Light Pound Cake Recipe (Low Calorie Pound Cake)
This Light Pound Cake is soft, buttery, and tender, with all the flavor you expect from a classic pound cake but fewer calories. At just 112 calories per slice, it’s a delicious low calorie pound cake for those times when you want something sweet without making a full traditional pound cake.
I created this healthy pound cake with less butter, fewer eggs, and a little milk to keep the crumb light and tender. You still get that rich buttery flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture, which makes it hard to believe each slice is only 112 calories.
Serve it plain with a chilled glass of milk, or add fresh berries for an easy low calorie cake that feels like a proper dessert.
📺Watch How To Make Light Pound Cake👇🏼
Although this cake doesn’t look as fancy as my Southern Butter Pecan Cake or elegant as my Pistachio Cake, it has a delicious flavor and tender crumbs that satisfy your sweet tooth and cravings for dessert. Below, I have created some delicious variations and ways to serve light pound cake.
🥘 INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
Cake flour – We will use cake flour for tender crumbs and light pound cake. I must mention that I have used all-purpose flour, and the result was excellent.
Sugar – You can go for brown sugar, but I used fine white sugar; both sugars work in this recipe.
Eggs – A pound cake recipe usually asks for three large eggs, but we use one whole and one egg white in this recipe.
Milk – Not much, just a tablespoon and a half to compensate for the third egg and get tender crumbs.
Butter won’t be a pound cake without butter; go for unsalted and good-quality butter.
Baking powder – Yes, the authentic pound cake recipe doesn’t have baking powder, but we want our cake to rise and be light. Hence we are using a teaspoon of baking powder.
🔪 MAKING LIGHT POUND CAKE STE-BY-STEP
Making this pound cake is no different than making any other pound cake; the steps are similar, and it’s a straightforward recipe. Below are the main steps, but please read the recipe card for details.
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350F/180C. Line an 8×4.5” loaf pan with parchment paper.
Step 2
Whisk or sift the flour with salt and baking powder, and keep aside.
Step 3
Add the butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl, and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the whole egg and beat for a minute; add the egg white and beat for another minute, now add the milk and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes.
Step 4
Add half the dry ingredients to the wet and beat for a few seconds on low speed, then add the rest of the dry and beat until combined. Do not overbeat.
Step 5
Pour the cake batter into the previously prepared pan. Shake the pan gently to even the surface, then run a butter knife in the batter to remove excess air.
Step 6
Bake the cake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Step 7
Take out the cake from the oven. Leave the cake in the loaf pan for six minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.
Step 8
Serve the cake with berries, ice cream, or chilled milk.
💭 BAKING TIPS
- Do not over-mix the batter after adding the flour mixture.
- Always preheat the oven for 20 to 30 minutes before placing the cake.
- Let the ingredients come to room temperature; it will help the cake bake evenly.
- Do not open the oven door unless at least 10 minutes from the baking time have passed.
- Instead of milk, you can use one tablespoon of sour cream.
- I’m not fond of sweeteners like stevia, but you can use it instead of sugar.
📖 DELICIOUS VARIATIONS AND SERVING IDEAS
Turn this into a lemon pound cake: Add one teaspoon of lemon zest to the butter and sugar and continue with the steps.
Add blueberries: After pouring the batter into the loaf pan, sprinkle some blueberries on top, or fold some in the batter. Do not use more than 1/3 cup of blueberries.
Go nuts: Adding nuts to the cake will add calories too, but if you love some crunch in your pound cake, add some toasted nuts to the batter.
Serve the cake with a glass of chilled milk, chopped fresh fruits like strawberries, chocolate sauce, or lightly whipped cream.
Add spices: A little cinnamon or nutmeg can give this pound cake an earthy flavor.
💬 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Oil has almost the same amount of calories as butter. I wouldn’t use oil and compromise the flavor.
Yes, you can use soy or almond milk, but you can have a better flavor if you add coconut milk to the batter.
There are 112 calories per slice.
This cake can easily turn into a bundt cake, but you need to use a small bundt cake or double the recipe to fill your bundt pan.
🌡️ STORING
Fridge: You can easily store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Make sure to place it in an airtight container for the best results.
Freezer: If you plan on freezing this cake, you can do that too! Cut it into slices, warp each with plastic wrap, and place the slices in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Let the cake thaw in the fridge overnight, and then let it heat in the microwave for 13-16 seconds.
Related Recipes
- Kentucky Butter Cake, Moist cake with butter syrup.
- Pecan upside down cake, a delicious Southern cake.
- Moist chocolate cake.
- Pistachio cake, make it from scratch.
- German chocolate cake with step by step images and video.
- Revani cake, a Middle Eastern cake with syrup.
Light Pound Cake Recipe with Low Calories
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cake flour you can use all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter at room temperature
- 7 tablespoon fine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoon milk
- 1 large egg white at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C. Line an 8×4.5 loaf pan with parchment paper, or grease the pan with butter and dust with flour. Keep aside.
- Whisk or sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Keep aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy and light in color.
- Add the whole egg and beat for a minute; add the egg white and beat for another minute, now add the milk and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes.
- Add half the dry ingredients to the wet and beat for a few seconds on low speed, then add the rest of the dry and beat until combined for 10 to 12 seconds. Do not overbeat.
- Pour the cake batter into the previously prepared baking pan. Gently tap the pan two times on the kitchen counter, then run a butter knife in an (S) shape to remove excess air trapped in the batter.
- Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Place the cake while in the pan on a cooling rack for 6 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool on the cooling rack.
- Slice the cake and serve.
Notes
- Do not overmix the batter after adding the dry ingredients.
- Preheat the oven for 20 minutes before placing the cake in it.
- You can use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour using the same measurement.
- This cake recipe was originally published in 2013. It is updated with new images, a video, and more information.
Lovely texture… Wish I could have a few slices
I wish the recipe could tell how much butter is needed?
Hi Inger, the recipe is asking for 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, as mentioned in the recipe card!
That looks delicious! I adore pound cakes. This is only 115 calories per slice? LOVE IT! 🙂
You won’t feel that it’s low in calorie since it tastes just like the regular pound cake, hope you enjoy it 🙂
I love pound cake and do not mind eating the traditional ones from the family archives. I bake them, take a slice or two and then share it with neighbors and friends. Works just fine. But this is a holiday and adding a 700 calorie slice of cake to an already high fat meal would only jeopardize my 2 year old weight/fitness maintenance program. Thank you so much for your recipe! I am an instant fan and will sign up to follow your articles and postings.
Thanks a lot for your kind words 🙂 , and I wish you all the best in your fitness journey!
I made this receipe 3 times and it didn’t rise properly. I used all purpose flour that was pre sifted. I followed the receipe to a tee. Was is the flour? Please advise.
Hi Karen, I have been making this recipe for years and never faced this problem. These are the reasons why a cake won’t rise:
The oven wasn’t preheated for 20 minutes.
You have used a large pan.
You opened the oven door within the first 10 minutes of baking.
You might have opened and closed the oven door quickly.
The batter is overmixed.
The baking powder might have expired or wasn’t stored well.
I’m not saying that you did everything I listed, but maybe it will help next time you try this recipe. I have used cake flour, and all purpose flour and the cake always rise. Please let me know if you have any questions.
I’m definitely going to make this cake. I’m trying to find nutrition. Am I overlooking it? I did see 108 calories per serving.
Hi Karen, I am going to update this post soon with nutrition.
Light and smooth in texture…well done, Muna. The pound cake looks beautiful.
Thank you Angie, it is a very delicious cake and I’m glad that I can have it while eating healthy!
I love this recipe and have made it several times. The only thing I need to know is why does it make such a small cake? I’ve even doubled the recipe and still it’s not nearly the size that I’m used to getting with a pound cake. It is delicious though. I highly recommend it! Is there a trick to getting it to come out bigger? I know it sounds silly but I keep wondering if I’m doing something wrong. ???Thanks in advance.
Nina in Georgia
Hi Nina,
I guess you have to use a smaller baking pan, but if you do so the baking time might increase. Hope this helped 🙂
I love your honesty about retreating to your secret spot! And this looks like the perfect thing to enjoy there….
🙂
I love it! Light & fluffy–talk about the most delectable-looking pound (or ounce?) cake ever 🙂
Yummmy spongy cake….very happy to follow you…will be happy if you follow me back and stay connected ….
Wahhh this pound cake looks VERY appealing. I definitely like it more seeing “light” and “115 calories” on the picture. I gained weight so much through blogging that it’s not even funny anymore. =P I will try this recipe when I get a chance once I go back home! Great recipe, Muna!
Hope you try it and enjoy it too 🙂
wow, totally loved its colour and texture:) Well done:)
Hi Muna,
This cake is so smooth and velvety. Nice to know that it not very damaging to our hips and thighs. Love to give this recipe a try.
Zoe
I love pound cake and I am happy to have found a smaller, low-cal version. I have already mad it a couple of times! Thanks!!
Thank you Anjana, I’m glad that you liked my cake 🙂
I just discovered your page and baked your pound cake today! I have gained alot of weight in the past couple of years and am tryng to get back on track so I was browing the webiste for from scratch low fat cake recipes. When I saw this recipe I knew it was for me to try it. I’m an avid baker and what really appealeld to me was that I had all the ingredients on hand. Okay now about the pound cake – it’s delicious!! It had so much flavor that I would have never known this was a low fat recipe. I’m so glad that I found your page :o)
Thank you! I’m happy that you’ve liked my recipe. Losing weight or eating right shouldn’t be boring and therefore I’ve tried my best to modify the recipes to low calorie version 🙂
Hi, I was perusing light pound cake recipes and saw yours. I’ve made pound cake several times and only once in a while does it come out cooked all the way through. Often it is also very heavy. I need pound cake for use in an Italian constructed dome shape cake by the name Zuccotto. I have to use a regular standard size loaf pan, so that i can cut the pieces the long way, to fit right correctly. Do you think if I doubled this recipe ad used the standars size loaf pan, it would work out ? Cooked all the way through ?
Hi Surati, yes you can double the recipe, try inserting a dry spaghetti in the middle of the cake to make sure it is done. This version of pound cake is light but tastes exactly like you regular pound cake. Best of luck 🙂
One word… Divine. Absolutely divine. I made this loaf today and it turned out AMAZING! Best tasting pound cake I’ve ever had and it’s low in calories too, score! I made it even lighter by using less butter and the light kind at that, but I decided to add some gumdrops to make it festive and my god was the flavour combination of the light pound cake and gooey gumdrops ever heavenly! Thanks for uploading this recipe! With my changes/additions I’ve found my new favourite loaf cake!
I’m happy that you liked my cake Natalie 🙂 Thanks a lot for your feedback!
This cake looks delicious. What do you think of doubling the recipe and baking in a bundt pan? I need a dessert to take to a get-together that will serve more people and make a pretty presentation (surrounded by berries). Thank you.
Hi Kathleen, I think it will look great 🙂
i just made the pound cake using brown sugar as indicated in your recipe, ( did not play video or I would have seen you use white sugar). Because the mix came out brown I decided to add one teaspoon of cocoa, also had to substitute low cal almond milk since I didn’t have regular. I am happy to say the cake still came out light and flavorful. Hopefully, the substitutions didn’t add to many extra calories.
Hi Karin, Thanks for trying my recipe, I don’t think that the changes you made would increase the calories. Glad you liked it 🙂
If I double it, can I put it in a bunt cake pan
Hi Carol, Yes you can!
it’s cooling on a rack right now. I didn’t have cake flour so I used all purpose flour with a small amount of corn starch. Smells fantastic and looks so light and pretty. Can’t wait to get into it.
Wow! Please let me know how you liked it 🙂
Yes it will have lower calories, but I’m not sure if the taste and texture of the cake will be the same!
I looove this cake! It’s so light and fluffy! The only suggestion I would make is melting the butter before adding it. The batter was a bit dense.
I’m so happy you liked my cake, and thanks for sharing your experience! Usually, pound cake batter is a little heavy and dense, but that contributes to the light texture of the cake, if you melt the butter, the texture will change a little.
Can I use almond or coconut milk instead of dairy milk?
I never tried it with almond or coconut milk, but I guess it might work. Please do let me know how the cakes comes out if you try it 🙂
Used this recipe on cupcakes and turned out delicious,, it was very light, fluffy and crispy on the outside. The smell of them baking was enough. Loved it! Thank you
Hey Walaa, Thanks for your feedback, and for trying my recipe 🙂
Can i substitute butter with vegetable oil? Or can i use butter and oil both? , Because i have only little butter. Wont make 6 and a half tbsp
If you use oil only then the texture and flavor will change. You will end up with vanilla sponge cake instead.
Can you you oil instead of butter ? Can you also use maple syrup or honey instead of sugar? Will it affect the taste and texture of the cake?
Hi, You can’t use only oil in a pound cake, it changes the texture also maale syrup and honey changes the texture. They will add more moisture to the batter and make it runny. Hope this helped.
I subbed 1/4 cup raw honey for the brown sugar and it turned out great! Because of the honey I added 1/8 tsp of baking soda and reduced the cooking temperature to 325 for 40 minutes. Turned out lightly sweet, moist, buttery and delicious! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Hi Leah, thank you so much for your feedback and for sharing it, I’m sure some of my readers will find this tip useful 🙂
Made the cake…omg. Super yummy. Lovely texture. Made with organic castor sugar.
Thank you so much for your feedback, I’m so happy that you like the recipe 🙂
I made the cake and it tasted wonderful. It was much darker than the photo inside. Do you use light (golden) brown sugar?
Hi! Yes, for cakes I mostly use the light brown sugar and I’m glad you liked it 🙂
Hi,
I was wondering if I could use organic whole wheat pastry flour instead of the cake flour this recipe calls for?
Thanks
Hi Suzette, The cake might be on the dry side if whole wheat is used.
i made this with my husband for my inlaws. it was perfect. i actually substituted 1/2 TB flour with 1/2 TB green tea powder to make a matcha pound cake, and it worked wonderfully.
Thanks for your feedback, Helen 🙂
Light Pound Cake
Please could you tell me how many calories there are in 1/12 of this cake. It looks delicious!
It’s 690 calories.
I had my doubts while putting this together. 3/4 cup flour is not much. All the ingredient quantities seemed scant to me. And how does one beat butter and brown sugar until ‘lighter’? Doesn’t happen. 2 minutes on high speed still had a grainy texture, but the ‘no more than 10 seconds’ to incorporate the flour mixture was a joke. I hand mixed it, assuming the objective was not to overmix. I am an experienced baker. I followed the recipe exactly as written except I forgot the vanilla. No, my baking powder is not old. My pound cake is 1” high.
The recipe says 3.96 stars from 93 ratings. I see lots of comments, but no reviews.
Hi Maia, Thanks for your comment. I made this cake to allow people to enjoy pound cake with fewer calories. Hence the ingredients are much less than when making a regular-size cake. If you use darker brown sugar it should get lighter with beating, and that was my experience since I made this cake many times before. Also using a small loaf pan should help with the rising of the cake. Since I’m not with you in the kitchen I’m not sure what went wrong, but I’ll soon have a video tutorial for this recipe and hope this would help my readers.
My friend asked me to bake a light, not overly moist cinnamon pound cake for him. He had someone from years ago who had baked several, but she passed & he had no way of getting the recipe. What would you think of adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to your recipe?
Hi, yes, you can add cinnamon to the cake batter.
Dear Muna, My son just got out of the hospital for treatment of an extremely high BP. He’s doing well and I’ve been on the lookout for low sodium recipes. I’m so thankful that I stumbled upon this cake recipe!!! I doubled the recipe and made a strawberry jello poke cake out of it. The jello had minimal sodium and the whipped topping had none. They went crazy over it!!!! Thx so very much!!!
Hi, Val. I hope your son is much better now and I’m glad that you are and your family liked my recipe. Strawberry Jello poke cake sounds delicious!
If I double the recipe will it fill a bunny mold pan for Easter?
It depends on the size of the mold.
The cake looks great. I am thinking of making it, but want to use a sugar substitute like powdered Swerve instead. Do you think that would work well?
Yes, just replace the sugar mentioned in the recipe, with the same amount of the substitute sugar. But the cake might tastes a little different, since usually sugar substitutes has an after taste.
I just whipped this up, its in the oven now.. I used almond milk so what might each slice be? Perhaps 100 cal? Very easy recipe. I will reply once its done 😉