Vanilla Pound Cake

Name: Vanilla Pound Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 1 h 15 min
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

Rating: 3.34 stars

2,299 Ratings
109 Reviews

How sweet it is—pound cake from scratch in three simple steps! We've added vanilla to our recipe for an extra hint of flavor!

Recipe Summary

prep:

15 mins

total:

1 hr 15 mins

Servings:

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

Step 1

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

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Step 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).
Step 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.

Reviews (109)

2299 Ratings

5 star values: 429
4 star values: 617
3 star values: 719
2 star values: 383
1 star values: 151

Anonymous

05/25/2020

My very 1st time baking anything at all. LITERALLY. I Promise. My cake came out amazing. I’m currently cooking it right now for a second time, I added some coffee to it. I’m so excited to try this.

Anonymous

05/25/2020

Anonymous

05/24/2020

Works so well! Great recipe! I used it to recreate Starbucks lemon iced pound cake and it was the perfect recipe! You should totally use!

Anonymous

05/24/2020

Works so well! Great recipe! I used it to recreate Starbucks lemon iced pound cake and it was the perfect recipe! You should totally use!

Anonymous

05/23/2020

Fool that I am, I ignored all the one-star reviews for this recipe. Another review stated, "...AND WHEN I FINISHED THERE WAS LIQUID COMING OUT OF IT!!!!" I did not understand what that could be about. So I had to try this! (Fool that I am.) As it baked, the butter separated from the dough. At the end of an hour I had a sub-par pound cake, one that had been deep fried in the loaf pan, a kind of pound cake confit. If that's not the outcome you desire, move on, move on. And shame on the folks working for Martha Stewart for publishing this recipe. IT HAS LIQUID COMING OUT OF IT!

Anonymous

05/21/2020

Honestly, the people who said it was bad and/or the worst do not know how to bake. This was my first time baking a pound cake and it came out perfect, and im 16. Super moist and cooked for exactly a hour.

Anonymous

05/20/2020

This was the worst cake I have ever made. Martha Stewart what were you thinking putting such a flop of a recipe up. My husband called it a windowless building. Wasted my ingredients. I will never try another recipe from M.S to much hanging around with snoop dog I think. DONT EVEN WASTE YOUR TIME WITH RECIPE It has made me so angry.🤮🤮🤮

Anonymous

05/10/2020

I have been looking for the perfect pound cake recipe and this is it. It's lovely, buttery and dense. Perfect to dunk into a cup of coffee :)

Anonymous

04/15/2020

Was very easy. My cake came out perfect. Exactly an hour as said. So soft and yummy. Wish I could share pictures.

Anonymous

03/24/2020

its was awesome making this pound cake!

Anonymous

03/23/2020

DO NOT MAKE THIS CAKE IT WAS FIZZING WHILE BAKING AND WHEN I FINISHED THERE WAS LIQUID COMING OUT OF IT!!!! 😡🤢🤮

Anonymous

03/23/2020

DO NOT MAKE THIS CAKE IT WAS FIZZING WHILE BAKING AND WHEN I FINISHED THERE WAS LIQUID COMING OUT OF IT!!!! 😡🤢🤮

Anonymous

01/14/2020

Came out perfect . I just tweaked it with more vanilla and added some lemon extract for my taste ..

Anonymous

01/14/2020

Came out perfect . I just tweaked it with more vanilla and added some lemon extract for my taste ..

Anonymous

10/18/2019

This was the worst bean burrito ever

Anonymous

09/28/2019

This is the absolute worst bean burrito i have ever eaten. DO NOT MAKE!!!!

Anonymous

09/13/2019

First time I’ve ever commented on a recipe I’ve found and made before. Without a doubt the worst pound cake I’ve ever eaten. It came out so dense, if I threw it again a car windshield I have no doubt it would penetrate it. Followed the recipe exactly. Try again Martha.

Anonymous

07/25/2019

Dry and tasteless. Don’t waste your time!

Anonymous

06/16/2019

Took almost 10 extra minutes to bake then recipe originally indicated - used toothpick to verify cake was ready. Cake was Delicious

Anonymous

05/11/2019

Nothing didnt work

Anonymous

03/30/2019

Everything worked it was a Perfect Pantry recipe, wanted a no milk cake and this was it light texture and tasted better than commercially made Thanks M.S.

Anonymous

02/08/2019

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Anonymous

12/31/2018

Not sure why people are carrying on about no milk etc. Pound cakes should be a pound of each ingredient. There is no chemical leavening so the butter and sugar should be creamed at high speed and the eggs incorporated too until good volume. Simply reading ingredients, throwing things into a bowl and then complaining about the cake annoys me. Use your brain. To the people that said they would throw the cake in the bin should be ashamed of yourselves. There is nothing wrong with this recipe. If you can’t follow the most basic recipe don’t blame the author. Clearly in this throw away society people can put in minimal effort then complain about it.

Anonymous

11/19/2018

I used this recipe to make a rum pound cake, and it was probably the most delicious cake I’ve ever eaten. After reading reviews, I decided to add two teaspoons of baking powder ( one reviewer added four). It rose beautifully and soaked up the rum syrup overnight. I found the rum syrup recipe on another recipe. Delicious!

Anonymous

11/13/2018

I made this cake more than once I love it!

Anonymous

08/08/2018

We made this recipe to the letter and thoroughly enjoyed the cake. It wasn't overly sweet, but had the classic pound cake flavor. Loved it!

Anonymous

07/08/2018

I followed the recipe exactly and this cake turned out SO dry. Far drier than a pound cake should be. I have now compared it to other pound cake recipes and this one doesn't have nearly the liquid amount it should have for a true pound cake recipe.

Anonymous

05/30/2018

I’ve made this recipe three times, and every one was great...family loved it.

Anonymous

05/23/2018

This was definitely no pound cake I have ever eaten before it was terrible it tasted like dough I followed the instructions I done everything it said but it was still horrible I made a glaze that helped the cake taste better I will not use this again

Anonymous

04/21/2018

Great basic recipe that can be added to for a moist, delicious cake. Changes: I added 4 tbsp baking powder, zest from 2 lemons, 1 tsp almond and 1 tsp lemon extract, I used 2 tsps vanilla. It was so moist, crispy on the crust and perfect sweetness. I baked it on one rack lower than the middle for an hour and tented it for the last 10 minutes.

Anonymous

02/25/2018

Quite a nice cake. I made HALF of this recipe as I am using the pound cake as a base for a fruit tart. I halved all the ingredients and baked the cake in the same size pan as recommended in recipe at 350 but for 45 minutes only. It gave me a cake about an inch and a half in height. I’ve never baked a pound cake before and although it wouldn’t be my first choice in cake I thought this one turned out nicely.

Anonymous

02/23/2018

I followed the recipe, watched the video, and followed and directions. It was a disaster! Too dense, with an egg-y flavor. I’m deleting this recipe!

Anonymous

02/19/2018

It was easy to make but it was not very good at all. I will never use this recipe again. Waste of products.

Anonymous

01/25/2018

My first time baking pound cake. No baking powder, spared more time in mixing butter and sugar. Also added 3 tablespoon of evaporated milk. Turned out surprisingly good and tasty. Not dry yet tasty. Love it! Such a simple and basic cake, it's definitely my favourite.

Anonymous

01/14/2018

You should really change the recipe to reflect what is said in the video. The recipe says that all items should be room temperature, I didn't do that with my eggs. It also says to cream the butter first then gradually add sugar. The recipe doesn't state to do this separately. I didn't realize that I had to watch the video first to make sure I was making this correctly...had I known that was a requirement maybe my pound cake would have turned out better. I'm a new baker so the abbreviated instructions really let me down.

Anonymous

12/27/2017

Very easy, tastes great and not real heavy.. Thanks!

Anonymous

08/23/2017

I think some readers are confused. This is a pound cake....the title referring to a pound of sugar, flour and butter....other cakes use milk or buttermilk but a true pound cake is really this simple and rich. I always add more vanilla but going to try the orange zest and essence next time. And then you have the sour creme pound cake recipes but the beating is the key!

Anonymous

07/26/2017

Making a second time, first one fell while cooking. Looked at how people added more ingredients so will see what happens

Anonymous

07/16/2017

If you want the cake to bake faster, put it in for about 40 minutes at 400°F.

Anonymous

06/26/2017

Also, some cakes you can use buttermilk in the recipe but not usually regular milk. Read up on your cake recipes. Pound cake is such an easy cake to make and you can dress it up or down how you like it.

Anonymous

06/26/2017

if you want a little more flavor add vanilla extract or almond extract.

Anonymous

06/24/2017

Southern Living has a million dollar pound cake which uses Milk. The Betty Crocker website's pound cake uses milk. Just saying....

Anonymous

06/22/2017

Just tasted a piece of this that I made a little earlier this evening and it is good, but not great. It is very light on flavor, to me. I had an amazing pound cake recipe some years ago and have misplaced it and can never seem to find a comparable alternative. Maybe it would be better with another quarter cup of sugar and some zest, lemon or orange, to enhance the flavor. I used vanilla and vanilla bean paste and still not enough flavor for me. It is good and the texture is spot on, but it needs a little extra flavor for me.

Anonymous

06/09/2017

Clarification....I don't put milk in my homemade cakes

Anonymous

06/09/2017

Just made this pound cake and it is delicious and very moist. Regarding the comment about milk....cakes don't have milk as one of the ingredients.

Anonymous

06/03/2017

Thanks Martha for never letting me down. From Mile High Lemon Pie to this delicious buttery pound cake. You always come through...

Anonymous

05/24/2017

I believe an ingredient is missing from above recipe - NO milk ~ not in the list of ingredients or in the directions. It's too late for me as it's already in the oven and I will have to throw it away.

Anonymous

05/18/2017

Hi!!! I'd just like to ask how many pound cakes does this recipe makes?? Thanks.

Anonymous

04/21/2017

This is one of the best pound cakes I've ever made. My 4 yr old loves pound cake and we made it for his birthday yesterday. It was not dry, nor was it crumbly. The texture was perfect. I had made this recipe a few months back and it was dry, but tried it again because I was out of milk (and promised my son a pound cake yesterday for his bday). I think for those people who said it was dry, they should watch the video and make sure they cream the sugar and butter for exactly 8 minutes. This gives the correct base for the cake resulting in a light fluffy texture. Real pound cake does not have baking soda or milk in the recipe...thats just a dense cake. Anyway, I also used room temperature brown eggs and cake flour. I was out of vanilla and did not increase the sugar. I added 2/3 cup of sour cream (after the eggs) for added flavor and sifted in the flour, adding it to the mix by 1/2 cup because s[filtered]fuls took too long. I also used my hand mixer and not a stand mixer. Hope this helps!

Anonymous

04/17/2017

Dear Martha, I have always have liked your programs and the many wonderful things you do and make. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous

04/11/2017

The classic pound cake, nothing but butter, sugar, eggs, flour and a little vanilla. i like that it's one loaf instead of two. Real pound cake does not have baking powder or milk-this is the real deal folks and it's fantastic.

Anonymous

03/06/2017

I bake cakes all the time and I was just curious to how it was going to turn out without milk, so I tried it and if anyone liked this cake they apparently haven't had a good pound cake before. I saw a review about it being compared to cornbread, I wish I would have made a w[filtered] cake and just froze half. This was a total waste, you will not be able to eat this alone, too dry.

Anonymous

02/25/2017

So good , i made it once and it was great ! But tonight i added some apricot yogurt and apricot jam (homemade) some moscato cause girls night gets wild ;) and a bit of almond powder , some sugar in the mold and baamm a great apricot pound cake with apricot glaze over it !

Anonymous

02/21/2017

Made this the other day, came out a lot better than some of these comments say. I was worried itd be bland and dry but it was sweet and quite filling. Going to ship some to a friend this evening :) so worth the time and effort.

Anonymous

02/09/2017

I loved this recipe. It was super easy to make and I used a hand mixer. I folded in the flower with a spatula.

Anonymous

01/08/2017

Great recipe! Take the time to read the instructions and watch the video before preparing. Make sure eggs are room temperature, spoon the flour, and beat the butter/sugar for a sufficient amount of time. As explained in the video, air is the leavening agent here, which is trapped during the whipping process. I went with 8 minutes as someone suggested in one of the comments. My only alteration was that I didn't add salt because I was using salted butter.

Anonymous

01/07/2017

I made this tonight and everyone loved it ! It's a keeper in our house ! If you want a simple and easy strawberry topping I found this ...1 pint of strawberries cut up, 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract ...mix together on medium heat and mash the strawberries into a thick sauce , I used a potato masher and then mixed with a spatula til thick . Left over can be refrigerated for later use. This was my first time and the pound cake recipe was simple and easy :)

Anonymous

11/24/2016

This pound cake is absolutely horrible.....dry, flat, and flavorless. I inadvertently made this recipe because I was rushing and I thought this was a previous pound cake recipe that I used that resulted in a perfect pound cake, this on the other hand I wouldn't feed to a dog. Why on the earth does it not require milk or baking powder??? This receipe needs to be removed or altered immediately, as it does nothing but result in people having to waste food. Jiffy cornbread taste better than this.

Anonymous

09/22/2016

Made this recipe without modifications and it was wonderful! I agree with posted comments to watch for color changes as you go along when you beat butter, sugar, and eggs. I used a stand mixer and made sure not to overbeat. No need for milk or baking powder, just patience. Very good recipe and highly recommend with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Anonymous

06/21/2016

This was my first attempt at a pound cake, and I wanted an authentic one, not one made with shortening or chemical leavening.. The commenter who said you have to beat the sugar and butter for 9 minutes was right- maybe not exactly that long, but you have to wait until the color changes two times. I also used farm fresh eggs, and suspect that helped! I checked for doneness at 45 min, it was done at 55 . It rose perfectly, was moist and sliced beautifully and is just what pound cake should be!

Anonymous

03/17/2016

I made this yesterday and tweaked it by adding grated orange peel & real orange essence. It turned out delicious, tasty and moist, yet firm enough to slice thinly. (I served it with a home made blood orange compote that made it even better!)

Anonymous

10/30/2015

You forgot the milk and the baking powder.

Anonymous

10/01/2015

Made some small tweaks; this was delicious! After reading comments I was worried to attempt this, but I really wanted a basic pound cake recipe...not a cake recipe which it sounds like some of the more negative reviews were maybe in search of. I was mostly worried about it being too dry and flavorless, my tweaks were: adding 2/3 cup of sour cream, doubling the vanilla and increasing the sugar by an additional 1/2 cup (I usually cut sugar from recipes as they are too sweet, but this was nice).

Anonymous

08/31/2015

This recipe was easy enough that my 11 and 9 year olds made it by themselves. It was a little over cooked and probably ready at 45 minutes, but drenching it in some strawberry glaze took care of that. Quite delicious and we'd make it again.

Anonymous

08/12/2015

Okay, so the recipe itself is great. The instructions not so much. You NEED to whip the sugar and butter for 8 minutes. Not 7, not 9, not 2. 8. When you get to the flour, don't fold it in, and don't over mix. I made two cakes, one folded one blended. The folded one fell and didn't rise and was very dense. The mixed one was perfect. Put in one cup, blend on low for 30 seconds, same with cup 2. Don't blend more than that. It is delicious and moist.

Anonymous

07/13/2015

I followed the recipe, but substituted unsweetened applesauce for half the butter. It turned out very ... blah. It had a very eggy taste, more like a crepe than pound cake. Not awful, but not at all like the cake I was craving. Would not make again.

Anonymous

06/29/2015

I was not at all impressed with this recipe. I think there is an ingredient missing??? Baking powder?? The loaf was hard & dry & too dense. I would not recommend or revisit this recipe.

Anonymous

05/26/2015

Made this just as is! Lovely old fashioned pound cake! Will make this often.

Anonymous

05/10/2015

Disappointing. Heavy and dense. Is the recipe missing baking powder?

Anonymous

04/03/2015

I wished I had read the other review on here before trying this - I was looking for a basic simple recipe for pound cake, but unfortunately this one came out too dense and dry. This is nothing like the store bought variety. The fact that there is no liquid in the batter should have been the first warning sign, but I was also concerned when spooning it into the baking pan since it was so thick - more like a bread dough.

Anonymous

03/30/2015

I used a large 6-count muffin pan and they were done in about 30-40 minutes. They looked perfect and the texture was good. The taste was kind of bland on it's own, so I made a lemon glaze and poked holes in three of the cakes and let it soak and drizzled chocolate on the top of the other three. This was my first time making pound cake from scratch and it was okay, but I'll look for another recipe when I attempt pound cake #2.

Anonymous

03/14/2015

How many cups of mixture does this make? I would love to know to plan the quantity I will need to make to fill a shaped cake tin. TIA.

Anonymous

03/08/2015

I want another

Anonymous

03/01/2015

Hey don't we have to use baking powder? how would it turn out without baking powder?

Anonymous

12/14/2014

Made this yesterday, decided to add blueberries, chopped walnuts and dried cranberries because I had them, turned out great, hubby loved it. Wasn't dry, not sure if that was because of the blueberries and their moisture. Very easy to make, will try again.

Anonymous

12/14/2014

Anonymous

12/13/2014

I made this recipe with Natalia, my niece, and we loved it ! Would do it again

Anonymous

08/10/2014

This was delicious! The only thing I did differently was to bake it in a bundt pan because my loaf pan is too small for this recipe. I would definitely make this again, everyone loved it!!!

Anonymous

06/07/2014

I started reading all the reviews after my cake was in the oven, and there are a lot of negative ones. I got very nervous, but it was very good, instead of ordinary vanilla extract I used a vanilla paste instead.

Anonymous

05/24/2014

It turned out PERFECT :)

Anonymous

05/24/2014

i just put it in the oven ..didn't read the review before i made it..but i added baking powder and some milk ..i hope it turns out good

Anonymous

05/11/2014

This recipe is terrible!!! When it came out of the oven it looks beautiful but when you cut into it its very very very dense and has little to no taste. WIll never make again!!

Anonymous

04/20/2014

Great recipe , followed the quantity of ingredients but added a 1/4 cup of rum and baked it for 1 hour and 30 minutes. I was worried after reading the reviews but the cake came out perfect ,it was rich and moist. Will definitely make it again

Anonymous

04/04/2014

Both the flavor and texture were disappointing. It seems as though the favorable reviews of this recipe were the result of changes to the temperature and/or ingredients. I will not try this again.

Anonymous

03/27/2014

I made this but I doubled the recipe . I beat the eggs first till mixed, added sugar beat for two minutes on high then lowered the speed till I was ready to turn low, added melted butterand vanilla , folded in flour baked at 275 for an hour this was delicious..

Anonymous

03/20/2014

on two occasions have attempted to use a Martha Stewart recipe and it turned out horrible, a waste of ingredients. I no longer use her recipes, don't trust them anymore.

Anonymous

03/16/2014

A complete waste of ingredients! I wish I had read the review from nnorah33 before I baked this. The cake was dry and did not require the suggested baking time, we tried adding strawberries to eat with the cake and it still tastes terrible. This was a disappointment!

Anonymous

02/09/2014

I made this recipe today and at the end of baking was left with a heavy, butter-soaked loaf, with a dense glutinous crust and a cooked but butter-dripping middle. Absolutely a waste of ingredients. A quick online search shows perhaps it is a faulty oven thermostat or over mixing of ingredients. Who knows. It had to be thrown out as it was inedible. And I am out 1/2 pound of butter (very expensive) and 4 eggs (also very expensive). Thanks, Martha!

Anonymous

12/09/2013

I think this recipe will really benefit by adding 200 grams of sour cream, 6 eggs and not 4 and 1 tea spoon of baking soda.

Anonymous

11/15/2013

Made this cake last night. Came out perfect. My only change was i put my oven at 200 and let the cake bake for about 2 hrs and i added a bit of lemon zest for additional flavour. Not sure how some posts stated it was dry and the mixture tough,maybe over mixing caused that. Will experiment a bit but its definitely a keeper!

Anonymous

11/07/2013

I made this recipe twice and both times I ended up with dry, tasteless "cake." The instructions say to bake for an hour but after 30 minutes of baking on 350, it was completely ruined. I will only be making cream cheese pound cake after this fiasco.

Anonymous

11/04/2013

I cut this batter into little squares and fried them to make Pound Cake Pillow Donuts. They were delicious! I liked this recipe because the ingredients were simple, there weren't too many of them, and the yield was reasonable . To fry the pound cake, I froze the batter so the butter would firm up. Then it was easy to cut it into bite-sized cubes and fry them in canola oil. You can see the yummy results here: http://www.mondaymorningdonut.com/2013/11/fried-pound-cake-pillows.html

Anonymous

10/17/2013

I tried this recipe 2 days ago. The dough was very thick, like cookie dough, so after reading a few comments I added a splash of milk (1/4 cup). The cake took 1h20 min to bake, and it still wasnt fully baked at the top but I gave up after adding yet another 10 minutes. It did taste good, but very very very heavy.

Anonymous

08/21/2013

Having read earlier reviews, I knew the problems faced - dry and/or moist less cake. So I used extra Large eggs. The utter & eggs sat out overnight for temp. And I made sure to cream butter & sugar a minimum of 8 min. And stopped mixing soon as flour was incorporated & no milk needed. The bottom was a little brown but I liked the flavor. Next time less cooking time with my oven. Overall not a bad cake. I will experiment more with recipe.

Anonymous

08/08/2013

I really hoped this would turn out well. Everything else I've ever tried from Martha has... Sadly, it was sort of dry and tasteless. Checked and re-checked the directions, I followed every step. No idea why I ended up with a vanilla brick.

Anonymous

07/28/2013

I love this recipe, and thought that adding zest of one lemon and a handful of lemon thyme leaves were a nice addition. I had to save a slice before the family ate it all!

Anonymous

07/06/2013

I'm 10 years old and I made this super easy recipe! I added a splash of milk and it turned out perfect. You should definitely pt the tinfoil on for browning. P.S. I'm also making Martha Stewart tomato soup today, I hope it turns out well! :)

Anonymous

05/26/2013

I thought mine was a little dry but I did have to over beat it (due to my own error). I took it to a potluck & served it with sliced strawberries, ice cream and whipped cream and folks loved it. Two people said it was the first pound cake they'd had that had any flavor! Must be eating store bought. I followed the recipe exactly, using real butter (of course!) and fresh local eggs. Much easier than doing shortcakes and it was well received.

Anonymous

05/08/2013

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

Anonymous

03/24/2013

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

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