My big mama’s Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe is the best one you will ever taste y’all. Passed down from generation to generation, this moist, tender, buttery cake melts in your mouth and is straight up heaven in every single bite. I’m keeping her tradition of feeding folks her famous desserts alive, and I can’t wait for you to get into this recipe straight from her. This cream cheese pound cake is legit pure nostalgia and deliciousness, all wrapped up in one epic treat.
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Having my followers name me “The Queen of Pound Cakes” is one of my greatest honors. I take that honor seriously boos. That’s why I share the best in my arsenal with you, especially this cream cheese pound cake straight from my big mama Maggie Small.
The care and meticulous nature of the baking process my Big Mama taught me was more than just learning to bake; I was learning about my family’s deep-rooted traditions and the fabric of our heritage. It’s just how we get down y’all. She passed this recipe to me, and now I’m passing it right to you.
The Lowdown of This Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Cuisine Inspiration: Southern boos!
Primary Cooking Method: Baking
Dietary Info: Contains gluten, dairy, and eggs
Key Flavor: Rich, buttery, tender, melt in your mouth
Skill Level: Intermediate (put those baking skillz to use)
Irresistible Flavor
The flavor of this cream cheese cake is straight up undeniable. It is buttery while simultaneously being dense and light in a way that doesn’t seem possible y’all. The cream cheese adds moisture and richness in the most unique way.
Generations Old
The elders definitely knew how to bake pound cakes like nobody else. This old school recipe is tried and true with no edits because it simply “works”.
Versatile and No-Fuss
This cream cheese pound cake recipe can be made with simple straight-forward ingredients plus it can be served for breakfast, a snack and of course dessert.
Ingredients you’ll need to make this cream cheese pound cake recipe
- Butter: This is legit one of the most important ingredients in this cream cheese cake. Go with high fat and high quality so you get that delish creamy richness and flavor in each and every bite.
- Cream Cheese: Tangy, sweet, and smooth, cream cheese is what makes this cake so different and the texture so unreal!
- Oil: This gives our pound cake with cream cheese a bit more moisture so it stays nice and tender.
- Granulated Sugar: The sugar is gonna melt into that butter and add the perfect amount of sweetness and lift to our cake in the creaming period.
- Eggs: These are the stabilizers in our cake. The yolks add more richness and moistness too.
- Cake Flour: This is gonna give us a softer more tender crumb versus using a heartier flour like all-purpose.
- Vanilla: Nothing highlights a cream cheese cake recipe like the aromatic notes of pure vanilla y’all.
How to make cream cheese pound cake
What to serve with pound cake with cream cheese
- Classic OG Style: Serve it up classic with just that sprinkle of powdered sugar and a few fresh berries.
- Dollop it Up: Add a dollop of whipped cream for a light textural change.
- Warm with Ice Cream: A scoop of vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream or mocha ice cream is a great compliment.
- Sauce it Up!: Add a nice spoonful of strawberry sauce or lemon curd.
- Drizzle it On: A light drizzle of chocolate ganache or caramel sauce adds some decadence.
- Classic Southern Dinner: This cream cheese pound cake is great served up for dessert with sweet potato pie along with a simple meal of fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, Southern green beans, collard greens and fried cornbread.
Recipe Substitutions
- Butter: This recipe uses unsalted butter but if you don’t have any around, salted is fine boos. Just leave out the salt in the recipe.
- Cake Flour: This truly lightens this cake up but if you don’t have any, you can make your own cake flour with all-purpose flour and cornstarch y’all.
- Granulated Sugar: You can swap in a light brown sugar here. It will give it a deeper more intense caramel like sweetness.
- Vanilla Extract: You can also replace the extract with vanilla bean paste for more vanilla intensity.
Recipe Variations and Additions
- Lemon It Up: Turn this into a lemon pound cake by adding the zest of one juicy lemon to the batter and drizzling a lemon glaze over the top of the baked cake. Citrus goals boo!
- Berry Textures: Fold some fresh or frozen berries like blueberries or raspberries into the batter before baking. That’s so good y’all!
- Chocolate Vibes: Add some cocoa powder or melted chocolate to the batter for a chocolate twist.
- Spice it Up Boos: Toss some warm spices into the batter like some ground cinnamon or nutmeg. It makes that batter super cozy.
- Fall Twist: For all you pumpkin spice boos, mix in some pureed pumpkin or sweet potato and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice to give this cream cheese pound cake recipe the ultimate fall vibes.
Expert Tips and Tricks for making the best cream cheese cake
- Don’t skimp on the creaming! This is what makes for the most tender and moist cake ever! Don’t speed it up. Be patient and let those sugar crystals totally melt into that butter making it light and fluffy.
- Room Temp Ingredients: In order to make that batter as smooth and perfectly combined as possible, make sure you pull out the room temp butter and eggs y’all.
- Make over mix boos!: Once you add your flour to this cake, slow down that mixer and stop as soon as the flour as incorporated. If you keep on going, the gluten will overactive and create a dense cake.
- Grease it Up!: Even non-stick baking pans need a little extra love y’all. This homemade cake release is a Godsend but you can totally use a spray or go old school with shortening then flour in the pan like my big mama did.
How to store cream cheese pound cake
Once cooled, either tightly wrap in plastic wrap so no air gets in or add to a cake container. Store at room temp for up to 5 days.
How long will it last in the fridge?
I don’t recommend placing this cream cheese cake in the fridge since it will dry it out. Store at room temp so that texture stays on point.
Can I freeze ?
Wrap the cake in plastic wrap tightly then put it in a heavy-duty freezer bag. A frozen pound cake will keep for 4-6 months. When ready to serve it back up, thaw overnight in the fridge.
Frequently asked questions
Naw boos, it doesn’t. Don’t be put off by the idea of cream cheese in your cake. It gives such a smooth texture and slight tang that really makes this cake irresistible y’all.
Honestly boos, I recommend cake flour for a finer more tender crumb. It can be used but just know that the texture won’t be exactly the same.
Most old school pound cakes don’t have leavenings so you gotta rely on your creaming period. That means you cannot skimp on your butter and sugar mixing time because this is a period that incorporates more air into your cake boos.
Y’all this cream cheese pound cake is so special for me. It’s what legit started Grandbaby Cakes. My big mama’s cake became a sensation whenever I made it for folks. Now I’m passing on my secrets to you. I hope you love it.
More Southern cake recipes
- Hummingbird Cake
- Chocolate Pound Cake
- Lemon Pound Cake
- Southern Caramel Cake Recipe
- 7 UP Pound Cake
- Kentucky Butter Cake
- Sock it to me Cake
- Butter Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- 35 Pound Cake Recipes
- Million Dollar Pound Cake
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or shortening
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temp, one brick
- 2 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- powdered sugar for garnish
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 325°F then liberally spray a 12-cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray or grease with butter or shortening and then flour.
- In your mixer bowl, add butter, oil or shortening, and cream cheese and beat for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add in sugar beat on high speed for an additional seven minutes until very pale yellow and fluffy. There is no leavening in this cake because we add ample air to this cake by having a very long creaming period.
- Next, add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides as needed.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour into batter in two increments then add salt. Be careful not to over beat.
- Lastly, add in vanilla extract, scrape down sides and mix until just combined and turn off mixer.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bundt pan, and bake for 1 hour and 15 -20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert cake on serving plate for at least an hour or until the cake is cool to the touch.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve.
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Superb! I usually feel pretty comfortable messing with recipes, but without a leavening agent, I felt it best to follow this this to the letter, used a good Irish better and creamed as directed. The flavour and texture are perfection.
This cake melts in your mouth. It is excellent.
I chose this recipe to test out my Christmas gift stand mixer and make my first ever pound cake. I used a Bundt pan passed down from my MIL’s grandmother, so I’m unsure of the size and it’s the only one I have. This cake batter went about an inch below the top, which resulted in it baking over in my oven. That being said, I rescued the burned droppings from the bottom of my oven and let the cake bake an additional 20 minutes because the top still looked pretty wet. I followed the remaining directions and the cake was AMAZING! Even after my husband put it in the fridge overnight without cover (gasp!) it still came out moist and tender. It’s definitely sweet, I might cut back on sugar next time. I put a light dusting of powdered sugar, sliced and brought it in to work. That cake was gone so fast! I’ve been asked to make it again multiple times and definitely recommend.
Made this today with just one tweak–used 2 1/4 cups of sugar instead of 2 and 3/4. Incredible!! Also made and used the homemade cake release (AKA “Cake Goop”), and I’m a believer–my cake came out with no problems whatsoever! Thanks so much–I’ll be trying more of your recipes!
I’ve made this three times and can honestly say it’s one of the best cakes I’ve ever had! The first two times I made it I did so in a bundt pan that was too small and it didn’t bake the whole way through – check your pan sizes, folks! – but once I got a 12 cup bundt pan it baked up perfectly. This is great plain, or for trifle. Going in my forever recipe collection!
Melt-in-your- mouth deliciousness. Made as a birthday cake and added fresh blueberries (dusted berries in flour/sugar mixture) at the end. Used coconut oil instead of shortening. I used all purpose flour which I sifted. Used 2 cups sugar rather than 2 3/4 cups and was plenty sweet. Could even go a little less I think. Cake was a big hit and will be making again. Creaming for the full 7 minutes is a must.
Absolutely delicious!
Love the cream cheese pound cake. Do you have a recipe for chocolate pound cake or other pound cake recipes.
I made this cake for Easter. It was easy and my family loved it. I will definitely be trying out the other recipes on this site.
Great texture and flavor, just way way too sweet for my family. Will have to try again with decreasing the sugar. Is 2 1/2 cups the lowest one could do without messing up the ratios?
Does anyone know if we can lower the sugar without messing up the recipe? I too found it too sweet.
Sorry in advance that I’m using metric. I have tried using 400g of castor sugar and the cake tasted wonderful.