Rating: 3.72 stars
209 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 52
  • 4 star values: 82
  • 3 star values: 45
  • 2 star values: 25
  • 1 star values: 5

Our retooled pound cake recipe adjusts the traditional ingredient ratios (a pound of each ingredient), and adds baking powder and sour cream for a dense but fluffy loaf that's a sure-fire winner. Adding the baking powder while creaming the butter and sugar is a game-changing trick, it means it is fully distributed into the batter.

Everyday Food, May 2011

Gallery

Credit: Con Poulos

Recipe Summary

prep:
15 mins
total:
2 hrs 30 mins
Servings:
8
Yield:
Makes one 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf
Advertisement

Ingredients

Ingredient Checklist

Directions

Instructions Checklist
  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Beat butter with sugar, baking powder, and salt on medium-high speed until very light and fluffy, about 6 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl, then beat 1 minute more. Scrape bowl again, then beat in vanilla.

    Advertisement
  • Add eggs, a bit at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour, then sour cream, then remaining flour, beating until just combined after each addition. Remove bowl from mixer and use a spatula to get all the way down to bottom, stirring and folding to ensure all the butter is fully incorporated. (This will prevent butter streaks on the top of your cake.) Scrape batter into prepared pan.

  • Transfer pan to oven, reduce temperature to 325°, and bake until top is golden and a tester inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour, 5 minutes. (Starting at a higher temperature, then dropping down gives the cake a jump-start before allowing it to bake nice and slowly, so it doesn’t get too dark.)

  • Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour, then invert cake onto rack, turn top-side up, and let cool completely. Slice to serve; or store, unsliced, in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days; or freeze, wrapped in plastic, up to 3 months (thaw to room temperature before serving).

Cook's Notes

Let refrigerated butter sit at room temperature for 30 minutes; it should hold an indentation when pressed. If your eggs are cold, submerge them in warm water for 15 minutes.

You can use a larger, 9-by-5-inch pan here, but the cake will be flatter, so start checking for doneness a few minutes early. Adding an additional dairy product such as sour cream, yogurt, or milk is not traditional for pound cake, but we like how it lightens the texture.

Advertisement

Reviews (7)

209 Ratings
  • 5 star values: 52
  • 4 star values: 82
  • 3 star values: 45
  • 2 star values: 25
  • 1 star values: 5
Rating: 2.0 stars
03/25/2020
I’m an experienced baker and this is not good. I had high hopes with the batter, which was very light, but the finished product is dense, dry, and rubbery. I took it out after 40 minutes and it was still overdone. It’s edible with a thick icing for moisture, but I won’t be repeating.
Rating: Unrated
11/22/2014
Made it last weekend and it was awesome! My husband and I loved it. It was moist and perfect. The texture was exactly as I remember my mom's pound cake's used to be. It was the right amount for a two person family. Will be making it again soon.
Rating: Unrated
01/13/2014
Well it turns out that this is no the so perfect pound cake. I made it this weekend, and omg it turn out to be so hard, I followed the receipe excatly as it reads. I don't know what I did wrong that it's hard and very dry.
Advertisement
Rating: Unrated
12/30/2013
I just put it in the oven, I didn't have vanilla extract :/ but I realized it too late and decided to keep going, we'll see how it turned out. Hopefully good, fingers crossed!
Rating: Unrated
09/19/2012
Lemon???
Rating: Unrated
01/29/2012
Just made this and found it to be a little dry. With my oven 65 minutes was way to long so i took it out 20 minutes early. One should start checking for doneness around 40 minutes into the baking time. The recipe says mix well so I don't think I over mixed it although I did forget to add the lemon, etc with eggs so I had to add it after the flour. I will try again hopefully without error!
Advertisement
Rating: Unrated
08/20/2011
I followed this recipe exactly, with the exception of substituting Splenda Baking Sugar for granulated sugar. During the baking, it smelled fabulous. However, the taste was very very "eggy". Too "eggy" as a matter of fact. I am going to retry with regular sugar to see if that makes a difference. I'll let you know. If it tastes the same as today's version, I will be just as disappointed.