This is my Mississippi big mama’s 100+ years old classic pound cake recipe. It’s buttery, rich and has the tightest dense crumb ever. As the official queen of pound cakes, I’ve shared your faves cream cheese pound cake and sour cream pound cake but this one is the OG, and trust I tested it until it was absolutely perfect.
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Classic pound cake ingredients
- Butter and Sugar: Classic pound cakes start with a “creaming” period. Room-temperature unsalted butter and granulated sugar mix together on high, creating the base. I cream for a super long time so that air is whipped into the batter without leavening being necessary. Exercise patience during this process. I use unsalted in this pound cake recipe, but Big Mama used whatever she had on hand, so if you only have salted, use that. Just leave the salt out of the recipe. You can also swap in homemade brown sugar and make a fun brown sugar pound cake if you want deeper sweetness.
- Eggs and Egg Yolks: Room temperature is best.
- Kosher Salt: Table salt can also be used but lessen the amount.
- Cake Flour: I use Swan’s Down cake flour exclusively however White Lily Lighter Baking Flour works well also. Both create a delicate crumb. Make sure to sift too. If you don’t have it on hand, grab some all-purpose flour and cornstarch to make homemade cake flour.
- Milk: Use whole milk or half-and-half for more richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Use your fave extract flavor.
Pound Cake Recipe
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 2 large yolks
- 1 ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 ½ cups cake flour
- 1 cup milk room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F. Set rack to middle position. Generously spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
- In bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 7-8 minutes.
- Lower speed to medium, and add eggs and yolks, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- On low speed, slowly add salt and half of flour. Mix until just combined, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.
- Slowly pour in milk and extract and mix until combined.
- Add in second half of flour and mix well until combined, about 90 seconds.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until inserted skewer comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour 20-40 minutes.
- Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool fully, about 30 minutes.
Notes
How to store pound cake
Make sure your cake has cooled all the way down then either wrap tightly in plastic wrap or add to a cake container. You can store at room temp for 4-5 days. I don’t recommend storing pound cake in the fridge since it will dry it out boos. Store at room temp so that texture stays on point ya dig? Freezing is all good boos. Wrap the leftovers in plastic wrap tightly then pop leftovers into a heavy-duty freezer bag. Label with the date. It should keep for about 4-6 months. When ready to serve again, thaw overnight in the fridge.Recipe Variations and Additions
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- Brown the Butter: Get even more depth of flavor and some nutty rich vibes in the mix by browning the butter and letting it set back up in the fridge before creaming it with the sugar.
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- Gluten-Free: Swap out the flour for your fave 1:1 ratio gluten-free baking flour blend. The texture will change, but it will still taste delish boos!
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- Booze It Up: A bit of rum, whiskey, or bourbon added to the batter can kick things up for the grown-up boos.
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- Toss it In: Fold in a cup of everything from berries to chocolate to switch up the flavor and add some texture.
What to Top Your Pound Cake With
- Powder it Up: Sprinkle with a nice dusting of homemade powdered sugar. It just adds a nice aesthetic touch without altering the flavor.
- Dollop It Up: Serve each slice with fresh whipped cream dollops and sprinkle on some fresh fruit.
- Sauce it Up: Drizzle on a chocolate ganache, lemon curd, a caramel sauce or even a strawberry sauce to brighten up the flavor.
Nutrition
How to make pound cake
Mix the Batter
Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 7-8 minutes. Yep that long!
Step 2: Lower the speed to medium, and add eggs and yolks, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed.
Step 3: On low speed, slowly add salt and half of the flour. Mix until just combined, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl as needed.
Step 4: Slowly pour in milk and extract and mix until combined.
Step 5: Add in second half of flour and mix well until combined, about 90 seconds.
Step 6: The end result should be silky smooth and thick.
Bake it Up
Step 7: Pour batter into prepared pan and spread with a spatula to even out.
Step 8: Bake until inserted skewer comes out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs attached, about 1 hour 20-30 minutes.
Step 9: Finally, allow cake to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Remove cake from pan and cool fully, about 30 minutes.
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I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
Recipe Tips
- Use your patience: During the creaming of the butter and sugar, take your time. This process adds air and lightness to your cake without leavening. We are looking for light and fluffy. Put some of the creamed butter between your fingers. If it feels gritty, the sugar hasn’t absorbed yet and you should keep on creaming.
- Don’t Overdo the Dry Ingredients: Only mix the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined. Don’t over mix and risk additional gluten forming which will make the cake less tender.
- 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.
Recipe Help
Listen boos, old school pound cakes didn’t have baking soda and baking powder in them. The long creaming period of mixing the butter and sugar adds air to the batter. Don’t rush this step boos.
Absolutely boos! In fact, it will taste even better if you make it the day before you serve it. Those flavors will develop even more, and that moist fine texture will really have time to set in.
Make sure you grease the heck out of that pan y’all. I like to use my cake release since it really gets the cake out clean once you flip it.
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Hello!
In your notes you mention to sift the cake flour. Should I measure the 3.5 cups then sift or sift and then measure? Thanks!
Hi Shannon, you want to measure, then shift. Hope you enjoy!