Vanilla Pound Cake

Vanilla Pound Cake is a classic recipe that’s sweet, dense, and incredibly EASY to make with simple ingredients and bakes in only 60 minutes!

Cakes can be intimidating to bake but pound cakes and loaf cakes are much easier and quicker and this pound cake is a close second favorite to our all time favorite Easy Banana Bread.

Classic Pound Cake
VANILLA POUND CAKE

Vanilla Pound Cake is a classic recipe dating all the way back to the 18th century, made with butter, sugar, all purpose flour, and eggs. This recipe is an updated version, including wholesome milk and a splash of vanilla extract, plus some baking powder and salt to improve the texture of the cake.

I love making this pound cake recipe on the weekends because it’s great for brunch or to serve with coffee when you’re having friends and family over. I’ve also made this replacing the vanilla extract with orange extract and a dusting of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of orange zest on top.

HOW DID POUND CAKE GET ITS NAME?

Pound Cake has been around for hundreds of years, and is originally named for its ingredients, as the cake called for a pound each of eggs, granulated sugar, butter, and all purpose flour. Now recipes don’t always call for a pound of each and vary regionally, but you’ll still find the name being used for a dense sweet cake.

HOW TO MAKE VANILLA POUND CAKE MOIST

If your pound cake is turning out too dry, try replacing the milk with buttermilk. The acid in the buttermilk works with the gluten to produce a softer texture in the cake. You can also add sour cream or cream cheese to soften up the pound cake, depending on which recipe you’re using. It’s not technically a classic pound cake with these ingredients, but it’s more like the modern version.

WHAT CAN YOU ADD TO POUND CAKE?

  • Chocolate chips
  • Pecans with a maple glaze
  • Walnuts
  • Orange zest
  • Cinnamon
  • Cream cheese

HOW LONG IS POUND CAKE GOOD FOR?

Pound cake will keep at room temperature tightly sealed for 3-4 days. I don’t usually recommend putting cake in the refrigerator, but pound cake won’t go stale as quickly due to the density of the cake.

Vanilla Pound Cake

CAN YOU FREEZE POUND CAKE?

Pound cake is perfect for making ahead and freezing and will keep in the freezer for about 3 months. I like to make a few loaves of this pound cake recipe at once, then cut into slices and freeze individual portion sizes. Just make sure to wrap each slice tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil to keep any air out.

MORE DESSERT CAKE RECIPES

TIPS FOR MAKING THIS POUND CAKE RECIPE

  • Once completely cooled, top this pound cake with powdered sugar or glaze.
  • Bring your ingredients to room temperature. When mixing the butter and sugar together, wait until they look light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, to make sure enough air has been incorporated. This is a critical part of this pound cake recipe, so be patient here.
  • Be careful not to over-mix your dough at the end, or the cake may turn out too dense.
  • Don’t remove the pound cake from the loaf pan immediately. You want to let the cake cool about halfway, at least 10 minutes, before flipping it out of the pan and letting it come to room temperature.
  • You can also make this pound cake recipe in a bundt pan if you want something more decorative. Butter and flour the bundt pan before pouring the cake batter in.
  • Top the finished cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, or 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey, or a dusting of confectioners sugar.
  • Use butter and flour to grease your pan, not cooking spray, which may prevent the cake from fully rising.
  • Use a toothpick to check the doneness of your cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. If it starts browning around the edges, it is over-baked and your cake will lose a lot of moistness.

Easy Pound Cake

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Vanilla Pound Cake

Vanilla Pound Cake is a classic recipe that's sweet, dense, and incredibly EASY to make with simple ingredients and bakes in only 60 minutes!

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword pound cake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Calories 268 kcal
Author Sabrina Snyder

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and flour and butter an 8x4 inch loaf pan.
  2. To a stand mixer add the butter and sugar on high speed and beat until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.

  3. On medium speed add in the vanilla and the eggs one at a time, then the milk until fully combined.
  4. Add in the flour, baking powder and salt until just combined then pour into the loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes.

Recipe Notes

Note: click on times in the instructions to start a kitchen timer while cooking.

Nutrition Facts
Vanilla Pound Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 268 Calories from Fat 117
% Daily Value*
Fat 13g20%
Saturated Fat 7g44%
Cholesterol 85mg28%
Sodium 73mg3%
Potassium 86mg2%
Carbohydrates 33g11%
Sugar 17g19%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 435IU9%
Calcium 35mg4%
Iron 1.2mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Easy Vanilla Pound Cake

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Whoever thinks this recipe is too dry is not doing it properly and must be over baking it. It came out great for me and one cup of sugar was plenty 🙂

  2. We were disappointed with this pound cake, it looked beautiful when it came out of the oven but was dry and not much flavor and the outside was crustier than pound cakes should be, with all the butter I would’ve thought it would be moist. Also I think it needed more sugar. Sorry!

  3. Just tried out this recipe today & it is really good! Is not too sweet which is really great ?? Got to try it for yourself!! Definitely great for a high tea/afternoon snack or even breakfast ?

  4. Hi, Just a suggestion, it would be better if you give in grams rather than mentioning measurements in Tablespoons and cups as these may not give exact amount of ingredients when someone else try to make it as their cups and tbs may different from yours.

  5. Personally I think this recipe does not use enough sugar. 1 cup is not enough for pound cake. I upped it to 2 cups and it still wasn’t enough.

  6. i tried this recipe and added some chia seeds, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and cinnoman. It was very delicious, soft on the inside with a great crust. My family loved it!!!

  7. Good Morning, I plan on making this pound cake over the weekend and was wondering what kind of loaf pan do you use: glass, light non-stick, dark non-stock, ceramic, or stoneware? I know the oven temperature may need to change along with baking time depending on the type of loaf pan used.
    Thank you

  8. I made this yesterday it was beautiful and delicious. Thank you so much for this recipe. It’s easy to follow. Though I didn’t use butter, I used oil instead but it was delicious ??

  9. This was my first ever pound cake from scratch. It’s just yummy and do perfect. But hubby thinks it’s a bit dry. Would you suggest I should add some vegetable oil to this and how much if I do?

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Pound cake is more dense than other cakes but make sure not to over mix the batter, bake it too long in the oven, and ensure that the flour is measured correctly. All these things can lead to a drier cake. Next time, swap out the milk for buttermilk. You can also try adding 1/4 cup sour cream. Hope this helps for next time.

  10. First time I made this was the best and now idk what I keep doing different! These last few times now the top started to rise and crack too much. I opt to use the non-stock spray to help my loaf not rise too much.

    Also, when you say not to over mix it.. how much should I mix then ? Should I still see the powder or stop mixing as soon as I stop seeing flour particles ?

  11. I made pound cake for the first time using this recipe a month ago and it turned out wonderful! I made it a second time and wasn’t as good as the first one but still good. I just put the third one in the oven. Thank you for the recipe!

  12. Hi Sabrina I have tried put this recipe thanks so much it turned out amazing my whole family enjoyed it thanks you so much for this simple and delicious recipe! : )

  13. Hello Sabrina made this beauty yesterday..my first ever pound cake and came out wonderful..only change I made was replaced butter with salted butter..thank you for this simple and delicious recipe!

  14. Thank you for your time and sharing this wonderful recipe, my vanilla pound cake came out wonderful we have not had a taste of it yet because I just took it out the oven but it looks similar to yours so I am confident that this is going to be a fabulous vanilla cake.

    1. I haven’t tested it but usually you can use it as a substitute just leave out the baking powder. Good luck!

  15. I made it using Smart Balance instead of butter, and it turned out a bit dry, but still looks and tastes fabulous! Any other ideas for making it low fat? Thank you!

    1. I haven’t tested it but you could try substituting the butter with a mix of olive oil and greek yogurt. Good luck!

  16. Easy to make… turned out beautifully…. I used buttermilk instead of whole milk… super easy recipe… great results..

  17. Could this be put in cupcake form? My family is cupcake fans. Is there a time difference for doing it that way?

    1. Sounds like a fun idea! I’ve not tested it but I would try baking them at 350 minutes for 18-20 minutes. Good luck!

  18. Made the recipe as is paying attention to some of the tips shared before the recipe and it came out just fine. After some cooling, around the edges were a bit hard, so I wrapped in cling film overnight and made it softer and no longer crunchy. Can’t wait to play and add some additional flavors. Sharing with friends!

  19. I liked the cake but the top layer cracked and the cake wasn’t as soft as we would have liked???

  20. Just checking to sure… using all purpose flour? I would think so since it’s calling for baking powder. Please advise ?

    1. Oh no! It sounds like your eggs might have been too cold when added. Try leaving them out at room temperature for next time.

      1. Thank you! What had happened is it was burnt on the edges but undercooked in the middle; it may have been me oven. I tried again leaving the eggs out for 2 hours and I baked it in our toaster oven. It was slightly dense but I love dense cakes.

  21. The recipe was very simple but I personally am not a fan of this one. It ended up dripping over the back edge of the pan and all over the inside of my oven and I used the exact size pan it said. And the flavor to this recipe just wasnt what I was looking for. But my sister and husband liked it despite the fact it stuck to my greased pan and the top half came out and I had to help the bottom half out the rest of the way. I ended up frosting them back together.

  22. I need to know what should the temperature of the butter be? Room temperature or melted? This will be my first time making this so I want to be sure

  23. Hi there. Hoping to make this recipe in a Bundt pan. Do you have any suggestions for cooking time? Also, does the recipe need doubled for a Bundt pan?

  24. Thank you Sabrina,
    Followed this recipe without any changes and my goodness, it is so good! My family will love it – that is if there’s any left by morning. Next on my list is your banana bread..recipe looks awesome! will give feedback when done!

    Merry xmas & thank you

  25. Hi, I love your recipes but I’m pretty new to baking. I was thinking mini pound cake loaves would be a wonderful holiday treat but I was wondering, if I used this recipe to make mini loaves, is the oven temperature and cook time the same? Thanks!

    1. Sounds like a fantastic idea! I would keep it at 350 degrees f but only bake them for about 28-32 minutes. Hope this helps!

  26. I want to make multiple loaves for Christmas, about a dozen or so. How would you recommend making multiple loaves a time?

    1. You can adjust the servings size by hovering over the serving amount in the recipe card and a slider will appear. You slide it to the serving amount (twice as much if you want to double) and it will adjust the ingredients that you need.

  27. I work with the elderly in a rest home and we made this cake today. This cake was very easy for the residents to make and everyone agreed it tasted divine. I would highly recommend this recipe to others.

    1. Oh that’s so sweet. Thank you for letting me know, I love to hear when my recipes are shared and universally loved. 🙂

  28. I followed the recipe, and the cake burned 15 minutes after I put it in the oven!
    I put it on 350 degrees! That’s the lowest actually.
    I don’t understand why it burned!!

    1. did you get the C & F mix up 350F is 175C on fan i don’t know that adjustment. but to get C its half of the F. on my oven.

  29. This recipe is simple and easy,cake turned out super moist and delicious,I did add sour cream to ingredients

  30. So easy and beautiful. Infused the butter with fresh basil and added 1/8 C lemon juice (and 1/8tsp Baking soda) Flavor was so gentle and soft, thank you!

  31. I tried this recipe this morning and I was disappointed in the results. I thought I did everything just as you said but it came out tough and dense, not light and fluffy…

    It looks so good on the laptop that I’m determined to try it again.

    Happy Baking Everyone 🙂

  32. This recipe looks easy and delicious. Can I use a hand mixer instead of a standing one? Thank you.

  33. In your introduction you talk about adding salt and baking SODA, but your receipe calls for baking POWDER. Which do I use?

    1. Thank you so much for catching that! The recipe card is correct. You should be using baking powder.

  34. My 1st pound cake! Now I am considered the baker at this house. Absolutely the Best and easy to make. Thanks!

  35. Not bad. Cake tastes good but it does not have that heavy moist texture of what you get at the bakery. It’s more on the dry side. Experimenting with adding sour cream may improve the body.

    1. I’m not sure adding sour cream will give you the end result you’re looking for. This is a very dense cake with heavy ingredients and adding sour cream would be like fighting a losing battle in regards to making a difference. Though I’ve not tested it, my hunch is telling me it won’t work.

  36. Does the butter have to be room temp I left it out over night and when I put in the eggs something curdle or is it suppose to be like that I feel so dumb

    1. Butter only needs to be left out on the counter for around 30 minutes to get to room temerature. Try that next time and you should be ok.

    2. I know this is late, but I also had the eggs curdle when added to room temp butter when I was making a different recipe. I’m thinking the eggs should have been at room temp too! Maybe give this a try! I plan on trying this pound cake recipe soon!

      1. If you add cold eggs to warm butter it will appear “curdled” but it’s just the butter “solidifying” again, keep beating, it should smooth out! Room temp eggs will mix in easier!

  37. I have to confess I have never made a pound cake but it really does look so easy and delicious, I think I should try it out!

  38. Um, this pound cake literally looks like the best pound cake ever!! I just want to reach into my computer and grab a slice! Thank you for these great tips… Adding this to my list of things I need to make immediately!