This velvety pound cake contains a whole pound (or more!) of cream cheese, butter, eggs, sugar, and flour. It has a velvety, tender texture with a deliciously rich flavor. We paired it with a soft, fudge-like caramel for a spectacular dessert.
2 cups (4 sticks) butter, room temp.
2 packages (16 oz) cream cheese, room temp.
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 cups sugar
10 large eggs, room temp.
4 ½ cups cake flour or White Lily All Purpose Flour
Preheat oven to 300°F. Prepare Old Country Kitchenware square tube pan by fitting a parchment paper square between the two pieces and brushing with pan coat or baking spray. Beat butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until pale, light and fluffy (about 6 minutes at medium speed). Add ½ cup flour, cream cheese, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl. With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg and beat until fully incorporated. Repeat with each egg, beating well after each addition. Add the rest of the flour in 2 additions, beating on low until it just disappears. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and beat for another 15 seconds. Pour batter into prepared tube pan and gently shake to settle the batter. Place on middle rack of oven with a baking sheet on the rack below it to catch any drips. Bake 2 ½ hours or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool until the pan is cool enough to handle. To unmold, place it over a metal can and push down to remove the outer piece. Once the tube is cool enough to touch for 4 seconds, lift or turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Soft Caramel
2 cups sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup water
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together sugar, butter, and water. When butter is melted, stir in sweetened condensed milk. Stir and scrape the bottom occasionally until it starts boiling, then do not stir. Keep boiling, tipping or swirling the pan occasionally, until mixture reaches 235° to 240°F. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thickened (about one hour or until it is around 125-130F), then pour over cake.
Recipe Video
22 comments
@Priya I use unsalted but if you use salted just leave out the 1 tsp salt!
is the butter salted or unsalted?
I made this cake for Thanksgiving, and it was the best pound cake I have ever made. I split into two smaller bundt cake pans and it came out amazing. Everybody wanted the recipe.
@Susan Some pound cake bakers swear by the Cold Oven Method, which is where you place your cake batter into a cold, unheated oven then set the temperature. This allows the cake to heat slowly and evenly, often resulting in a beautifully baked cake and crispy, crunchy top. You’ll need to know how your oven operates before using this method! If your oven preheats with the broiler, you do not want to scorch the top of your cake.
It won’t change how much the cake browns, though! That’s mostly the oven temperature, the amount of sugar, whether you use convection, the proximity to a heating element, and the cake’s acidity or alkalinity.
@Cynthia its the exact same cake, but the top was trimmed and the cake was inverted! I forgot to film that part!