Secrets to Perfect Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe:Â The cream cheese pound cake made with this recipe is flawless. I finally discovered the ideal proportion of ingredients to make a moist, rich, and tasty pound cake after much trial and error with recipes. This recipe for cream cheese pound cake, which only calls for nine ingredients, will quickly become your go-to. Pay great attention to the temperature and baking time to avoid a destroyed cake. I have never made a very good simple pound cake until lately. Regular pound cake has always disappointed me, but I have delicious raspberry swirl, lemon, and brown butter pound cakes in my back pocket. I had a terrible time making this recipe because pound cake can come out extremely dense, crumbly, or flavorless.
But then I started including sour cream and cream cheese into the cake batter. And my long history of being let down by pound cakes started to fade.
Secrets to Perfect Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe
Why You’ll Enjoy This Recipe for Pound Cake
I’m going to show you how to bake my all-time favorite pound cake with cream cheese in a Bundt pan today. This is the best pound cake, I promise, and I’ll tell you why.
- Very juicy and buttery.
- Not arid
- One-bowl cooking
- Just nine essential components
- As dense as a brick, but not as hefty
- Crumb that is smooth and soft.
- A tiny bit of cream cheese tang
- Vanilla and sweet flavors
Components Required and Why
The purpose of each ingredient in the cream cheese pound cake recipe is listed below.
- Butter: The foundation of pound cake is butter. Three sticks of room temperature butter are required.
- Cream Cheese: This ingredient makes the difference between moist and dry pound cakes. Story ends here. Cream cheese will fix any dry pound cake issues you may have had in the past. I promise you will believe me! Just like with conventional cheesecake and cream cheese frosting, this recipe calls for full-fat brick-style cream cheese.
- Sugar: Because this cake is huge, a lot of sugar is needed to thoroughly cream all the butter and cream cheese and sweeten the cake. Though it may seem like a lot, keep in mind that this cake is substantial and makes a large number of servings.
- Sour Cream: Although sour cream is an unusual addition to pound cake, it provides a significant amount of moisture. We are doing our best to stay away from dry pound cake!
- Salt and vanilla extract are added to provide taste. For other flavors, see the recipe notes.
- Eggs: The foundational component of pound cake, eggs bear all the weight and are considered its workhorse. Pound cake cannot be made without eggs.
- Cake Flour: I think cake flour makes the best pound cake since it’s lighter than all-purpose flour. It’s so light that the butter is the major focus. This pound cake recipe is just not meant for all-purpose flour; the result will be a cake as hefty as a brick. Use this homemade cake flour alternative as necessary.
- Baking Powder: Another unusual addition to pound cake is baking powder. I use a tiny amount of batter for this quantity, but it slightly elevates the crumb, preventing the cake from being unduly dense and squat.
Pound Cake Mishaps: Avoid This
- It’s now time to talk about how pound cake may go horribly wrong. To save you time and supplies, I’m sharing my errors. The two pound cake catastrophes I went through before I figured out the ideal recipe and technique are depicted in the picture below.
- Error #1 – Left Image: This is a pound cake that was baked at 350°F (177°C), however it is very underdone. Pound cake is largely made of butter and eggs, and at this temperature, it will not cook uniformly. The outside will brown before the middle is cooked, as you can see below. I was very angry while slicing this cake. It appeared flawless from the outside.
- Error #2 – Front Image: This pound cake is way overdone. I corrected the first error by cooking the pound cake at 325°F (163°C). I overbaked the pound cake because I was afraid I would underbake it. Despite being liberally greased, the cake refused to come out of the pan.
Also See
This Is How To Make The Greatest Layer Cake
Let’s speak about how to prepare the most ideal cream cheese pound cake now that you know what can go wrong. It takes a lot of mixing before adding the eggs in the *TRICK*.
- Beat the Butter until Creamy, Then Mix, Mix, Mix:Â Beat the two together until smooth after adding the cream cheese. Remove all of the lumps of cream cheese. Add the vanilla and sour cream after beating in the sugar. It’s okay if there has been a lot of mixing thus far!
- One egg at a time: One egg at a time, ensuring that each is fully absorbed before adding the next, should be added. The mixer only takes a few revolutions and won’t overmix the eggs when they are room temperature. Heavy-as-a-brick cake results from over-mixing the batter.
Include the dry ingredients: Fill the same mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. - Add the dry ingredients: Fill the same mixing basin with the dry ingredients.
- Transfer to pan: Transfer the mixture into a 10-12 cup Bundt pan that has been well-greased. I adore Nordic Ware Bundt pans, and this is not sponsored at all. Make sure the one you use can accommodate 10 to 12 cups of batter. This one is equally stunning!
Bake the pound cake with cream cheese at 325°F (163°C). To avoid the cake overbrowning, tent it loosely with aluminum foil halfway through baking. - After cooling, reverse: After letting the pound cool in the pan for about two hours, turn it over and allow it cool fully before serving.
Last Words on Success
- Adhere to the recipe. Utilize the specified ingredients and amounts.
Bake slowly and at a low temperature. Because pound cake is so heavy, it needs to bake in a colder oven. If your cake takes longer than ninety minutes, don’t panic. - Before starting, bring all materials to room temperature. Ingredients at room temperature provide a cake with a consistent texture. The pound cake will not bake correctly if the ingredients are cold because they do not emulsify.
- Be sure to thoroughly combine each egg before adding the next.
Synopsis
- The cream cheese pound cake made with this recipe is flawless. I finally discovered the ideal proportion of ingredients to make a moist, rich, and tasty pound cake after much trial and error with recipes. This recipe for cream cheese pound cake, which only calls for nine ingredients, will quickly become your go-to. Pay great attention to the temperature and baking time to avoid a destroyed cake. Take note of my error!
Remarks
- Instructions for Freezing: Cover the cooled and cooked pound cake with one or two layers of plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. For up to three months, freeze. Before slicing and serving, let it come to room temperature after letting it defrost overnight in the refrigerator wrapped in foil and plastic wrap.
Unique Resources (affiliate links): Bundt pan (10–12 cups), whisk, silicone spatula, electric mixer (handheld or stand), and cooling Rack
Pour the batter into two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans that have been oiled. Bake for about 60 minutes at 325°F (163°C) for each. Or cut all the ingredients in half to create a single loaf. - Cake Flour: I highly suggest cake flour for the greatest outcomes. I have many more recipes that call for it; you can find it in the baking aisle. If you are unable to obtain cake flour, you can create a homemade alternative.
Almond Extract or Other Flavors: Add a small amount of almond extract to the vanilla extract mixture. While completely optional, this provides the most amazing flavor! Typically, I use one teaspoon or so of almond extract. As an alternative, use one teaspoon of your preferred flavoring, such as lemon, orange, or coconut essence.
