Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Velvety cream cheese pound cake recipe: This bakes up a dream! Moist & dense yet so tender & buttery, with a fine, even crumb. Easy recipe.
Today I’m bringing you a real traditional, classic recipe: cream cheese pound cake!
I absolutely love making and eating pound cakes. When I was a pastry chef we used pound cake for all our wedding cakes, and I got kinda turned off just from being around them all the time. That happens when you work in a kitchen! But as I got older I learned to properly appreciate them.
While pound cake may seem kind of plain, there’s an elegance to their simplicity.
They’re just sweet enough and have the loveliest velvety texture. The crumb is wonderfully dense and fine. And they have a rich, buttery taste that coats your whole palate in the most delicious way.
I’ve been working out delicious pound cake recipe after pound cake recipe ever since!
So if you too are a pound cake fan, you’ll want to be sure to check out my traditional all-butter pound cake, my brown sugar pound cake, my chocolate pound cake, and my lemon pound cake too.
They’re all just as magnificent as what you see here. But first, let’s talk about this beauty!
It’s a moist cream cheese pound cake recipe, and I’m going to teach you all about how to make it, so read on!
Table of Contents
- What is cream cheese pound cake?
- Why this is the best cream cheese pound cake recipe
- What does cream cheese pound cake taste like?
- Ingredients
- Special equipment
- How to make cream cheese pound cake
- How to serve cream cheese pound cake
- Expert tips
- Frequently asked questions
- A few more of my best cake recipes
What is cream cheese pound cake?
They call it pound cake because originally it was made with a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, and a pound of eggs. Over the generations, that ratio has been modified a bit for the best possible result.
Pound cake is buttery and moist, with a fine, delicate crumb, and a crackly, crumbly crust on top that’s almost like a sugar cookie.
This version boasts the addition of cream cheese, which gives it a slight tanginess and a creamy, melt-in-your-mouth quality that’s just stellar.
Why this is the best cream cheese pound cake recipe
- Tastes amazing: So buttery, just sweet enough, with a slight tanginess from the cream cheese and a hint of fragrant vanilla.
- Perfect texture: Bakes up moist and pleasingly dense, with a fine, even crumb.
- Few ingredients: This cake is made entirely from pantry staples.
- Easy to make: You’ll only spend a few minutes making this cake, and it’s a simple recipe that’s perfect for a novice baker!
What does cream cheese pound cake taste like?
This cake has a mild sweetness and a hint of vanilla. It’s very buttery, with a hint of cream cheese tang. The texture is moist and velvet-y soft.
Ingredients
Cream cheese: You’ll need 2 blocks of cream cheese for this recipe, and they should be softened to room temperature so they incorporate more easily into the batter.
Butter: Unsalted butter makes it so you don’t have to guess how much salt should be added. The butter should also be softened. Follow this guide–> How to Soften Butter Quickly.
Sugar: Regular granulated sugar sweetens the cake but it also helps it to brown and keeps it moist, since sugar is hydrophilic (in other words, it draws in moisture). A 1:1 sugar substitute should also work.
Eggs: Use large chicken eggs, preferably at room temperature, or a plant-based 1:1 substitute.
Vanilla: Vanilla extract lends a sweet perfume to the cake.
Flour: This recipe uses cake flour, to give it a lighter texture and a fine, even crumb. If you aren’t familiar with this product, click here –> What is Cake Flour?.
Salt: Salt balances and intensifies all the other flavors. I like kosher salt best because it’s cheap, easy to find, and doesn’t have any bitter-tasting additives like iodine.
Special equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons: Follow my guide–> How to Measure Ingredients.
- Mixing bowl: You’ll need a large bowl to contain all the batter!
- Mixer: An electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment whips plenty of air in.
- Silicone spatula: Makes sure the ingredients all get incorporated, and gets every last bit out of the bowl!
- Nonstick spray: Works together with flour to make sure nothing sticks to the pan.
- Pan: A 12-cup capacity bundt pan, or (2) loaf pans (if you only want 1 loaf then halve the recipe).
- Skewer: Or toothpick, to test the cake for doneness.
How to make cream cheese pound cake
This easy recipe comes together in 4 simple steps.
Step 1: Creaming
Place the cream cheese, butter, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Beat these ingredients together on medium-high speed until they are pale, fluffy, and doubled in volume.
This step is called “creaming” and it’s very important! You want to whip as much air into the batter as possible. This will make the final cake soft and tender. So don’t skimp!
Step 2: Eggs
Next, in go the eggs.
Drop them in one at a time, with the mixer running on medium-low speed.
Allow each one to fully incorporate before adding the next, so the batter is smooth and not lumpy.
You can also stir in the vanilla at this stage.
Step 3: Dry Ingredients
Next you can add in the flour and salt.
Fold them in gently so you don’t overwork the glutens and end up with a tough cake. Don’t overmix at this stage- it’s ok if there are still a few streaks of flour.
Step 4: Bake
Transfer the batter to a greased and floured pan(s), and immediately whisk it into a hot oven.
This cake should bake until puffed and crusty on top. It should feel springy when gently pressed, and a skewer inserted in the thickest part should come out clean.
How to serve cream cheese pound cake
Allow the cake to cool for 1 hour in the pan, then gently invert it onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. It’s a really big cake, so it will need some time to cool!
You can enjoy it as-is, or dust it with powdered sugar, or add a simple buttermilk glaze like I did here. It’s just powdered sugar stirred together with buttermilk, and the slightly tangy flavor mirrors that of the cream cheese.
I also love to garnish a pound cake with fresh fruit! It’s such a nice compliment. But a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream, or a drizzle of chocolate syrup, dulce de leche, raspberry sauce, lemon curd, or creme anglaise would also be perfect!
Expert tips
Prep the pan: Don’t skimp on this step! There’s so much that goes into this cake, you’d hate for it to stick to the pan and break apart.
Measure accurately: It’s really important that the ingredients are measured precisely, especially for a recipe like this. The slightest bit off and it could completely change the flavor and texture. For the best possible results, follow this guide: How to Measure Ingredients for Baking.
Whip in lots of air: For the most melt-in-your-mouth, velvety texture, make sure you whip in plenty of air when creaming the butter and sugar together. The mixture should double in volume, and look very pale and fluffy.
Don’t overmix: Once you’ve added the flour, you want to be careful not to overmix or you could activate the natural glutens and end up with a tough cake. Just get it barely combined at this stage.
Don’t overbake: This is the number one cause of dry cake. Keep an eye on your cake as it’s baking. A few minutes before you think it will be done, flip on the oven light and view the cake through the window. If it doesn’t look wet in the middle, crack open the door slightly and give it a feel. It should feel springy. If so, give it the toothpick test. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, the cake is done.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve baked this cake in a 12-cup capacity bundt pan, but you can also halve the recipe and bake in (3) 6-inch pans, (2) 8-inch pans or 9-inch pans, a 9×13-inch pan, or as 24 cupcakes.Â
Thinner, smaller cakes bake faster than thicker, bigger ones, so be sure to adjust the bake time as needed.
This cake will keep for a few days at room temperature. I like to put it under a glass dome so it doesn’t dry out.
Wrapped tightly, it should last in the fridge for about a week, or in the freezer for a month or two.
Thaw it at room temp and reheat it for a few seconds in the microwave, or in a 170-degree F oven (wrapped in foil) until warmed through.
Bundt cakes are big! They can really feed a crowd.
This moist cream cheese pound cake cake recipe will serve at least 16 people.
The nutritional info in the recipe card below reflects a serving size of 1/16th the whole cake, and it includes the buttermilk glaze.
A few more of my best cake recipes
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Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- 16 ounces (453.59 g) cream cheese, (2 bricks) softened
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, (1 stick) softened
- 3 cups (600 g) granulated sugar
- 6 (264 g) eggs, large
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons (12 g) kosher salt
For the Buttermilk Glaze (Optional)
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup (60 g) buttermilk
Instructions
To Make the Cream Cheese Pound Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, generously mist a 12-cup bundt pan* with non-stick spray, and coat it liberally with flour.
- Place the cream cheese, butter, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream together on medium-high speed until very pale and very fluffy (approx. 5 to 7 full minutes).
- Stir in the eggs, one at a time, allowing each one to become fully incorporated before adding the next.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula, and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Gently fold in the flour and salt until just barely combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean (approx. 70 to 80 minutes).
- Cool the cake in the pan for 1 hour, then invert it onto a serving platter and allow it to finish cooling before adding glaze.
To Make the Buttermilk Glaze (Optional)
- Stir the powdered sugar and buttermilk together until smooth.
What is the baking time for the 9×5 pans?
Grace