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 baked this pound cake yesterday at high altitude (7200′) and had to use a rectangular cake pan. The cake was delicious, bit it baked very flat and sank down in the middle. Do you think this may have been caused by the high altitude or the configuration of the cake pan? If due to high altitude, can you suggest adjustments to the recipe? I’d like to give it another try!
I think this was caused by high altitude baking without adjusting for the altitude, Penny. I live at 1100 feet altitude. The two best sites I have seen for high altitude baking are Colorado State University Extension or New Mexico State University. Hope this helps.
To DIE FOR. The end.
Thanks, Murph!
I have made this numerous times and everyone LOVES it!! My mom just text me to ask or the recipe after I made one for her last week. Thank you Robyn for sharing your amazing recipes. I am going to order a couple of your cookbooks to give as gifts for Mother’s Day. My mom will love it! Everything I have made I have really loved.
I’m so happy everyone loves this cake, Jennifer. It has been a favorite in my family for years. I hope everyone will love the cookbooks. Thank you! xo
My grandmother used to make this cake with a very slight variation. It has always been a hit. I’m the only one that in my family that knows this recipe lol. So every family party I only have to bring this and it’s either gone in 25 mins or hidden by the host.
Hi Robyn, is this okay to use for a layer cake? I am a fan of your best chocolate cake ever!
I’ve made several of these and everyone loves them I’m getting lots of requests for cakes everyone wants one very good recipe
I’m so glad everyone loves this cake, Tommie. It has been a family favorite of ours since I was a little girl.
Hi Robyn,
Can this cream cheese pound cake be made in mini fluted cupcake pan/s?
Joyce
Yes, Joyce, you can make the cake in the mini fluted cupcake pans. Enjoy!
I made this cake yesterday for my family and it was a hit! I got a lot of compliments! I was going to make a “cream cheese” cheese cake the night before and due to a storm, our electricity went out for 5 hours, so I didn’t want to be up all night to make it because it had to chill if the frig for hours. I started hunting for a cake with cream cheese and there it was, Cream Cheese Pound Cake! I had to find a recipe with cream cheese and strawberries to make a sauce so I wouldn’t waste it. Thank you Robyn for the wonderful cake and saving me! It’s a keeper!
(PS) Oh, I also made your cake in my bundt pan and followed the directions as written. Delicious!
Ms. Frankie,
I’m so sorry you had power issues right before Mother’s Day. I know how stressful it is when you have company coming and the power goes out. But, I’m happy you found my recipe and everyone loved it. Thanks! xo
Any thoughts on how to make this gluten free?
Just put it in the oven, I added strawberry preserves I must admit the smell before baked makes me want to skip the oven😍😍😍😍