My Big Mama’s cream cheese pound cake recipe has been passed down through generations, so when I say it’s the best of the best, I mean it, boos. Her cream cheese pound cake is moist, buttery, and legit melts in your mouth. My love for pound cakes started with Big Mama, and sharing her recipes is my favorite way to keep that love going.
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Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients
- Cream cheese: Use softened, full-fat brick-style cream cheese. The spreadable kind in the tub won’t work for this recipe. To soften it, unwrap and leave on a plate for 30 to 60 minutes. You can also cut it into small cubes to soften faster, or microwave it unwrapped at low power in 5-second bursts, checking between each.
- Wet ingredients: Unsalted butter, vegetable oil or shortening, eggs, and vanilla extract. I like European-style butter for that rich buttery flavor. Canola oil works too, and you can swap the vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste. Your butter should be soft enough to indent with a finger but still hold its shape. For fridge-cold eggs, put them in a bowl of warm tap water for 10 minutes, then dry and crack.
- Dry ingredients: Granulated sugar, cake flour, and kosher salt. Cake flour gives you a softer, finer crumb. Sift it first, then spoon it into your measuring cups and level it off. If you’re out, use my homemade cake flour. Leave out the added salt if using salted butter.
- Garnishes: Nine times out of ten, I serve mine with powdered sugar and fresh berries. But y’all can also add whipped cream, ice cream, caramel sauce, strawberry preserves, lemon curd… the list goes on and on!
How to Make Cream Cheese Pound Cake
These step-by-step photos show how to make Big Mama’s pound cake with cream cheese, but be sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and detailed instructions. Skip to the → Easy Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe
1. Cream the butter, oil, and sugar
Beat the butter, oil or shortening, and cream cheese until smooth, then slowly add the sugar and beat until very pale and fluffy.
2. Mix in the eggs one at a time
Let each egg blend in before adding the next, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl so everything mixes evenly.
3. Add the flour and salt on low speed
Slowly mix in the cake flour in two additions, then add the salt, stopping as soon as the flour disappears.
4. Finish the cream cheese pound cake batter
Add the vanilla, scrape down the bowl, and mix just until combined.
5. Fill your prepared Bundt pan
Spoon the batter into a well-greased and floured Bundt pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake, cool, and garnish
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out clean, then let the cake rest in the pan before turning it out to cool completely and adding your toppings.
PRO TIP: 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.
Full Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe
Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe
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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.
Video
Notes
How to Store
- Room Temp: Let the plain cake cool completely, then wrap tightly or keep in an airtight cake container for up to 4 days in a cool kitchen.
- Fridge: If your kitchen is hot or you added perishable toppings, refrigerate the cake tightly wrapped or in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Toppings can shorten that storage time. Bring slices to room temperature before serving.
- Freezer: Wrap the whole cake or individual slices tightly in plastic wrap, then foil, and place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to 3 months for the best texture. Thaw wrapped overnight in the fridge, then bring to room temp. For a warm slice, microwave in short 10-second bursts just until warmed through.
Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Once the flour is mixed in, stop the mixer. Use a spatula to fold in any flour left at the bottom of the bowl so you don’t overwork the batter.
- Let it take its time, boos. This pound cake is larger and heavier than a typical cake layer, so it needs longer in the oven to cook through. Don’t turn up the heat to hurry it along! You’ll brown the outside before the middle is ready.
- Check about halfway through baking. If the top is already getting dark, loosely cover it with foil, leaving room so it doesn’t touch the cake.
- If the cake sticks, don’t force it out. Gently loosen the edges and center tube with a thin silicone spatula, then try turning it out again. If it’s still stuck, set the pan upright on a hot, damp towel for a few minutes to help it release.
Recipe Help
No boos! You’ll taste soft, buttery vanilla cake with a little tang, something extra.
Yes! Divide the batter between two greased and parchment-lined 9×5-inch loaf pans, filling each no more than two-thirds full. Bake at 325°F and start checking earlier than you would for the Bundt.
Most old fashioned cream cheese pound cakes don’t have baking powder or baking soda, so you gotta rely on that creaming time period. Don’t skimp on mixing the butter and sugar! That’s how you work air into the batter.
It probably needed more time in the oven. Test the thickest part before taking it out, and keep baking if the toothpick has wet batter on it. Keep the oven door closed early on too so the cake sets.
Too much flour or overbaking can dry it out. For a moist cream cheese pound cake, measure the flour carefully and start checking at the shorter end of the baking range. If it’s already dry, a spoonful of strawberry jam or a dollop of whipped cream can help it out!
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Can this cake be put in a cold oven and what the different it would be
This recipe depends on that long creaming step to build structure, so it needs the immediate heat of a fully preheated oven to help it rise properly and set the crumb. If you put it in a cold oven, the butter can melt too slowly before the cake sets, which can lead to a dense, greasy texture or uneven rise.
For best results, stick with a fully preheated oven at 325°F. That’s what gives you that classic, tender pound cake texture.
How can I make this to a cinnamon roll cake
I have a cinnamon roll cake recipe you can try!
If I want to make this a funfetti cream cheese pound cake. What all do I need to put in it!
All you really need to add are rainbow jimmies sprinkles. I’d go with about ½ to ¾ cup, and gently fold them in at the very end after the batter is fully mixed.
A couple important tips. Make sure you use jimmies, not nonpareils, so the color doesn’t bleed into the batter. And fold them in gently so you don’t overmix and lose that nice tender crumb.
If you want to lean into that birthday cake flavor, you can swap the vanilla for clear vanilla or a touch of butter extract, but that’s optional.
Everything else stays the same. It’ll bake up just like the original, just with that fun pop of color throughout.
I was a little skeptical about beating the batter for 7 minutes, but this pound cake is absolutely divine. The texture is so light and airy, it absolutely melts in your mouth. The flavor is mild, but has a little bit of oomph from the cream cheese. It would make a perfect accompaniment to sliced fruit, whipped cream, any type of sweet sauce, or just plain on its own. The Queen of Pound Cakes does it again!
Can I use a 10 inch bunt cake pan instead of a 12 inch
It will likely overflow in the oven if you use a 10 cup, I recommend sticking with 12 cup pan.
D-I-L loves pound cake. Tried this one and she said “this is the one.” Been only making this recipe for the last 4+ years for her bday, holidays and weekend trips to the lake. Everyone loves it.
That just warms my heart. When someone says “this is the one,” you know you’ve found the keeper.
I love that it’s become her birthday cake and part of your holidays and lake trips. That’s exactly how the best recipes live on, being baked again and again for the people we love. I’m so honored it’s been part of your family’s celebrations for all these years.
Hello,
I made this cake several times and it is amazing!! The last time I made it I along with several others could taste the kosher salt. I don’t want to over mix so it may have not been throughly distributed throughout the cake. Can the salt be omitted or would 1/2 teaspoon of table salt mixed in the flour be better?
You can halve it if you would like or even replace the unsalted butter with salted to have it more evenly distributed.
Would it be possible to make these into cupcakes? (I realized I do not have a Bundt pan anymore.)
Yes, you can make these into cupcakes. Just keep in mind this is a true pound cake with no leavening, so they’ll be a bit denser than a traditional cupcake. Fill the liners about ⅔ full and bake at 325°F. Start checking them around 20 minutes. Most will take somewhere between 22 and 28 minutes, depending on your oven. A toothpick should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs.
Don’t overbake them. Because they’re smaller, they can dry out faster than the full Bundt. Let them cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar. They’ll still have that rich, buttery flavor, just in individual portions.
Best cake ever. I made cake yesterday and 1/2cake is gone. Please post a chocolate cream cheese pound cake. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Annette! So glad you liked it! I have a chocolate sour cream pound cake (https://grandbaby-cakes.com/chocolate-pound-cake/) it’s really good! If you try it you’ll have to let me know what you think after you make it!
Thanks for the recipe! It is so yummy! Any suggestions on how the cake can remain soft to the touch after cooking? Once I take it out the pan, it is nice and soft to the touch but when it cools down, it becomes harder. Is that “normal” or is there something I can do to help it remain soft and bouncy?
That’s a great question, and yes, what you’re noticing is normal for a classic pound cake. Pound cakes are meant to firm up as they cool because there’s no chemical leavening, and the structure sets as it rests. That said, it should still be tender, not dry or stiff.
A few things that can help keep it softer:
• Make sure you’re not overbaking — even 5 extra minutes can make a difference. I always pull it when the toothpick has a few moist crumbs, not totally dry.
• Let it cool completely, then wrap it tightly (plastic wrap or a covered cake dome). Pound cakes actually soften a bit as they rest.
• Room-temperature storage is best, as refrigeration will firm it up more.
If you want it extra soft the next day, you can even wrap it while it’s just barely warm. But overall, a little firmness once cooled is just the nature of a true pound cake that’s part of what gives it that dense, buttery slice.