Pound Cake

Moist, buttery, and rich, this Pound Cake recipe comes together quickly and easily in a few simple steps. All you need are a few basic ingredients to make this cake!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings slices

Calories 303kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

9x5 inch loaf pan

Ingredients

4 eggs
1 cup unsalted butter (226g) room temperature
1 cup sugar (200g)
1½ cup all-purpose flour (180g)
½ cup sour cream (120mL)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon vanilla
½ teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9x5 inch baking tin.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder then set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment cream the butter. Add sugar in and mix until light and fluffy. Scrape the bowl down and beat a few more seconds.
Add the eggs in one at a time while mixing at medium speed. Scrape the bowl down and beat until fully incorporated.
Add the sour cream, and vanilla. Mix until incorporated. Scrape the bowl down.
Add the flour mixture in and mix until combined. Scrape the bowl down and use your spatula to mix in any pockets of flour or butter that remain.
Transfer batter into tin then give a quick smooth to even the batter out a bit. Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes or until the center is set and a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Video

Notes

Should you line the pan? Up to you! You can simply grease and flour your loaf pan or line the pan with a parchment paper sling for easy removal. Both ways will back up great. If you are using a nonstick pan, I find the parchment isn’t really necessary.
Use a long wooden skewer to check for doneness as the pound cake is so thick and dense that a toothpick will not get the job done. The cake will continue to bake while it cools, so be careful not to overbake it. Pull it from the oven when a few crumbs come out clean or with just a few crumbs on the skewer.
Avoid overmixing the cake batter, as it’ll lead to a tough and rubbery cake.
Measure your ingredients accurately. I highly recommend using a scale to measure your flour. However, if you don’t have a scale, be sure to fluff your flour with a spoon and then spoon it into your cups before leveling it off with a knife. This method is the best way to measure flour without overpacking the measuring cup.
Use room temperature eggs. If you forgot to set out your eggs, quickly bring them to room temperature by placing them in a large bowl and covering them with warm tap water for 5 minutes. Room temperature eggs mix much more effortlessly into the batter.
Do not adjust the oven temperature. While you may be tempted to speed up the baking with a higher oven temp, you do not want the cake’s exterior to burn before the middle bakes through.

Nutrition