This Brown Sugar Pound Cake Recipe is a luscious and tender pound cake made deliciously sweet with the depth of flavor from the molasses of brown sugar and taken over the top with a incredibly nutty brown butter glaze. With a texture similar to my Sour Cream Pound Cake or even my Cream Cheese Pound Cake, this pound cake is a keeper especially when fall rolls around. If you love cakes like my Caramel Cake and and the brown butter flavor in my Apple Cake and Kentucky Butter Cake, you will adore this!!!!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- The brown butter glaze is just out of this world y’all! I thought nothing could be better than the cake itself but that’s before the glaze dressed it up. Let’s just say brown sugar and brown butter are meant to be together.
- The perfect flavors for the holidays and cool weather!
- An easy recipe to follow.
If you love the brown butter glaze on this cake you definitely need to check out these Blondies.
What is a Brown Sugar Pound Cake?
This pound cake recipe is partially sweetened using brown sugar. It is the perfect holiday cake or cake to bake anytime its a special occasion. It is absolute perfection and the brown sugar really takes it up a notch.
The molasses adds a depth of flavor to the sweetness that cannot be described with flavors that are perfect for the fall. This cake is also incredibly tender and dense with the most wonderful texture.
Ingredients
There are two main components to this recipe. First the brown sugar pound sour cream pound cake and then the delicious brown butter glaze that drips and covers the top of the cake. Here’s an overview of the main ingredients you need.
- Butter: I always prefer baking with unsalted butter. Make sure it’s at room temperature before mixing. It makes the base of the cake giving it a truly decadent flavor while browned butter is used to make the brown butter glaze that’s poured over the top of the cake.
- Brown sugar: We will be using light brown sugar. Buy it at the store or make brown sugar at home.
- Granulated sugar: The cake also uses regular sugar for additional sweetness with less moisture.
- Eggs: Add color, flavor, and structure to the cake.
- All-purpose flour: For best results use a quality brand of flour and be sure to sift it before mixing.
- Sour cream: Pound cake is always better with sour cream added. It makes it richer and gives the cake an excellent moist crumb.
- Vanilla extract: Make sure to use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor.
- Confectioner’s sugar: Works best for making a creamy, smooth glaze for the cake.
- Milk: Any milk will work to dissolve the confectioner’s sugar transforming it into a glaze.
How to Make Brown Sugar Cake
Making this cake is pretty much a breeze! Be sure to read through all the directions in the recipe card before getting started.
- Cream together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt on high speed until light and fluffy. This will likely take about five minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each one until well mixed.
- Slow the mixer down to the lowest speed and carefully add in the flour and then mix it in.
- Add the sour cream and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl. Cream just until combined.
- Pour the cake batter into bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but mostly clean.
- Cool the cake for ten minutes then invert cake onto a cooling rack and cool until the cake is at room temperature.
- Mix together the browned butter, confectioner’s sugar, and milk until smooth and creamy. Pour it over the top of the cooled cake.
How to Serve
Caramel
How to Store
- Leftovers: Refrigerate your leftover pound cakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
- Freeze Yes, store it in an airtight container It’ll last up to 6 months in the freezer.
- Make-Ahead Tips: The whole brown sugar caramel pound cake can be made up to a week ahead of time.
Expert Tips
- Watch your brown butter closely as you make it so it browns slowly rather than burning.
- Prep your pan with shortening and flour or a non-stick baking spray so the cake easily comes out of the pan.
- Use a 10 cup bundt pan to make your pound cake. I love this one from Nordic Ware! It’s stunning on a holiday dessert table.
- Make sure to start with room temperature butter so that it will easily cream together with the sugar.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before adding the glaze. This keeps the glaze on the cake rather than it melting off.
FAQs
Cook the butter in a saucepan over low heat until you start to see specs of brown appearing and the butter starts to foam. Make sure that you watch your brown butter closely as you make it. Allow it to slowly brown and not end up burning.
No, you must use the brown sugar as directed in this recipe in order for the cake to have the rich, caramel flavor of molasses.
More Cake Recipes You’ll Love
Looking for more pound cakes? Try out all the best pound cakes on Grandbaby Cakes.
*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!* Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!
Brown Sugar Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 1 cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
For the Glaze:
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and browned until specs appear
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees and prepare your 10 cup bundt pan with shortening and flour or non-stick baking spray.
- In your mixer bowl, cream together butter, both sugars and salt on high speed until light and fluffy for 5 minutes.
- Next add in eggs, one at a time, and mix until well incorporated.
- Slow mixer to lowest speed and carefully add in flour then add in sour cream and extract and cream until just combined.
- Pour cake batter into bundt pan and bake for 60-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out moist but mostly clean.
- Cool cake for 10 minutes then invert cake onto cooling rack and cool until room temperature.
For the Glaze:
- Whisk together brown butter, confectioner’s sugar and milk.
- Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published in October 2016. It has been updated with new images and content.
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love the flavors in this with brown butter flavor and as a pound cake, my kind of cake, thank you!
Amazing! I made this cake for a recent holiday get together and it was so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. This will be in my permanent rotation of holiday desserts (or anytime it’s just so good). I cooked mine in a standard fluted bundt pan and it was so pretty.
Can the glaze be poured on a few hours ahead of serving time? Will it get soggy, or does it just cool and harden a little? I don’t want to tie up someone else stovetop during a holiday meal crunch.
Yes you can definitely do this ahead of time.
Oh my goodness! Thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it this weekend to celebrate my parents’ 58th wedding anniversary. They are LOVING it. Amazing taste, texture – vintage GOODNESS. This is why we bake for those we love. So grateful! I look forward to exploring your site and discovering more deliciousness.
I’ve made every pound cake on this site. Everyone of them have been over the top delicious. We have enjoyed them and can’t wait to bake the next one. The Brown Sugar with the Brown Sugar Glaze is the latest on my list. It reminds me of a cake my step mom made in the ’70’s. Thank you for sharing your recipes. They bought back memories of Sunday dinners and holidays with the family. Thank you for helping me to get in touch with my past. Respectfully. Ginnie Mae
Gracious Day !!!
I thought my Grand Mama’s cake was the texture of velvet ……I was wrong !
These Grandbaby-cakes are marshmallow in texture and the flavor is perfectly sweet—not too sweet–just perfect !
I made this cake with the intention of giving it to my neighbor as a Mother’s Day gift.
All I have to say is , Happy Mother’s Day……TO ME !!!
Most sincerely,
Henriette Hall
Have you ever made this cake splitting the brown sugar between light and dark or all dark brown sugar for the brown sugar? If so, what were the results…the taste?
I see that you are using all purpose flour and I was wondering why (I looked for this recipe online using cake flour and nobody is using it) everyone online is using all purpose flour. I was under the impression that cake flour was better in pound cake. Can I use cake flour instead in this recipe or should I just stick with plain ol all purpose? (considering that I am about to start making it and I can’t find anyone else using it) I think I will just stick to y’all’s recipe but I am gonna sift the all purpose flour, I think!!!
Because of the brown sugar in this cake, it makes it a very tender cake. I selected using the all purpose flour to make it a bit sturdier but it won’t make a difference in terms of the moistness. I do usually use cake flour for the rest of my recipes however but it really depends on the other ingredients as I am testing.
I’ve been baking cakes for my family and the public for forty years and always use plain flour. I find if you lower your oven temp 25 degrees it helps with the moistness and tenderness of the cake. My pet peeve is a dry cake. I wont serve it if it’s dry.
I dont usually follow recipes unless its for a specialty — such as I found in your “sock-it-to-me” cake. But I just want to say that every single item I’ve tried of yours (mostly cakes as in the Brown Butter Cake here), is absolutely great.
Thank you so much for your time and efforts in putting this out here. I tell all of my friends — who all cook — about your website and even they are just as grateful as I am.
Simply the best!
I love your recipes!!!…they’re always a hit whenever I make them. Thank you for sharing and making them simple to follow.