When it comes to cake, there's something incredibly comforting about a classic pound cake—especially one with a perfectly golden crust, a rich and buttery crumb, and that nostalgic flavor. This Best Pound Cake Ever lives up to its name and then some. Baked low and slow in a Bundt or tube pan, it’s light but rich, firm but moist, and has just the right balance of vanilla and almond flavor.
What Makes This Cake Special?
What makes this cake special? A few things:
- Whipped egg whites folded in at the end create an airy lift without sacrificing density.
- Superfine sugar helps achieve a delicate, tender crumb.
- Sour cream adds richness and moisture, ensuring the cake stays fresh for days.
- And a low and slow bake option brings out a golden crust and deep flavor without drying the cake out.
I've made this numerous times. It's basically the same recipe as another favorite "Smoothest Southern Pound Cake" which is not the heaviest and densest pound cake, but very moist. If you flavor it with a butter & nut flavored extract (now called Cake Batter Flavor), it kind of tastes like a Nothing Bundt cake (kind of).
A Few Pound Cake Tips
Use superfine sugar for the best texture. If you don’t have any, you can pulse regular granulated sugar in a food processor for about 30 seconds.
Beat the butter and sugar for a full 8 minutes. Don’t skimp—this incorporates air and builds the cake’s structure.
Room temp ingredients matter. Cold eggs or sour cream can make the batter seize or curdle.
Try baking it “low and slow” at 300°F for 2 hours for a thicker crust and more even bake. It’s magic.
Recipe
Best Pound Cake Ever
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter, cool room temp (230 grams)
- 3 cups superfine sugar, divided use (600 grams)
- 6 large eggs separated, cool room temp
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
- 1 cup sour cream, cool room temp 260 grams
- 3 cups sifted cake flour (sift before measuring) (300 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray a 10 inch tube pan or 12 cup Bundt pan with flour-added baking spray.
- Sift together dry ingredients; Set aside.
- in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and 2 ½ cups (500g) of sugar until light and creamy. For best results, beat for a long time -- about 8 minutes, adding the sugar gradually. Beat in egg yolks one at a time.
- Beat in extracts.
- Remove bowl from stand and sift in the flour mixture ½ cup at a time, alternating with the sour cream. Stir or fold with a heavy duty scraper to mix.
- In a clean metal bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in the remaining ½ cup (100g) of sugar until shiny, soft, billowy peaks. Do not overbeat. Fold into batter.
- Bake for 50-75 minutes, until cake tests done. Alternately, you can bake the cake at 300 degrees F. for about 2 hours. This is my latest favorite way to bake it -- slow and low.
Stephanie says
I'm definitely going to give this one a try! We've loved your Cold Oven Pound Cake and I ditched all my other Pound Cake recipes when I found that one, but I'm an equal opportunity baker, so I'm trying this one out. 😉
Thanks, Anna, again for the great recipes!
Janet says
This is the best pound cake ever. A lady I gave the receipe to over 30 years ago says it is still very popular with her family and friends. She makes them every Christmas as gifts. I add a little almond extract to the batter.
As for the chocolate chip cookies, I thought I was the only one who kept them in the frig for at least 36 hours. I have requests for my cookies from all over, my son is in the customs service and I have been in many airports delivering them. I use the old Betty Crocker receipe with a few twiks.
Jennifer says
This sounds really good, but I already promised myself that the next pound cake I make will be the lemon pepper one!
Jennifer
Janice says
Anna,
The 36 hour c.c. cookies are now my husband's favourites. He likes them even more than the Bear version.
As for pound cake my vote for the very best (not to mention easiest) version is the one from Saveur. The taste is amazing and the texture can't be beat.
http://www.saveur.com/article/food/Pound-Cake
Louise says
WOW Anna,
Now, that's a recipe screaming for berries. I'm a little miffed by the amount of baking soda though...but then, I'm not much of a baker:) Thanks for sharing.
leslie says
Anna....Your welcome on the award..and yes you are required to do a video!!LOL Just kidding! I havent heard of the word Wonky in sooo long!
Cathy C says
Oh Ya!! With that much butter you bet it is going to be the best - put some fresh berries on top and it is over the top. YUM
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
Janet says
I don't know if you can top YOUR cold oven pound cake recipe but I will try this one in a couple weeks (having company then). Thanks! It's always a treat to try your recipes! They're the best!
Therese B. says
Hi Anna:
Pound cake always reminds me of a former Southern neighbor in Georgia. I went over to her house and she served the BEST pound cake I ever tasted.
This recipe sounds awesome!!
Speaking of the South...I just took my daughter to the airport..she is visiting her best friend for 10 days!!! I miss her already.
HeartofGlass says
Isn't that awfully heavy, with sour cream and butter, even for a pound cake?
leslie says
My only pond cake I ever make was horrible!
I left an award for you on my site..............I know everyone is busy..so no need to participate..I just wanted to show some love!
Liz says
It's funny you posted a pound cake recipe, because I was actually wondering about this since you posted the NYT article about aging the cookie dough: might the aging process work on a pound cake? Maybe there might be a loss of aeration (sp?) in the batter after a day or so, but that could be resolved by bringing the batter temp back up closer to room temp, then using an electric whipper to whip air back in, and re-blend the batter in case it "broke" ( separated).
Anna says
Lynda, I love European style butter too. It's a splurge, but worth it. Plugra sells it in 8 oz packs so you can purchase a smaller amount.
Taneka, I am going to chalk it up to.....uh....I don't know.
I took out the * because I am not sure why it's there. Probably means "optional" or something. I'll have to ask Katy.
T. Martin says
Aw Anna, I know how you feel in regards to needing a fool proof recipe. I go through these phases sometimes when nothing seems to turn out correctly and I usally chalk it up to the weather. In the month of September nothing I make seems to come out right and I'm not sure what the reason for that might be :-(...
What is the * for next to the almond extract in the recipe?
Lynda says
This sounds like a delicious recipe with lots of the good stuff (butter, sour cream, many eggs.) I am a fan of European style butter - it seems to make a big difference. I hope to make this later today.