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Pound Cake
Updated Oct. 10, 2023
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- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes, plus cooling
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1 hour 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1½cups/340 grams salted butter (3 sticks), softened at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
- 3cups/600 grams granulated sugar
- 6large eggs, at room temperature
- 3cups/345 grams cake flour, plus more for the pan
- 1cup/ 235 milliliters heavy cream
- 1tablespoon vanilla extract
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Using softened butter, grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Step 3
Beat in about 1 cup of the flour until well combined, then beat in half the cream. Repeat additions, beating well in between each one, and ending with the flour. Beat in vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into the prepared pan.
- Step 4
Bake until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, 60 to 80 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- To substitute unsalted butter, add 1 teaspoon fine salt along with the sugar.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
There seems to be a typo in the flour amount. 3 cups d/n equal 270 grams. Did you mean 2 cups? or 375 grams?
When we first tested this recipe at The Times, we used a loaf pan; it turned out great.
Then a reader wrote and said she ended up with a lot of extra batter. She had used a smaller pan, but we had had a little extra batter as well, though less than a quarter of a cup.
We tested the cake again, using a bundt pan this time. Even better. The larger pan made the texture lighter and the cake tastier.
3 cups.
Note from JR regarding the flour amount - is it 2 or 3 cups of flour?
Please advise, it's a costly cake and I don't want it to fail.
TU
I'm in Australia and we don't have bleached cake flour here. After researching a bit, I used two cups of plain flour and one of self-raising and it turned out just like the picture, with a good crumb. I also used only two cups of sugar. It was plenty sweet enough, rich, moist and delicious.
I used sour cream instead of heavy cream and added 1/2 tsp salt. It made a LOT of batter! I think you could get two loaf pans out of this recipe. I baked it in a bundt pan and had a little overflow out the hole. Big cake!
I finished mine off with a lemon glaze, which gave it some nice added flavor. I think otherwise it would be a bit one-note. It's pretty sweet, too; I will cut back some sugar next time.
We're taking another look at the metric measurements. In the meantime, we've removed them. We'll update as soon as we can, and thank you for your patience!
Bundt pans seem to come in 9-, 10- and 12-cup 'capacity/sizes'...which size did the NYT use?
Same thing with "a loaf pan"...there is an approximately 'average' size, 5" x 9", but these pans vary considerably as well. It would be very helpful if the size of each was specified, given that baking requires more precision to avoid problems.
I have baked this pound cake multiple times now often adding berries to the middle of the pour into the pan. My nieces and nephews can not get enough of this one. The balance of sugars is perfect in my mind as I like a sweet pound cake. The density is the best morning coffee companion I've ever enjoyed and the ingredient list is dead on. A personal note: Don't miss the note to "sift" the flour, I use cane sugar and I use all organic ingredients.
Be prepared to have this bake for longer. Made this in a bundt pan. The heavy cream and extra butter increase the cooking time to at very least 110 minutes.
The original recipe is lovely, but I prefer to halve the sugar and add blueberries. My family loves it.
This cake is both light and rich! It got better the next day. I did bake it in a 12 cup Bundt pan. It came out beautifully. After reading many comments I cut back the sugar by a half a cup and added the almond extract which added a depth of flavor. Creaming the butter and sugar well in addition to slowly incorporating the eggs I think helped give a light texture. As Mary Berry says, it had a nice crumb. I will make again.
Yes, you did something wrong - you changed the recipe! Be prepared for mixed results if you make changes.
I just made this but I didn't have cake flour so I "converted" 3 cups AP flour by removing a total of 6T flour and adding 6T corn starch prior to sifting. I was a bit worried because I haven't used that substitution in the past and I hate to sub ingredients in general but it turned out perfectly. I used a 12 cup Bundt pan and it needed 75 minutes in my oven. It made a delicious summer dessert topped with strawberries and whipped cream and a decadent breakfast paired with coffee.
This was so good. I've made a lot of mediocre pound cakes but this one was perfect. My search is over.
Can one freeze this cake?
Last step: Folded in juice from one large lemon and a cleaned pint of blueberries, tossed in flour. It is sublime.
Two 8x4 loaf pans - still too much batter Baking time for two loaf pans roughly an hour
No baking powder in this?
This took a very long time to bake- more like 90 mins. Even with a clean toothpick, when sliced there were pockets that were a bit more moist. The top was what I had to measure by, when it was more golden brown (keyword brown) it was done. I have a mini loaf that I probably could have put that amount of batter into to have had a Bundt done in 60 minutes. Wonderful flavor, not quite like my Nana’s, but a recipe that gets me in the right direction of it.
Thanks a fabulous recipe. I subbed in gf flour mix and cut whole recipe in half for a loaf pan, still took an hour to cook. Delicious!
Yummy, but definitely use less sugar.
I made the recipe precisely as-is save I added a glug of oil to milk when I didn't have heavy cream (woops). Came out gorgeously. I sifted my flour before mixing it in which is what I attribute the final velvety, lovely texture to. It was a huge hit with a side of tart berry compote. I'm adding this to the rotation!
This is by far the most deliciously buttery pound cake I've ever made/had. The crumb is gorgeous. The crust is a meringue-like crunchy gooey goodness. I made a blueberry compote to go with it. But honestly it's perfect as is. Definitely a keeper.
Made this for a bbq party yesterday. Served with strawberries and crème fraiche. I think it could use a 1/2 tsp. salt and will add if I make again.
I added the zest and juice of one lemon and used 3 cups of flour in a Bundt pan. My guests went crazy. Very very good.
Lovely cake! I will bake it again; however, there are a few pointers I would give: - Since there are so many issues with the weighted ingredients, I would stick to the cup measurements. Give your butter and sugar additional creaming time. -I used a tube pan which the batter completely filled. The cake was delicious but a little dry. I will try a 12 cup bundt pan next time.
I knew this recipe looked familiar. It’s exactly the same recipe as appears on the back of the Swans Down cake flour box. Except they use only 1/2 tsp vanilla extract but recommend adding more for “richer vanilla flavor.” That being said, it’s one of the best pound cakes I’ve ever made.
It looked like a lot of cake for just my husband and I. So, I halved the recipe except for the vanilla and baked it a smaller loaf pan. It was delicious. We will enjoy it with our coffee in the morning.
Did it in a 9.5" loaf pan. Yes, there was some extra batter and it took a full 2 hours to bake(!) but it did come out nice and light and fluffy. Fluffier than I usually associate with pound cake... but perfectly good in its own way. Good flavor.
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