite pound cake recipe. Adapted from Gourmet Magazine.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
- 3 cups sugar
- 7 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups cake flour, sifted twice
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Butter and flour (or use a flour and oil cooking spray like Baker's Joy) a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan (do not use a 2 piece angel food cake pan).
- Cream butter and sugar, using paddle attachment if using a stand mixer. Beat on medium high for 5 minutes.
- Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla, then mix in the salt.
- With mixer on low, mix in half the flour, then all the cream, and then the rest of the flour. Scrape down bowl, and beat on medium high for 5 more minutes. Batter will be satiny.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Drop the pan onto the counter once or twice to remove air bubbles. Place in lower third of a cold oven. Set oven to 350º and bake 60-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or with just a couple crumbs.
- Cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pan onto serving plate and cool completely.
Notes
I have also baked half a batch using 3½ eggs (estimating the volume of a half of a large egg), and baked in a loaf pan for 45 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1 sliceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 564Total Fat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 171mgSodium: 257mgCarbohydrates: 78gFiber: 1gSugar: 51gProtein: 7g
