Old Fashioned Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is the same old fashioned cream cheese pound cake you remember from back in the day. With just six ingredients it is pure and simple goodness.

This recipe has been in the family for years and is much-loved for its simplicity, rich flavor and perfect texture. We’re confident you will love it as much as we do!

This cream cheese pound cake is the one my Mama and her sisters made years ago. They always said “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.

While we do lots of updates to old southern classics, (squash fritters and tomato pie, for example) there are some that just don’t need “fixing” and this is one of those recipes.

Ingredients

• Butter -while a lot of our recipes can use unsalted and salted butter interchangably, this is one instance where we recommend unsalted butter.
• Cream cheese – We usually stick with Philadelphia brand because we know we can count on the quality to always be good.
• Sugar – standard white granulated.
• Cake Flour – We have never tried to make this pound cake using any other type of flour.
• Vanilla – Paste packs a punch of flavor, but liquid pure vanilla extract is good too.
• Eggs – Large is the standard.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make Cream Cheese Pound Cake

1. First you’ll blend the butter and softened cream cheese with your mixer just until well blended.
2. Next you add the sugar a little at the time creaming with the mixer. All total this will take 6-8 minutes. You’re looking for a bit of fluffiness as the mixer incorporates air.
3. Add the eggs, two at the time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Add the vanilla.
5. Fold in the flour by hand just until well blended.
6. Put the batter in a pan that has been prepared with grease and flour or a baking spray that has both, like Bakers Joy.
7. Bake at 275 degrees and start checking for doneness at 1 hour, 15 minutes. Depending on your oven, weight and size of your pan it can take up to 1 hour, 40 minutes. As soon as a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean the pound cake is done.
8. Remove from oven and let cool about 10 minutes on a rack before removing from pan.

Tips, tricks and secrets we wanted to share with you

• Starting with room temperature eggs is always a good idea for baking. If you forget to set them out just put them in a bowl of very warm water for 10 minutes or so.
• As mentioned above unsalted butter is best for this recipe.
• If using a hand mixer you’ll want to use medium high speed for the creaming process. With a stand mixer you can use medium speed.
• Be sure to use a pan big enough. This makes a large pound cake! Alternatively, you can make it in two loaf pans (great for eating one now and either freezing one or giving it as a gift).
• Open and close your oven door gently when checking for doneness. Did you know that slamming the oven door can make your cake fall? My uncle used to do this on purpose because he liked a gooey cake, but we don’t recommend it.

Items you may need:

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• I recently bought this affordable hand mixer and just love it!
• A stand mixer is always great for baking projects. This leads you to a page of choices.
• This is a tube style pan with enough capacity for this pound cake.
• A 12 cup capacity bundt style pan is the smallest you can use, but be aware your cake may “puff” up a little above the top. If I want to make my cake in a bundt I usually don’t put quite all of the batter in it.
• Two loaf pans are great for this recipe. I like to make one and give one away or freeze it.

About the top crust

It’s divine! Depending on what type of pan you bake your pound cake in you may turn it upside down or leave it rightside up.

The top crust can be a little crumbly but it has such amazing flavor you will forgive it. More often I will make my pound cake and flip it for prettier presentation.

When removing from the baking pan just put whatever plate (or cake stand) over the top and then flip over. If you’ve used a good baking spray it will come right out.

Serving suggestions

• Just like with Charleston Pecan Chewies and Buttermilk Bars a dusting of powdered sugar is always a good idea!
• Fresh berries (and whipped cream) are classics with a slice of old fashioned cream cheese pound cake. We used strawberries and blackberries in these photos, but any berry variety is delicious.
• Other fruits (peaches are favorites around here) are excellent choices. In the fall we like to put grilled apples over a slice of pound cake.
• If you’ve never had toasted pound cake you are missing out! Just put a slice under the broiler and watch carefully. Maybe it’s not the healthiest breakfast, but it’s quite possibly the most amazing tasting one.

More classic southern desserts