MARTHASTEWART.COM

Vanilla Pound Cake

Busy times call for easy desserts that have a sweet simplicity, like this rich pound cake that has a hint of vanilla.
Everyday Food, September 2008
  • Prep Time 15 minutes
  • Total Time 1 1/4 hours, plus cooling
  • Yield Serves 8
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup (8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch) loaf pan; set aside.

  2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and salt. With mixer on low, gradually add flour, beating just until combined (do not overmix).

  3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour (tent with aluminum foil if browning too quickly). Let cool in pan 15 minutes. Invert onto a wire rack, and turn upright to cool completely.

Recipe Reviews

Reviews (27)

  • CJ Wanna Bake
    8 May, 2013

    I love pound cake. I am not much of a baker never mind baking something from scratch. This recipe was quite easy. Cake in my oven took 1 hr 10 min to bake. I did also need to tent with foil to prevent over browning. The "crust" of the loaf is of a cookie like texture, still not bad. My loaf was moist and beautifully pound cake dense on the inside. The cake was not as sweet as I would have liked. I made a simple glaze for the loaf, gave this treat the sweet bump that I was looking for. Delicious

  • Jamie Thomason
    24 Mar, 2013

    This turned out great. I added a splash of milk for moisture. Just a seggestion :) Happy Cooking!

  • Jamie Thomason
    24 Mar, 2013

    Just put it in the oven. :) Can't wait to see how it does.

  • Cecilia Rodr guez
    23 Mar, 2013

    CAN YOU ADD MILK TO TJIS RECIpe

  • Cecilia Rodr guez
    23 Mar, 2013

    Enter your review...

  • KatieA1981
    14 Mar, 2013

    I followed the recipe to the T. My cake was very heavy and dense. It was dry as well (I baked for 1 hour and 5 minutes - the top was still wet after baking for 1 hour.) NOT impressed and won't be using this recipe in the future.

  • ashleyann1
    10 Jan, 2013

    Excellent recipe. Very simple to follow! I added rainbow sprinkles into the batter for a little color & fun! Looks great!

  • Paula Meirino-alfarano
    26 Dec, 2012

    Enter your review...

  • Carina
    9 Oct, 2012

    i think you were supposed to use a regular loaf pan, lady I, not a bundt cake pan.

  • lady l
    3 Oct, 2012

    SORRY MARTHA THIS IS THE WORST POUND CAKE RECIPE I'VE EVER TRIED. AFTER MIXING THE CAKE I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG. IT WAS TOO THICK AND IT DID NOT FILL MY BUNT PA OVER HALF FULL LIKE OTHER POUND CAKES IVE MADE, PLUS IT WOULDN'T RISE. I THOUGHT I HAD LEFT SOMETHING OUT BUT NO I DID IT RIGHT. IT DIDN'T LOOK DONE IN THE MIDDLE BUT MY PRONG CAME OUT CLEAN. I WAS TOO SHAME TO LET FAMILY KNOW I BAKED IT. :-( HEAVY AS A BRICK. I SENT BACK MY NEW KITCHENAID 9 SP MIXER THINKING IT WAS @ FAULT..

  • Jeska222
    24 Sep, 2012

    I made this cake the other day to dip into chocolate fondue. The cake rose fine, looking just like the photo, but was very dry. Thankfully the fondue disguised it the lack of moisture. With the remainder of the cake, I made it into french toast as it was just too dry to eat on its own. I would not make this recipe again.

  • Becca Dubin
    10 Jul, 2012

    This recipe is so good. I made it today for my dad's birthday today and added chocolate chips! Mine rised perfectly.... it started to brown a little too fast while the middle was still raw so i put tin foil over the top. Other than this I think that I would definitely make this again.... YUMMY!!

  • SuzePrich
    2 Jun, 2012

    There is too much butter vs. flour, and the eggs do not seem to be enough to raise this cake. It's very dense and looks NOTHING like the photo. That and taste pretty much determine if I'd make it again. They should take this one off the site.

  • slupdike
    15 May, 2012

    This recipe has not been tested it needs a liquid of some kind!!!! Way to thick!! Came out hard!!!

  • AYLW
    5 Dec, 2011

    It's delicious and easy to make! Just a quick note..It took me longer than 1hr to bake this though but otherwise I highly recommend it!

  • agd
    12 Oct, 2011

    This is one of my favourite recipes for pound cake. Just make sure that you don't overmix, otherwise the center will be very dense. Simply lovely and I highly recommend it!

  • obwhit
    15 Aug, 2011

    I just made the cake. It smells delicious and i can't wait to taste it. Although it doesn't look fabulous it has a huge crack down the middle. How can I prevent this next time?

  • beginnerbaker
    24 Feb, 2011

    Could I add pumpkin puree and spices to this to make it a pumpkin pound cake? What other ingredients do I need to adjust to do that? Thanks!

  • sieenns
    13 Feb, 2011

    This is my favourite pound cake recipe. I plan to use it for my wedding cake this summer.

  • illbeinmybunk
    18 Nov, 2010

    I followed the recipe exactly, and it turned out rather bland. It turned out more like a slightly sweetened bread rather than a traditional pound cake. Perhaps it needs more sugar or more vanilla... in any case, as my brother puts it, it was just "missing something."

  • rosamusumeci
    25 Jul, 2010

    I add sweetened coconut flakes, about a teaspoon of chocolate powder, and milk chocolate chips to this. My boyfriend thinks it's the most delicious thing, and I have to agree!

  • MemphisJ
    25 Jun, 2010

    If you look up the Classic PC recipe, this is basically that recipe halved, w/ extra vanilla (why it's the Vanilla PC recipe). The measurements are slightly different for the flour and eggs. One direction that recipe states implicitly is to cream the butter sugar 8 minutes. If you do it until they are just combined, probably won't turn out right. Look up that recipe and follow those directions with this recipe and it will probably come out just right.

  • LovelyZ
    10 May, 2010

    This was a very easy recipe. After reading the comments below, I added a box of vanilla instant pudding to the mix (which I have been told makes things extra moist). The cake was dense (as expected), but very good. It's a pound cake - it's supposed to be heavy and thick. Everyone really enjoyed it. And it only took me 10 minutes to prepare - you can't beat that! (FYI, it did take more than an hour to bake, and I definitely had to use the foil on top to prevent burning.)

  • CharityT
    24 Feb, 2010

    I tried this recipe this afternoon and it was delicious. Yes, it is dense, but pound cake is supposed to be dense. It was not dry at all. After all, how could something with 2 sticks of butter and 4 eggs be dry! There is no leavening agent, so make sure that you follow the directions and beat the ingredients enough - but don't overmix when you add the flour. My kids and I loved this cake!

  • saradomca
    6 Feb, 2010

    I just made this pond cake and it was really very heavy and dry we could not eat it.

  • aprilsanfrancisco
    7 Oct, 2008

    I made the vanilla poundcake recently. It was so heavy that I could have used it for a doorstop!..Does this poundcake require a leavening agent? Martha, my vanilla poundcake looked nothing like yours...yikes!

  • aprilsanfrancisco
    7 Oct, 2008

    I made the vanilla poundcake recently. It was so heavy that I could have used it for a doorstop!..Does this poundcake require a leavening agent? Martha, my vanilla poundcake looked nothing like yours...yikes!