Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe
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This Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe makes the most delicious, moist, and perfect pound cake! Easy to make with this time-tested recipe and just 7 simple ingredients, it’s the best pound cake and is sure to be a favorite!
Pound Cakes are humble cakes that are so delicious and full of flavor when they are made right and from a well-tested recipe. We’ve all tasted some at reunions or parties where they were just dry and lacked flavor. That’s not the case with my Cream Cheese Pound Cake. This cake has been well-tested for generations and turns out perfectly when the recipe is followed. So moist and flavorful with a bit of a golden crust on the outside.
My mother bakes this pound cake often and has for many years. I love it so much that it’s one of the recipes I shared in my cookbook as well. And she makes it so beautifully that I asked her to make it in my video!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Pound Cake
Easy and Delicious – It’s made with just 7 simple ingredients in a Bundt pan (or loaf pans). It makes the best cream cheese pound cake due to its delicious simplicity!
Time-Tested and Dependable – This is our family recipe we’ve baked MANY times over the course of three generations, so we’ve perfected the ingredients, instructions, and tips. Follow the recipe exactly for a moist, deliciously perfect pound cake every time.
Tender, Moist, with Structure – The ingredients of the pound cake are workhorses in that they give it incredible structure without being heavy, all the while baking it into the most tender, golden beauty with a perfect crumb.
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
Butter – Use salted butter and let it reach room temperature before creaming together with the cream cheese and sugar. Butter is an essential part of pound cake and gives so much flavor.
Cream cheese – Use full-fat cream cheese. This contributes to the moistness of the cake and gives it the signature slightly tangy flavor.
Sugar – Use granulated sugar or cane sugar. It’s best to stick to the time-tested recipe and use the sugar as directed, as this is a large, dense cake, so the instructed amount is needed to sweeten it.
All-purpose flour – This flour works beautifully in this cake, so there’s no need for any special flour. Just give it a quick whisk with a fork or wire whisk to remove any lumps before adding to the cake mixture.
Salt – The small bit of Kosher salt enhances the sweetness of the cake.
Eggs – The eggs help give the cake density and structure and help it rise. Let your eggs reach room temperature before mixing your cake.
Vanilla extract – Use this homemade vanilla extract or another quality pure vanilla extract of your choice.
How to Make Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Prep. Start by preheating your oven and preparing your Bundt pan as directed. Set out the cream cheese, butter, and eggs to let them reach room temperature.
Cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mix until just combined.
Add in flour, salt, and vanilla and mix until just blended. Do not overmix.
Pour the cake batter into your prepared pan. Tap the Bundt pan gently a few times on the countertop to remove any air bubbles trapped inside. Then, you can gently smooth the surface of the batter with the back of a spoon.
Bake until golden brown (about 1 1/2 hours) and a cake tester or wooden skewer comes out clean. The cake should spring back when gently pressed. See How to Tell When Your Cake Is Done for more tips. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, and then turn the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
Serve the pound cake warm or wait until it’s cooled. This cake is beautiful in its simplicity, so it’s perfect when served just as it is. Sometimes, I love it with a dollop of homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Tips for the Best Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Follow the recipe exactly – There are only 7 ingredients, and they all serve an important purpose. Use them as directed in the recipe for the best results.
Let ingredients reach room temperature – The ingredients will blend better with each other and bake into the best cake if they’ve reached room temperature. Cold ingredients don’t come together as well and can affect the final texture of the cake.
Do not overmix – Overmixing can impact the texture and make it tough or rubbery.
Tent with foil if your cake is brown but not done – Ovens are different. The cake may take a bit longer to get done in some. If the cake is turning brown but needs a bit more time to get done inside, tent it loosely with foil to prevent it from getting too brown.
Cool on a wire rack – Let the cake cool for just about 10 minutes in the cake pan sitting on a wire rack. Then, invert the pan and turn the cake out onto the wire rack to finish cooling. The cake can stick to the pan if you leave it in the pan too long after baking.
Storage Tips
To store: Place baked and completely cooled cake in an airtight container or wrap well and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days.
To freeze: Wrap baked and cooled cake tightly with plastic wrap, then foil. Store the wrapped cake in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw and serve, unwrap and allow to thaw completely before slicing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cold ingredients don’t emulsify together well when the cake is baked. They blend together well when they are at room temperature and result in a smoother texture to your baked cake.
If the batter is mixed too much, the cake’s texture can be dense, tough, or rubbery when baked. Mix according to the recipe instructions and do not overmix.
More Delicious Pound Cakes
If you tried this Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (339 g) salted butter, room temperature
- 8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 cups (594 g) granulated sugar
- 6 large (300 g) eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon (2.8 g) kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon (14 g) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan well with baking spray, brush well with homemade cake pan release (cake goop), or grease with softened butter and dust with flour, making sure to coat well to prevent any sticking.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition until each is just combined. Add the flour, salt, and vanilla and beat until well blended but do not over-mix. Pour into the prepared pan. Tap the Bundt pan gently on the countertop a few times to remove any air bubbles trapped inside.
- Bake until the top is golden brown, the cake springs back when lightly pressed, and a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours. If your cake is turning brown and needs longer to cook, tent it loosely with foil to prevent the crust from getting too brown. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, and then turn the cake out onto the rack to cool completely.
- Remove from oven once the cake is done and let cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, and then turn the cake out onto the rack to cool completely. Slice and serve!
Notes
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I just made this yesterday and it was a big hit. Half of it is gone already!
This is a special recipe in our family and I’m so glad to hear that you enjoy it too, Nora! Thanks so much! xo
I made this cake once a week and my family loves it. I’ve been told that it’s not sweet enough. Can I add more sugar without messing up the flavor?
Hey Rena,
I’m so glad you love this cake! I wouldn’t recommend adding any more sugar to the cake. If you would like to sweeten it more, maybe add a glaze to the cake?
http://www.mrfood.com/Cakes/Cream-Cheese-Pound-Cake-575
hello robyn,
I am just a reader or a passerby… I think someone just copied your exact ingredients and pasted onto the the above site.
I feel it was copied from you. You can try reading through! If I am mistaken, apologies. A nice writeup and a lovely cake. Cream cheese cakes need no occasion. Scrumptious!
Thank you so much, Devi! I appreciate you! xo
There are tons of Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipes where the poster changed the measurement of one ingredient, usually salt or vanilla, to then repost as their own. I was actually provided a typed recipe from a former co-worker in DC. I don’t know where she found it. I couldn’t find it recently, so I went online and found lots from which to choose. This is when I found all the identical recipes, with the exception of salt or vanilla. But, when I found it again, it was identical to this recipe by Robyn which many in my family love. I make a vanilla custard sauce for topping.
This is my go to recipe for Cream Cheese Pound Cake. I am a baker and sell my cakes. This is the most requested cake to make. I give this cake 5 stars and a blue ribbon.
Not as dense as i would. Like but great and packed with flavor
I made these already, but it turn out to be thick and wet inside instead if spongy. And the batter was watery instead of thick as ib the pic? Should I add more flour?
Perhaps it was your cooking time. I’ve made this cake numerous times. It is important that all of your ingredients our room temperature. I’ve had to adjust my cut time to be an hour and 40 minutes.
is this butter salted or unsalted??
Hi Linda,
Most professional bakers recommend using unsalted butter, but I have to admit that I nearly always use salted. 🙂
This looks like a wonderful recipe! If I were to bake it in two 9 x 5 loaf pans at 325, do you think the bake time would be the same? Thank you!
Alwaysa hit. Everyone that I serve this to loves it. Very good cake for any occassion or just for anytime.
Can I use just a regular cake pan as I do not have a Bundt pan?