Classic Cream Cheese Pound Cake
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Classic Cream Cheese Pound Cake — velvety soft vanilla pound cake made flavorful and moist by cream cheese and salty butter.
This Cream Cheese Pound Cake is dense but fluffy and velvety in texture. I like to serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of Brown Sugar Caramel Sauce. It’s the perfect cake for particular dessert eaters who don’t like toppings or sauces as it is just as tasty plain.
Use salted butter
When I began my baking journey a few years ago, I across many recipes for this cake. The basic recipe calls for unsalted butter. My initial trial of the cake was successful but I wasn’t blown away. The basic recipe is good but lacks, in my most sincere and humblest opinion, moisture, and distinct taste. To remedy both, I added salted butter and more of it. Now, this minorly tweaked classic is both extra moist and super flavorful.
Cream cheese pound cake ingredients and equipment
Cake flour
Granulated sugar
Cream cheese
Salted butter
Eggs
Vanilla extract
Stand mixer with the paddle attachment– A stand mixer paddle will cream and aerate the cream cheese and butter more efficiently than a hand mixer. Plus the batter is substantial so a really large bowl is needed. A hand mixer and large bowl will work but you will need to really work the blades around the bowl.
10-12 cup bundt pan
Cooling rack
Tips
- Butter and flour your pan well.
- Pull your ingredients out well in advance. Cakes should start with room temperature ingredients.
- Invest in a kitchen scale to accurately measure your flour. Reference my post on Measuring Flour Properly in the meantime.
- Don’t over-mix your batter! Incorporate all of your wet ingredients well before adding your dry ingredients.
- Remove the cake from the pan no longer than 15 minutes after baking to fully cool on a baking rack.
- Baking times vary between ovens and climates. Check your cake in 5-10 minute intervals starting 10-15 minutes before the prescribed time.
How to make cream cheese pound cake
This cake doesn’t require rising agents so the only dry ingredient is the flour. I suggest measuring it with a kitchen scale (affil link) and setting it aside.
Add your softened butter to the mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
Next, begin adding pieces of the cream cheese to the mixer. I add it three separate pieces to allow thorough incorporation. This should take about 5 minutes
Gradually pour the sugar into the creamed butter and cream cheese.
Once the sugar is creamed well. Stop the machine and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Set the speed to medium again and add the vanilla followed by an egg; continue adding the eggs one at a time. Be sure that no yolk is visible before adding the next.
Again, scrape the bowl down after the last egg is beaten in. Let the mixer run for 3-4 minutes to add volume to the cake.
Turn off the machine then add one cup of flour. Turn the speed to the lowest setting for about 20 seconds to work the flour into the batter then raise it to the next speed for another 20 seconds to finish working it in. Repeat this for the remaining two cups of flour.
Remove the bowl from the mixing stand and scrape the paddle, sides, and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Work in any excess flour then carefully scoop the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
Bake the cake in a preheated 350° oven for 1 hour and 10-15 minutes. Allow the cake to rest for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan to cool fully on a baking rack.
More cake recipes
Yellow Cake
Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
Strawberry Cake
Sweet Potato Pound Cake
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Classic Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 3 1/4 c sifted cake flour (390 grams) properly measured
- 2 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 2 c salted butter softened (4 sticks)
- 6 eggs room temp
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°.
- Beat the butter on medium speed until fluffy. Add the cream cheese and beat until the two are uniformly combined. Next, gradually pour the sugar into the butter.
- Scrape the bowl down and add the vanilla extract followed by one egg at a time. Finally, add the flour one cup at a time, scraping the bowl down as needed. (See post for more detailed instructions.)
- Pour the batter into a prepared bundt pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Rest the cake for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan and cooling on a wire rack.
how long do you beat the each ingredient in order to achieve such a rise?
Hey. I’ve updated the post with more detail. The wet ingredients will be about 10 min total.
This recipe is delicious! So moist and fluffy. My new go to
Always good to hear!
This was amazing and an easy to follow recipe! I find baking very stressful if the recipe isn’t easy to follow lol I enjoyed seeing pictures along the way. I made the cake AND caramel sauce. I will definitely make this again.
Thank you, Keasha! As always, I really appreciate you coming back to let me know how it turned out.
Could you do this in muffin tins? I’m looking for a great pound cake and I want to try it in individual servings.
Hi. Yes, you can make them into cupcakes. You will need to reduce the time accordingly. I think check them at 20 minutes. I don’t think they will need more than 25-28 minutes but you will have to be vigilant. Hope they turn out well.
Thank you! Merry Xmas!
Merry Christmas!