Vanilla Pound Cake is the recipe that Lucia makes whenever she wants something that feels simultaneously generous and deeply elegant, something that slices beautifully and stores well and tastes genuinely extraordinary whether served plain with afternoon tea or alongside fresh berries and cream at a birthday celebration or with a drizzle of warm chocolate sauce at a Sunday dinner.
She creams the softened butter and sugar until the mixture is genuinely pale and light, adds the beaten eggs gradually on low speed so the emulsion stays most smooth and stable, alternates the milk and sifted flour in additions until the batter is perfectly uniform, pours it all into the parchment-lined loaf tin, and bakes low and slow at 325°F for a full hour until the most beautifully golden top and the most completely perfect clean toothpick result tell her the most moist and buttery vanilla pound cake she has ever made is ready to cool on the rack.
Vanilla Pound Cake is the most moist and deeply buttery classic loaf cake made with creamed butter sugar eggs vanilla and flour alternated with milk baked at 325°F for a full hour for the most tender and richly flavored pound cake crumb that is perfectly versatile for every occasion from celebrations to casual afternoon tea. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful pound cake recipes and easy everyday baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
This Vanilla Pound Cake recipe is the most completely reliable and deeply satisfying classic loaf cake that makes every person who receives a slice feel personally and generously cared for through the most rich and buttery and genuinely vanilla-fragrant crumb that is simultaneously dense enough to be deeply satisfying and tender enough to melt in the mouth in the most completely extraordinary way that only a properly creamed and properly baked classic pound cake can achieve.
The low baking temperature of 325°F rather than the more common 350°F is the most essential technique distinction that produces the most evenly baked and most deeply moist pound cake rather than a cake with an overly dark exterior and an inadequately baked center. The lower temperature allows the thick and dense loaf batter to heat through completely and gently from edge to center for the most uniform and beautifully moist crumb throughout every slice. Our Strawberry Cheesecake Pound Cake makes a beautifully fruit-studded and equally moist companion for a complete and wonderful pound cake collection spread.
Ingredients Needed for This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
- 225g (1¾ cups) All-Purpose Flour, sifted
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 175g (¾ cup) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 150g (¾ cup) Granulated Sugar
- 150ml (⅔ cup) Whole Milk
- 2 large Eggs, lightly beaten
- 1½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
How to Make This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Preheat the oven to 170°C (325°F). Grease and line a standard loaf tin with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a bowl. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the room-temperature softened butter and granulated sugar together using an electric mixer until genuinely pale and light in color. This creaming step is the most foundational technique in the entire recipe and produces the air incorporation that gives the finished cake its most tender and beautifully light pound cake texture, cara mia.
Gradually add the lightly beaten room-temperature eggs to the creamed mixture on low speed. If any curdling occurs during the egg addition, add a spoonful of the sifted flour to stabilize the emulsion and continue adding the eggs until fully incorporated.
Pour half of the whole milk into the batter and mix on low until combined. Add half of the sifted flour mixture and mix until combined. Add the remaining milk and fold in the remaining flour until just mixed and completely smooth. Do not overmix.
Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf tin and spread evenly with a spatula. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes until a skewer inserted into the deepest center of the cake comes out completely clean and the top is a beautiful and deep golden color.
Allow the cake to cool in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing for the most beautifully clean and defined slices.
How to Serve This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Serve at room temperature for the most completely perfect and deeply buttery pound cake experience. This versatile classic cake is beautiful served in many ways: plain alongside a cup of tea for the most timeless afternoon pairing, with fresh sliced strawberries and whipped cream for the most completely beautiful summer dessert, with a drizzle of warm chocolate sauce for the most indulgent and deeply satisfying dessert plate, or with a spoonful of lemon curd for the most bright and fragrant accompaniment.
For a birthday or celebration, dust with powdered sugar and arrange fresh berries around the base of the sliced loaf on a beautiful white serving plate for the most completely elegant and genuinely lovely presentation. Our Marble Loaf Cake makes a beautifully chocolate-swirled and equally elegant loaf cake companion for a complete and wonderful everyday baking collection.
How to Store This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. The generous butter content keeps this cake beautifully moist throughout the storage period. Wrap individual slices tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat frozen slices wrapped in foil in a low oven at 300°F for 10 to 15 minutes or microwave on medium power for 20 to 30 seconds until just warmed through.
Tips to Make This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Sift the flour before measuring and before adding to the batter. Sifting removes lumps and aerates the flour, producing the most tender and most evenly textured finished crumb. This one extra step makes a genuinely significant difference in the lightness and tenderness of the finished vanilla pound cake.
Use pure vanilla extract rather than imitation for the most genuinely fragrant and deeply rich vanilla flavor. The difference in flavor between pure and imitation vanilla extract is most noticeable in a simple and unfussy cake like this where vanilla is the primary and most featured flavor note.
Helpful Notes for This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
The butter must be at genuine room temperature for the most successful creaming and the most beautifully airy batter. Butter that is too cold does not cream properly and does not incorporate air effectively. Butter that is too soft becomes greasy and produces a cake that does not rise as well. The ideal butter temperature is 18°C/64°F — soft enough to indent easily but not leaving a greasy sheen.
Allow the cake to cool completely in the tin before transferring to a rack and before slicing. A warm pound cake is too soft and fragile to slice cleanly and will crumble at the cut edges rather than producing the most beautiful and precisely defined slices that make this classic cake so gorgeous on a serving plate.
Variation of This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Maria made a version adding the zest of one lemon and one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the batter alongside the vanilla for the most fragrant and beautifully bright lemon vanilla pound cake that was completely extraordinary served with a simple lemon glaze drizzled over the cooled top. Teresa tried folding a quarter cup of mini chocolate chips through the finished batter before baking for a chocolate chip vanilla pound cake that was deeply indulgent and completely irresistible.
For a marble version, divide the batter in half after completing and mix two tablespoons of cocoa powder into one half, then pour alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter into the loaf tin and swirl with a knife for the most beautifully dramatic and completely gorgeous marble vanilla pound cake. Our Banana Bread makes a beautifully equally moist and equally comforting loaf companion for a complete and wonderful everyday baking collection.
FAQs About This Vanilla Pound Cake Recipe
Why is this pound cake baked at 325°F rather than 350°F?
The lower baking temperature of 325°F allows the thick and dense loaf batter to bake through completely and evenly from the edges to the very center without the exterior becoming too dark before the interior has fully set. A pound cake baked at 350°F often produces a darkened or over-crisped exterior while the center remains slightly underbaked.
Why does my pound cake crack on top?
A crack along the center top of a pound cake is completely normal and is actually considered a sign of a properly baked pound cake rather than a flaw. The crack forms as the cake rises during baking and the set exterior splits along the most natural rising line. If the cracking is very pronounced or uneven, the oven temperature may be slightly too high.
How do I know when the vanilla pound cake is done?
The cake is done when a thin skewer or toothpick inserted into the very deepest center of the loaf comes out completely clean with no wet or raw batter attached. The top should be a deep and beautiful golden color and the edges should have pulled away very slightly from the sides of the tin.
Conclusion
This Vanilla Pound Cake is the most completely classic and deeply buttery loaf cake that makes every tea time and every celebration and every quiet afternoon feel genuinely and completely nourished through the most rich and moist and perfectly vanilla-fragrant slice that is simultaneously the most simple and the most deeply satisfying cake a home baker can produce from the most fundamental and timeless pantry ingredients imaginable. We hope it brings the same deeply warm everyday joy and the same completely satisfied gathering to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
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Vanilla Pound Cake The Most Moist and Buttery Classic Loaf Cake You Will Ever Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 10 slices 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most moist and buttery Vanilla Pound Cake made by creaming room temperature butter and sugar until pale then gradually adding lightly beaten eggs on low speed alternating sifted all-purpose flour baking powder and salt with whole milk until smooth baked at 325°F in a parchment-lined loaf tin for 60 to 65 minutes until a skewer comes out clean cooled completely before slicing. A completely classic and deeply satisfying everyday loaf cake recipe.
Ingredients
225g 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour sifted
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
175g 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
150g 3/4 cup Granulated Sugar
150ml 2/3 cup Whole Milk
2 large Eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 170°C 325°F. Grease and line loaf tin with parchment.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Set aside.
3. Cream softened butter and sugar until pale and light.
4. Gradually add beaten eggs on low speed. If curdling add a spoonful of flour to stabilize.
5. Add half the milk on low until combined. Add half the sifted flour until combined.
6. Add remaining milk. Fold in remaining flour until just smooth. Do not overmix.
7. Transfer to prepared loaf tin. Spread evenly.
8. Bake 60 to 65 minutes until skewer clean and top golden.
9. Cool in tin completely before transferring to wire rack.
10. Cool completely before slicing.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 65 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Pound Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 388
- Sugar: 20g
- Sodium: 172mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 13g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 77mg
Keywords: vanilla pound cake, moist vanilla pound cake recipe loaf, easy buttery vanilla pound cake from scratch, classic moist vanilla loaf cake
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