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This powdered sugar pound cake is an old-fashioned family favorite! A tried-and-true recipe that has been perfected over time, it is moist, dense, and perfectly sweet. Serve with fresh berries for the perfect easy dessert!
This recipe has been in my family for years. Decades, even. My grandmother had it in her recipe boxes and I recently rediscovered it while perusing her collection. Like many of the recipes from so long ago, the card held nothing but a title, the ingredients, a cooking temperature, and a time.
Thanks to my professional training and the years I’ve spent in kitchens, I was not only able to figure out the perfect method for making this cake, but I made some substitutions that made the cake even better than it originally was. Now, this is the perfect pound cake recipe!
Ingredients for this recipe
Butter – A full pound of salted butter. Yes, salted. Typically, when baking it’s best to use unsalted butter, but without the salt in the butter the cake tastes flat and lacks depth.
Powdered Sugar – Also a full pound of it! The recipe called for “one box,” as it used to be sold in one-pound boxes decades ago. Nowadays, it’s easy to measure out one pound using a kitchen scale!
Eggs – Eight large room temperature eggs. The original recipe called for six eggs and while that worked just fine, the addition of two more eggs adds even more moisture to the cake! Coincidentally, this also makes it equal to one pound of eggs!
Cake Flour – Using cake flour instead of all-purpose keeps the crumb of this cake very fine and produces a dense, but moist, bite! It also alleviates the need for a leveaner. Science!
Vanilla Extract – I recommend a really good quality vanilla extract in this cake as it’s the driving flavor. Might I suggest making your own?
Perfect Homemade Pound Cake
- Cream the butter. Just to make sure it’s smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar. And just like with any cake batter that uses butter and granulated sugar, you’re going to want to cream them together until light and fluffy. This will take about 3 – 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs. One at a time making sure they’re well incorporated. The batter may look curdled after the fifth egg is added. Have faith and stay the course, you’re doing great! Stir in the vanilla with the last egg.
- Add the cake flour. And mix well to combine.
- Bake the cake. In a prepared Bundt pan. The outside of the cake will get deeply golden brown like a traditional pound cake and the inside will be beautifully light and moist!
The addition of the extra eggs imparts moisture to the cake, but to make sure it stays fresh I recommend wrapping any leftovers in plastic wrap and storing in a cake carrier on the counter for up to four days.
Getting a Bundt cake out of the pan
The key to easily getting a cake out of a Bundt pan is all about timing. First things first, it’s important to make sure the cake pan is well-coated before the batter goes in. I recommend using a baking spray that has flour already in it and applying an even coat to the entire pan.
When the cake has finished baking, place it on a cooling rack for ten minutes. Then, place another cooking rack or plate on top of the cake and invert the pan. The cake should slide out perfectly. Allow the perfectly smooth Bundt cake to cool to room temperature before serving.
Measuring Powdered Sugar
When it comes to baking, while I often use the simple measurements of cups and teaspoons, etc. I highly, highly, highly encourage you to get a kitchen scale. There are many affordable options out there! This will ensure that your measurements are perfectly accurate when baking.
If you don’t have a scale and cannot measure out one pound of powdered sugar for this cake recipe, just know that one pound of powdered sugar equals 3 ½ cups of powdered sugar straight from the bag. Be sure not to pack it, or the measurement will be off!
Other Great Cake Recipes
Watch the recipe video!
Powdered Sugar Pound Cake
Equipment
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- 10 Cup Bundt Cake Pan
Ingredients
- 1 pound salted butter at room temperature
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 8 eggs at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups cake flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Evenly coat a Bundt pan with baking spray (the kind with flour in it), and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter until totally smooth. Add the powdered sugar and mix, scraping down the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 3 – 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl again, to ensure everything is evenly mixed. Stir in the vanilla extract with the last egg. (It’s important to note that the batter may look curdled at this point, don’t worry! It’s exactly right.)
- Add the flour and pulse the mixer a few times to avoid an explosion of flour all over the place. Then, mix the batter until smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure the batter is mixed evenly.
- Pour the cake batter (it will be thick) into the prepared pan and bake for 45 – 50 minutes. About 35 minutes into baking, cover the top of the cake with a piece of tinfoil to avoid scorching.
- Remove cake from pan and set on wire rack for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, place another cooling rack or platter over the top of the cake and invert. The cake should release smoothly and easily. Allow cake to cool completely to room temperature.
- Serve cake with fresh berries and a dusting of powdered sugar if desired.
Video
Notes
- Keep leftover cake fresh by wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and storing in an airtight cake carrier for up to four days.
Cheri says
Followed all directions. It looked beautiful. But - it stuck in everyone’s throats! It didn’t look dry, but it wouldn’t go down. Even tried turning it into a poke cake, but that didn’t help. With all of the great comments, I don’t know what was wrong. It was a beautiful color.
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Cheri,
I am so deeply sorry to hear this. The dryness can be from a few things: possibly over-baking (this could be from a dark-coated pan, a hot oven, or just it being in too long). I've over-baked this cake before and it's been a big bummer. Also, possibly, the fat content in your ingredients. Did you know that different brands of butter and different types of eggs will have different amounts of fat! My husband works in the dairy industry and just told me about "whey cream butter" which is butter made with whey cream instead of heavy cream and it's like a totally different animal than real-deal butter. Not saying that's what happened, but it could be depending on what brands of ingredients you used. Lastly, too much flour could make it dry. I'm sure you know how to measure flour without compacting it into a measuring cup, but some people don't! 🙂
I'm going to bake this cake again soon and report back on my experience. I am so sorry yours was less than ideal!
Amanda
Nan Butler says
I’ve been making this old recipe for a while. My aunts old recipe says to measure the flour in the sugar box! I use a
16x4.5x4.5 deep loaf pan! It makes for a lovely presentation, surrounded by fresh berries and dusted with powdered sugar.
Loaf pan is Wilton . I have an older one that is an unknown brand, and it came with a cooling stand. I love those pans! Yummy cake!!!
Carol says
Do you use medium or large eggs is this recipe?
Amanda Gajdosik says
Large! You could even go XL. Medium won't provide enough moisture. Hope this helps!
Amanda
Lauren says
So excited to try this. Can I use another pan if I don’t have a buddy cake pan?
Amanda Gajdosik says
Hi Lauren!
I've never made it in another pan, as the recipe was formulated for a Bundt pan. You can attempt to use another one, but I can't guarantee you'll get the same results. My fear is that a square or 9x13 pan may leave the cake a bit flat, since the only leavener is the cake flour and filling up a bundt pan is the best way to achieve a high-rising cake because there can be a lot of batter in the pan, but the hollow center means even baking!
If anything, I would attempt to maybe use two loaf pans and divide the batter among them. You'll have to adjust the bake time as well, possibly tenting the top in case it gets too brown before the center is baked through.
Best of luck!
Amanda
Shirley says
I made a pound cake years ago and used nutmeg it was so good my mom grandma love this cake but I used baking powder
ANGELA says
Can you use all purpose flour? Is it the same quantity?
Amanda says
Hi Angela, No, you cannot use all-purpose flour in this recipe. Cake flour is a finer milled flour with a lower protein percentage than regular, all-purpose flour. This is going to lead to a lighter, fluffier, and higher rising cake and that delectable pound cake crumb. I highly advise following the recipe as written. And, while I cannot attest to the efficacy of these, there are ways you can make a cake flour substitute! It won't be exactly the same, but it would be better than just substituting all-purpose. When you do buy cake flour - I highly recommend Swans Down. It's my favorite by far! You can find it by all the other baking flours in most grocery stores 🙂 Hope this helps and happy baking!
Cindy Jett says
This is my first attempt at baking this cske. Somehow I forgot to add the flour! The remainder of the batter had been in the oven for 7 minutes. I pulled it out and poured the batter minus the cake flour in a mixing bowl, mixed it together and put back in the oven. I’m not expecting it to turn out. Prayers please!!
Amanda says
Oh boy Cindy! Keep us updated on the saga. And do try to make the cake again, I promise it is easy if you remember all the ingredients. Best of luck to you! <3
Elana says
I’ve made this cake twice in the last two weeks and love it SO much!! The crumb is velvety and plush and just melts in your mouth. I’ll never make another pound cake again!
Amanda says
That is the highest compliment you could give! Thank you Elana! <3