This cream cheese pound cake has a buttery flavor and is perfectly moist and tender. It’s dense with a tight cake crumb, like you’d expect from a pound cake. Made with just 7 ingredients and beautifully simple.
**This post was updated August 2, 2021 with new photos, a slightly updated recipe and additional baking tips**
This cream cheese pound cake is the best pound cake recipe I’ve ever tried. The cream cheese adds a creaminess to the flavor and makes the pound cake extremely moist. It has a golden crust and the quintessential pound cake texture that’s dense without being heavy. Too often pound cakes can taste bland and dry, but not this one. It’s rich, buttery and tender.
I like to serve it with berries and whipped cream, but it’s just as delicious plain with a cup of coffee.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake Ingredients
Traditionally, a pound cake is made with 1 lb of each ingredient: butter, sugar, eggs and flour – hence the name, pound cake. For this cream cheese pound cake, we’re making a few adjustments to the traditional recipe which really elevates the flavor and texture:
- 1 ½ cups butter (12 ounces). Using high quality butter gives the cake the best flavor. Absolutely no substitutions can be used for butter in a pound cake recipe.
- 8 ounces cream cheese. Adding in cream cheese (and slightly reducing the amount of butter from the classic 1 lb) makes the pound cake extremely moist. It also adds a delicious creaminess to the flavor. Make sure to use full-fat, brick-style cream cheese.
- 2 ½ cups sugar. I like to use superfine or caster sugar in pound cake. Because it has finer granules, it dissolves more easily as you beat the butter.
- 6 large eggs. Yup – you read that correctly. The eggs add tenderness. They also help to lift the pound cake so that it rises properly. When you beat in the eggs, it adds air to the batter. This air helps the cake rise.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour. Make sure to measure the flour properly. If too much flour is added to the batter, it will get dry. If you have a measuring scale – make sure to use it! 3 cups weighs 375 grams or 12.75 ounces.
- 1 teaspoon baking powder. Traditionally, the rise in pound cake comes entirely from air added into the batter when the eggs are mixed in. However, I find that adding just a tiny amount of baking powder ensures that the cake doesn’t end up too dense or heavy.
- ½ teaspoon salt. This balances out the flavor and cuts the sugar.
Tips for the Perfect Pound Cake
Making the perfect pound cake is very simple, but a few small tips ensures success. Read the following tips carefully for the best results.
- Ingredients must be room temperature. Take your butter, cream cheese and eggs out of the fridge at least 30 minutes prior to making the batter. This ensures that you can really cream the butter and sugar properly, and that the eggs mix in evenly. Don’t warm up the butter in the microwave to soften it – this will inevitably melt some of the butter. Melted butter won’t cream properly.
- Make sure the bundt pan is well greased and floured. It’s imperative that every crevice of the bundt pan is evenly coated. Otherwise, the cake will stick to the pan instead of sliding out beautifully.
- Really cream the butter and sugar together for the best texture. Beating the butter and sugar together dissolves the sugar and gives the cake a lighter texture to ensure it’s not too heavy. It should be pale in color when you’re done beating together the butter and sugar. It will take around 5 minutes on medium-high speed, depending slightly on your electric mixer.
- When adding in the eggs, stop mixing as soon as you see pieces of yellow yolk disappear. While it’s really important to cream the butter, cream cheese and sugar together, overbeating the mixture after the eggs are added can lead to a tough cake.
- Sift the dry ingredients fist. This removes lumps, which ensures that you don’t have to overmix the batter. It also adds air to the batter, which ensures that it’s not too heavy.
- Mix in the dry ingredients with the mixer on low speed. You don’t want to overmix the flour – otherwise, the cake can get tough instead of tender. Mix in the flour about ½ at a time with the mixer on low speed.
- The bake time is low and slow. It’s important to bake the pound cake at a low temperature to ensure that the crust doesn’t over brown or burn. It will need to bake for around 75 minutes at 325 F (160 C) degrees.
- Cool the cake in the pan for at least 20 minutes, then carefully invert to let the cake slide out. If the cake is too hot when you invert the pan, it can fall apart. But if you leave it to cool in the pan for too long, it can get stuck.
Pan Sizes
This cake is designed for at least a 12-cup capacity bundt pan – mine measures 10.5 inches (27 cm) in diameter by 4 inches deep. If you’d like to make this recipe in a loaf pan, it will make two 8 ½ x 4 ½ loaves. They will need to bake for about 60-75 minutes at 325F. Alternatively, you can half the recipe and make one loaf.
Storing & Freezing Pound Cake
Leftovers are best if kept in an airtight container at room temperature. It will keep at room temperature for up 4 days. You can store it in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 1 week, but I do find that the crust will soften.
Pound can freezes well. Be sure to wrap it very tightly in plastic wrap going around the bund shape, then wrap again in foil. Freeze for up to 2 months, then thaw overnight in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Simple, tender, moist and buttery – this cream cheese pound cake is impossible to resist. Don’t forget to try this chocolate pound cake while you’re at it. Or for more bundt cake recipes:
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Equipment
- 12-cup capacity bundt pan
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375 grams)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter (340 grams) room temperature
- 8 oz cream cheese (226 grams) room temperature
- 2 ½ cups superfine sugar (500 grams)
- 6 large eggs room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.
- Grease and flour a large bunt pan, or brush with pan release (AKA cake goop). Be sure that every cavity and crease of the pan is well covered.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate very large bowl beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Then mix in the cream cheese (about 1 additional minute).
- Mix in the sugar until the mixture looks pale and fluffy - this will take about 3 more minutes. In total, you'll have beaten the butter for about 5 minutes. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the mixer to low speed and mix in the eggs 1 at a time until just combined. You should no longer see streaks of yellow egg yolk. Turn off the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl half way through.
- Gradually beat in the flour about ½ at a time with the mixer on low speed. Stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated.
- Pour/spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 75 minutes or until the top is golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Half way through, rotate the pan ½ a turn. This ensures even baking in case your oven has a hot spot.
- Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then carefully invert the pan and let the cake slide out. Continue cooling on a wire rack.
Notes
- Nonstick Pans: Make sure to grease and flour the pan, even if its labeled nonstick.
- Pan Sizes: This recipe can be baked in two 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch (22 x 11.5 cm) loaf pans. The bake time will be about 60-75 minutes at 325 F (160C). There is a bit too much batter to use 8 x 4 inch pans. The recipe can also be halved and baked in one 8 ½ x 4 ½.
- Measuring Flour: The flour must be measured accurately, otherwise the cake will be dry. If using dry measuring cups, whisk the flour first. Then spoon into the cup and level off the top. 3 cups flour weighs 375 grams or 12 ¾ ounces.
- Room Temperature Ingredients: The butter, cream cheese and eggs must be room temperature before getting started. Take them out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before getting started. The butter should not be melty.
- Storage: Store cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for up to 7 days. Fully cooled cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap first, then wrapped in foil and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge.
Can I substitute the cream cheese with mascarpone?
I haven’t tried it personally, so I’m not 100% sure of the results. That being said, I think the mascarpone would produce a really delicious creamy flavor. If you try it, I’d love to know the results
This recipe is nearly identical to my favorite recipe.. That i lost. Lol so i am thrilled to have found this one and as soon as i read it- ir clicked! Baked exactly as recipe is written turns out the most creamy, moist, decadent and perfectly sweetend cream cheese pound cake you’ll ever have. Even for those who may not like cream cheese- the flavor isnt overwhelming and still delicious.
For an interesting twist you can turn this recipe into a Strawberries & Cream pound cake! In addition to this recipe exactly as written youll need an additional 1/4cup of flour, additional 1/4cup of sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 lemon (for zest and juice), and 1 qt of fresh (or frozen) strawberries! It will take some additional prep time- several hours worth- but i promise the flavor is incredible and well worth it.
Before starting zest your entire lemon onto a plate or container. (You will see why in a minute)
Take the entire qt of strawberries and add to a blender or food processer, add half of your zest, 1/4 of sugar, and the juice from your lemon. (I squeeze over a strainer. A little pulp wont hurt it though) Blend/process until you have the consistency of a slurry or smoothie.
Pour this mixture into a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil but then lower heat and simmer. This is where 99% of the extra time comes in as it will vary depending on how much water is in your batch of strawberries. The goal is to reduce this mixture and remove as much of the water as possible. Be careful with your hear as you dont want to scortch the bottom! On average it takes about am hour and a half to 2 hours, stirring with a rubber spatula at regular 10/15min intervals making sure ti scrape the sides. Again you dont want to burn it!
After its reduced the consistency will look like warm jam? It will easily coat the back of your spoon or spatula, and if you take your utencil and drag it across the bottom of the pan there will be some hesitency before it fills in the path your spoon makes. 1qt of strawberries for me usuallt reduces (at rhis consistency) to anywhere from 1 cup to 1 1/3 cup (give or take another 1/3 depending on size of strawberries) of pureed and cooked berries. Again bottom line goal is you want to reduce it as much as possible withour burning it.
At this point pour into a dish and let sit until it becomes room temperature. Sometimes i will stick in the freezer for about 20mins if im really impatient however it MUST come to room temp before continuing with the cake recipe. This will take several hours (hence the additionak 4 total hours i mention above)
Once room temp, make the above recipe exactly as written, except add the additional 1/4cup of flour making 3 1/4cup, and add the additional egg yolk with the 6 as called for above. Add your remaining zest to the batter at any point of the process. The only change is how you add the flour.
Once your butter and egg mixture is combined and you begin folding in your flour do so in several small batches alternating a little of the strawberey mixture in between about 1 cup or so of flour. So, four- strawberries- flour-strawberries-flour-strawberries. Folding until combined. If youve ever made a regular pound cake using milk or cream instead of cream cheese- its the same technique used there just with the strawberry mixture instead of the liquid.
Then bake the same as written above.
Even though the strawberries And zest are included I still include the Vanilla extract aswell.
This may seem like a lot of extra work, especially when one can buy strawberry flavoring in the grocery store lol and perhaos it is…. However you simply cannot beat the flavor that actually tastes like real strawberries instead of the obvious artificial flavoring. While it can be omitted withour compromising too much, the lemon and zest are the ‘secret’ that helps bring out that acidity and ‘freshness’ taste in the strawberies. This method is one i worked at out of frustration of my love for strawberries but rhe inability to find a strawberry flavor that didnt taste “fake” Through an embarrassing amount of trial and error i came up with this. Ir can be used in just about Any recipe (just substitute your liquid for the puree- and if it calls for liquid you dont have to add the additional flour or egg yolk nor reduce it quite as much for the consistency to still come out right)
But i tried it in this one and… Hands down this is now my alltime favorite and the flavor profile ia definitively “Strawberries and cream” thanks to this recipe.
So anyone who enjoys a little “extra credit” work, and wants a slight twist on this amazing pound cake, i highly recomme d giving it a try!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and all of your tips! I will definitely need to try this – it sounds delicious!
I made this and added some orange zest as that is what I add to my cheesecake. Everybody loved it. moist and delicious
I bet the orange zest would be delicious! I’m so glad you loved the recipe
This is my go-to recipe for pound cake. It is DELICIOUS and even better a day or two after baking. Good to have all ingredients at room temperature when mixing.
Such a great and easy recipe! It taste just like grandmas southern pound cake. It’s always a hit when I make it. I added strawberries this go round and can’t wait to see how it turns out.