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Authentic Pound Cake Recipe is a dreamy melt in the mouth delight—a buttery, moist cake, with a tight and dense crumb. Usually, cake batters can have few lumps, but this Authentic pound cake has a velvety heavy batter with absolutely no lumps. This pound cake is delectable and tastes even better the next day. Watch the video in this post to enjoy a delicious and perfect slice of pound cake!

Close up image of a traditional pound cake.

WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS IN AUTHENTIC POUND CAKE?

The authentic pound cake recipe calls for a pound from each ingredient—a pound of eggs, a pound of sugar, and a pound of sugar. You don’t have to use a pound of each ingredient to make a pound cake, all you have to do is keep the weight the same for all the ingredients and make a smaller cake. There are no baking powder, salt, or vanilla in the traditional recipe, but we are adding vanilla here to enhance the flavor! If you want a low-calorie version of a pound cake, try my Light Pound Cake Recipe.

WHAT IS A POUND CAKE?

Pound cake is a butter cake with fine crumbs. The flavor of the cake is between a sugar cookie and a shortbread. The main ingredient is butter because its flavor is tasted in every bite and because there are no liquids like milk in this recipe, butter is what’s cooking the ingredients and enhancing the taste.

Showing fine crumbs in a pound cake slice.

NO BAKING POWDER! HOW THE POUND CAKE RISE?

There is no leavening in this pound cake recipe. We depend on the eggs to bring volume to the cake. Beating the eggs until it’s fluffy, turns lighter in color, and double in volume is essential to get a high cake with fine crumbs. And to get this result, the eggs must be at room temperature.

The second method we use to help in lifting the cake is by beating the sugar and butter until creamy and lighter in color. Incorporating air in this step also helps the cake to bake evenly without sinking in the middle.

HOW TO MAKE A GLUTEN-FREE POUND CAKE?

It is easy to convert this authentic pound cake into a gluten-free cake. Use gluten-free flour that substitutes 1 cup of cake flour or all-purpose flour with 1 cup gluten-free flour and follow the recipe in this post!

A slice of pound cake served on a plate.

CAN I USE CAKE FLOUR IN THIS RECIPE?

Yes! You can use cake flour, but the crumbs will be finer and the cake a little moister, but the taste will remain the same. You can use the same measurement as for all-purpose flour.

DID THE CAKE FINISH BAKING?

To know if the cake has finished baking, you have to keep few things in mind. Since the batter is thick, the cake will bake for a longer time. If your oven is too hot, the cake will not bake evenly and might burn, so make sure to bake the cake on a higher shelf and not in the middle rack of the oven. Use a long skewer and insert it in the middle of the cake, if it comes out with wet batter, then the cake needs to bake longer, if it comes out with a few small crumbs, then it’s time to take it out of the oven. In case the skewer came out clean, then your cake might become dry since the cake continues baking after it is out of the oven.

HOW TO STORE THE POUND CAKE?

There are three ways to store pound cake and maintain its texture and flavor.

Storing at room temperature: Wrap the cake with a plastic wrap tightly and leave at room temperature for up to 4 days. Not using a plastic wrap will make the cake dry and stale.

Refrigerating: Wrap the pound cake with a plastic wrap and place in an airtight container or a Ziplock bag and refrigerate for up to one week. To serve a chilled pound cake, slice and let it come to room temperature.

Freezing: Follow steps in the method of refrigerating, but place the cake in the freezer instead. You can freeze it for a month and a half. To thaw the cake, slice it and leave it to thaw in the fridge or on the kitchen counter while covered with plastic wrap.

HOW TO SERVE POUND CAKE?

You can be creative! Use a dollop of cream on a slice of pound cake, or serve it with fresh fruits.

Some enjoy pound cake with warm caramel sauce or strawberry and blueberry sauce!

TIPS TO MAKE AUTHENTIC POUND CAKE

Butter is the hero in this recipe, so pick a high-quality unsalted butter. No margarine please.
Measure the ingredients accurately. Use a digital or analog scale and make sure to sift the flour before measuring it, especially if you are using all-purpose flour and gluten-free flour.
All ingredients should be at room temperature. The butter should be soft but not melted.
Cream the butter and sugar; if you are not using a stand mixer, this step will be annoying and might take long (about 4 to 5 minutes.), but believe me, it is worth it.
Beat the eggs until light and double in volume. Skip this step, and your cake will sink while baking or will come out tough and chewy.
Preheat the oven to the right temperature.
Don’t overbeat the batter after adding the flour that will ruin our hard work and result in a dry and tasteless cake.
Start checking the cake after an hour of baking. The cake batter is heavy, and it will need time to bake unless your oven is too hot, or its heat is not distributed evenly, then check after 50 minutes from baking.

OTHER POUND CAKE RECIPES:

Perfect pound cake.

Lemon Pound Cake.

Marble pound cake.

Sweet potato pound cake.

📖 Recipe