This Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe is velvety, buttery, rich, and perfectly creamy filled with the moistness and flavor of sour cream. If you adore my Big Mama’s Sour Cream Cake, Hot Milk Cake, Cream Cheese Pound Cake, Sock It To Me Cake, or my Kentucky Butter Cake, you will love this. This generational recipe will become a true classic in your family for years to come.
My Big Mama’s cake recipes are the true treasures of my family. They work consistently and perfectly always yielding impeccable results.
Tried and true, these recipes have been passed down through generations and I’ve learned how to make almost all of them. From my Mama’s 7up pound cake to the most perfect cream cheese pound cake (and even more of the best pound cake recipes), they are all my favorites depending on my mood and the occasion.
After sharing so many, I knew it was time to share my Big Mama’s Signature Pound Cake Recipe.
Ingredients
Let’s look at the key ingredients you will need to make the best sour cream pound cake. For the full list of ingredients and quantities of each, check the recipe card further down on the page.
- Butter: Use REAL butter for the best flavor. I prefer using unsalted butter so I have more control over the salt.
- Cake flour: This type of flour is lower in protein than all-purpose flour and gives this old fashioned sour cream pound cake a more delicate, tender crumb. If you don’t have cake flour, measure out the flour and remove two tablespoons of flour from each cup.
- Sour cream: The signature ingredient that makes this a moist pound cake with a slight tang.
- Vanilla extract: Use a high-quality, PURE vanilla extract for the best flavor.
How to Make a Pound Cake with Sour Cream
Here’s an overview of how to bake a sour cream bundt cake. More detailed instructions are in the recipe card.
- Be you get started, make sure you allow the butter and sour cream to warm up to room temperature. Then, when you’re ready to mix up the cake, preheat the oven to 325° F and spray your bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Add butter and sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer or use a large bowl with a handheld mixer. Mix them together for 3-4 minutes on high speed, until very pale yellow and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, combining well after each egg. Scrape down the sides of your bowl as needed with a spatula.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour into the batter in two increments. Then add the salt and baking soda. Be careful not to overbeat.
- Last, add the sour cream and vanilla extract, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix until just combined, then turn off the mixer.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake in the oven for 1 hour and 15-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the sour cream bundt cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes then invert the sour cream cake onto a serving plate for at least an hour or until the cake is cool to touch.
- Once the cake is cooled, slice it up and serve!
How to Serve Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Homemade pound cake with sour cream works great to serve as a dessert for holidays and special occasions, as an afternoon tea or coffee break, and as a decadent sweet bread for breakfast.
Here are some of my favorite options for serving this amazing cake that complements the buttery richness of the cake perfectly. But don’t get it twisted, this cake is incredible all on its own.
- Add fresh berries or peaches as a topping adds a delightful lightness that will be the highlight of any summer get-together.
- In the fall, add cinnamon or brown sugar to the batter like in this brown sugar pound cake and a maple glaze or a brown butter glaze.
- For Christmas, it is absolutely lovely with a mint-flavored whipped cream or a decadent blood orange glaze.
- Top the cake with a scoop of ice cream and some delicious bananas foster.
- Drizzle with raspberry sauce, chocolate sauce, or some dulce de leche.
Expert Tips
With a crumb as smooth as silk, this moist sour cream pound cake recipe is dense to the point of creaminess, and velvety-soft as it melts on your tongue.
Each bite is truly heaven, so be prepared to reach for that second or third slice. Depending on when you make it, it can shine any season you present it.
- Make sure your butter and ingredients are at room temperature. This will help them to melt into each other while mixing.
- Take your time during the mixing of the butter and sugar, also known as the creaming period. This will add a lovely lift of air and lightness to your cake and also ensure that your ingredients start off well mixed.
- Only mix the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined. Don’t overmix and risk additional gluten forming which will make the cake less tender.
- If you’re new to baking, get some additional baking tips to help you out!
FAQs
The sour cream simply adds moisture that keeps your cake soft and luxurious, just the way it was intended to be. It can also add richness and slight tang thanks to the additional dairy it provides to the cake.
No, I don’t recommend placing it in the refrigerator. This actually dries out the cake more quickly. For best results, store the cake in an airtight container on the counter for up to three days.
Yes, you can! Make sure to wrap it well or store it in an airtight container. Freeze for up to one month. Allow it to thaw out for several hours on the counter before serving.
A round bundt or fluted pan is the most common type of pan used for making a pound cake though some recipes will use a loaf pan for a rectangular-shaped cake. For making a pound cake, I think the cake presents best when using a fluted bundt cake pan.
This recipe for Pound Cake with Sour Cream is perfect for indulgent late-night treats or as an offering to unexpected guests or even lightly toasted and served with your morning coffee. The possibilities are endless.
So get baking and treat yourself today. The smell in your kitchen alone will draw you in for one slice after the next.
More Cake Recipes
- Devil’s Food Cake
- Milky Way Cake
- Eggnog Rum Cake Recipe
- Fresh Strawberry Pound Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
*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)!!
Southern Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups cake flour sifted
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream room temperature
- 2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 325 F then liberally spray a 12 cup bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In your stand mixer bowl, add butter and sugar and mix for 3-4 minutes on high speed until very pale yellow and fluffy.
- Next add eggs, one at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides of your bowl as needed.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed, and slowly add flour into batter in two increments then add salt and baking soda. Be careful not to overbeat.
- Lastly add in sour cream and 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 15-25 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 touch.
Notes
- Make sure your butter and ingredients are at room temperature. This will help them to melt into each other while mixing.
- Take your time during the mixing of the butter and sugar, also known as the creaming period. This will add a lovely lift of air and lightness to your cake and also ensure that your ingredients start off well mixed.
- Only mix the dry ingredients into the batter until just combined. Don’t overmix and risk additional gluten forming which will make the cake less tender.
- If you’re new to baking, get some additional baking tips to help you out!
Nutrition
This post was originally published in September 2018. It has been updated with some new images and new content.
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making this cake as I type,have been making it for awhile now
FINALLY!!! A sour cream pound cake that is actually delicious!!! I’ve tried other recipes in the past but this one is the absolute best!!! It’s going into my recipe box and I will bake again soon. Just in time for fresh strawberries and blueberries!!!
Thank you so much, Dee!
Hello, This recipe looks lovely and I’m excited to try it! Do you sift the cake flour before or after measuring? Are you able to provide the amount of cake flour in grams because there is so much variability when measuring in cups? Thank you!
You measure then sift. I hope you love it.
Love this recipe made it and it was delicious everyone loved it
Hi Jocelyn. I have spent well over an hour looking at various sour cream bundt cake recipes online, and when I read yours and watched your video, I knew that I had found THE ONE. I can’t wait to try it.
I just have a few questions….
1. You mentioned in the video that the cake needs no leaveners, but the recipe includes baking soda. Just wondering why the difference and which one you prefer.
2. I am thinking of making this into a coconut bundt cake. But Not sure, if 2 tablespoons of coconut extract would be overpowering or not. Have you ever made a coconut version?
3. I was thinking about adding pieces of white chocolate In the batter. Do you think that would work with this batter?
Thank you so much!
So sorry for the delayed response. I made a slight change later on but it is very slight in terms of the leavening. It really does need it and gives it just the slightest lift. I would maybe try 1 tablespoon of coconut extract so it isn’t too overwhelming.
Best cake I’ve ever made
This is the best pound cake recipe ever! I usually add a small amount of almond extract for extra flavor. I’ve been making it for years now and it always impresses. It’s fluffy and leaves you needing more!
One of the best pound cakes I have made, Tender-delicious. I did not think a recipe could replace my old go to one, this turned out above expectations.
Just a question, I used one Tablespoon Vanilla, primarily because I wrote recipe down and could not remember the website at first, Is it supposed to be two Tablespoons?
I personally use two but you can use what you prefer.
Jocelyn, thank you for sharing your passion for food but, especially, your passion for CAKES! I have tried several of your pound cake recipes and I made this one today. This one is FANTASTIC! I typically use my Grandmother’s recipe but, since I’ve loved so many of yours, I thought I would give this one a try. Yours calls for more butter and more vanilla and…WOW!! UNBELIEVABLE…! I used a 10 cup bundt pan and had plenty of batter left over to make 2 small cakes. (YAY!) The larger one is going to my Husband’s office tomorrow and we’ve already devoured one of the smaller ones. I was surprised that the larger cake only took 65 minutes in the oven… The crust is PERFECTION. And, the cake itself?? MY GOODNESS!!!! I’m ABSOLUTELY keeping this one FOREVER! Thank you, again, Jocelyn, Thank you! Thank you!!!
PS: I pre-ordered your latest cookbook and I’m SO EXCITED to get it!!
I loved it. My family loved it. My frosting came out good, I had to turn the heat up.
So I made my first sour cream cheese pound cake for my church picnic Saturday September 11th 2022 and I was so amazed I had won first prize or church had a bake off and I won first prize a plaque and $50 and I was really really proud of myself I did not think I was going to win great recipe it was simple it was easy and I will try another thank you