This is the best pound cake recipe and it’s the one my Grandma made that I grew up eating.
Pound cake is one of my all-time favorite desserts! When made and baked properly, there are few cakes that can rival the amazing deliciousness of this old fashioned cake.
Perfectly dense and velvety with lots of rich, creamery, sweet buttery goodness, slightly tangy buttermilk, and loads of fresh vanilla. It’s delicious all on its own or with fruit and whipped cream topping.
If you’re lucky enough to have a slice while it’s still warm out of the oven (not hot but cooled to warm), you may just think you’ve died and gone straight to heaven!
Would you like more amazing pound cake recipes? My lemon pound cake is truly lovely and perfect for spring. How about a pound cake loaded with fruit? My strawberry pound cake or peach pound cake are both seriously yummy choices that I promise you’ll love!
Let’s bake this cake!
What I Love About This Pound Cake Recipe
- Perfect velvety texture
- BUTTER!
- Deliciously dense
- So easy to make!
- Goes great with a myriad of toppings
The Best Pound Cake Recipe Notes
Over Beating: This may sound strange after you read the recipe and see that the first thing you do is beat the butter 6-7 minutes! It’s after the eggs are added that you need to beat just to incorporate. Do NOT over beat your eggs! This leads to differences in the crust texture, and we don’t want that. Add your eggs and mix until JUST combined!
Bake Time: Slow and steady! This pound cake, with all its rich ingredients, needs ample time to get good and velvety in the oven. Don’t try to rush art! Unlike some pound cake recipes, this is baked slowly in a slightly lower temperature oven.
Room Temp Eggs: Another egg note: room temp is the right way to go! If you use room temp eggs, the rest of the ingredients will mix more easily and you’ll get better volume in the batter.
Room Temp Butter: On a similar note, you want the butter room temp too — for much the same reasons! It’ll mix better and you’ll get more even butter distribution.
How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge?
Your old fashioned pound cake recipe can be stored at room temperate. Refrigeration extends the shelf life of your cake, but as with all butter cakes, it is best served at room temperature. It will last up to 2 days at room temperature and 1 week in the fridge.
However, you store it, be sure to wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap to seal out all the air and keep your cake nice and moist.
Can You Freeze This Pound Cake Recipe?
Yes! Even a traditional pound cake recipe is great in the freezer (just like those ones you can buy in the freezer section at the grocery store!). Wrap it up well, and your pound cake will store for up to six months.
Make Ahead Tips
Since this pound cake recipe stores so well, feel free to make it ahead of time and serve whenever you need it! It’ll still be that delicious, melt in your mouth pound cake you know and love, even a day or two after making.
On the day you make the cake, be sure to plan ahead and bring your butter and eggs to room temperature before you start baking.
Serving Recommendations
The best way to eat pound cake? With mouth-watering toppings! We all love fruit and whipped cream, but go ahead and try some homemade caramel sauce. You’ll fall in love, I guarantee!
This cake deserves a rich, creamy, warm, cozy keoke coffee cocktail to partner with!
Recipe Variations
- Add citrus. The best balance of flavor with the smooth vanilla and butter is citrus! Old fashioned lemon pound cake, lemon cream cheese pound cake, and orange pound cake are all great examples of citrus in this cake!
More Pound Cake Recipes
- Orange Pound Cake
- Brown Sugar Pound Cake
- Coconut Pound Cake
- Banana Pound Cake
- Lemon Pound Cake
- Million Dollar Pound Cake
- Peach Cobbler Pound Cake
- Pineapple Pound Cake
- Buttermilk Pound Cake
The Best Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk, shaken well
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Whisk together in a medium mixing bowl, flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan.
- In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, beat butter on medium speed, until light and fluff, 6 minutes.
- Gradually mix in sugar until blended. Beat on medium for 1 additional minute.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition just until yolk disappears.
- Reduce mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, on low speed until just combined. Scrape down bowl as needed. Mix in vanilla.
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan. Tap pan on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
- Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Cover with foil and continue to bake, about 45 minutes longer, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 1 hour. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.
This pound cake is delicious. I baked this cake twice, The second time I used mini loaf pans to give to friends,, This is a great cake.
I’m so happy you liked this cake! Thank you for leaving a comment and the 5 star rating! Hope you find lots more recipes you love here!
Truly a great recipe!!!!😊
Pound cake is amazing. My favorite dessert. Love to make it and really enjoy eating at.
Thank you, Carol! I’m so glad you like this cake 🙂
This is perfect! I haven’t baked bundt cakes in a while!
Thank you, Alex!
The baking time is way off on this, I’m guessing it should be at 1 1/2 hours, not 45 minutes. It says 45 minutes then do foil, but not how long for the foil. I keep having to add time.
Hi Martha. You’re absolutely right. I’m sorry, my directions weren’t clear. It does bake for about 1 1/2 hours overall. I’ve amended the directions to hopefully make it more clear.
I would love to make this but are you sure about the calories per slice. 834 calories per slice is extreme. Thank you for all of your wonderful recipes.
Hi, Debbie. Thank you for noticing. I corrected it now.