Name: Southern Pound Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 3 cups sugar; 2 sticks unsalted butter - room temperature; 1/2 cup (1/2 stick) vegetable shortening; 5 large eggs - room temperature; 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; 3 cups A/P flour sifted; dash of salt; 1 cup whole milk

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Southern Pound Cake is beautiful, rich and a classic worth raving about! It’s buttery and soft on the inside with a thick crumbly top that makes it totally irresistible. This cake made with simple ingredients is the star of any meal and perfect for the holidays and family celebrations.

Slice of Southern Pound Cake with berries on a plate with fork ready to be enjoyed.

Pound Cake. There’s just something special about those words. Especially if you’ve ever tasted a really good pound cake. If you have, you understand where I’m coming from. It’s dense, sweet, tender on the inside with the perfect amount of golden crust on the outside.

Over the years I’ve built quite a collection of delicious pound cake recipes. There’s Orange Pound Cake, Eggnog Pound Cake that’s a must-make for the holidays, Lemon Pound Cake, and a reader favorite, Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Pound Cake.

But with all of those, there’s still just one that stands out. Southern Pound Cake. It’s the star in my collection and for good reason. It’s incredibly delicious and has a special history that means the world to me.

Several years ago, I received this recipe from my neighbor friend, Roy. He brought over a battered up piece of paper with the recipe typed out, asked me to make it, and volunteered to be the taste tester. After a couple of tries and tastings, we decided I had the perfect recipe.

Slice of sweet Southern Pound Cake on a cooking rack ready to eat!

There’s no crazy secret or special baking method used here. With great ingredients and a little planning, this cake turns out perfect every time.

What You Need To Make Southern Pound Cake

Flour
Sugar
Butter
Vegetable Shortening
Eggs
Vanilla
Salt
Whole Milk

Southern Pound Cake on cooking rake cooked golden brown with a tender crust.

Tips For Making This Recipe

Since this recipe does not have any leavening, it’s important to beat the butter, shortening, and sugar for 5 to 7 minutes until it’s light and fluffy. This whips lots of air into the batter ensuring that the cake will rise and have a beautiful texture.
Make sure to have the eggs, butter, and shortening at room temperature.

Can You Freeze This Cake?

Southern Pound Cake freezes beautifully. Once it’s frozen and thawed, you’ll have a beautiful cake to share with your family and friends. Here’s how to freeze this cake:

tightly wrap the whole cake with plastic wrap then in aluminum foil and freeze.
slice cake in half, wrap in plastic and foil then freeze.
slice individual pieces of the cake, wrap in plastic wrap, then foil and freeze. Thaw a slice or two for dessert or for when unexpected folks stopover.

Slices of tender, Southern Pound Cake with strawberries and raspberries.

More Classic Recipes You’ll Love

Southern Pound Cake

If you’re looking for a pound cake that turns out perfect every time, this is it.

5 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Cake, Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings: cake

Author: Donya Mullins

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
2 sticks unsalted butter – room temperature
1/2 cup (1/2 stick) vegetable shortening
5 large eggs – room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups A/P flour sifted
dash of salt
1 cup whole milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a tube pan and set aside.
Add butter, sugar, and shortening to the bowl of a stand mixer and cream for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing well.
While mixer is on low, add vanilla and dash of salt.
With the mixer on low, add in flour and milk, alternating each – starting and stopping with flour.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour or up to 1:15 hours. Check if done with a cake tester or wooden skewer.
Let cool for 15 minutes then gently remove from pan.

Two images of Southern Pound Cake to share with Pinterest and social media.

This recipe was originally published in March 2014.

Comments

Kay Little

March 31, 2014 at 8:59 pm

Love a good Pound Cake and this one looks delicious!!

- Donya Mullins
  
  April 1, 2014 at 1:42 pm
  
  Thanks Kay!
  
Joy

April 4, 2014 at 9:15 pm

I am like you, Donya, pound cake is my favorite. Chocolate, lemon, buttermilk, sour cream…I love them all. But the best is just good ol' pound cake, and this one sounds perfect! 🙂 Thank you for sharing this with us at Treasure Box Tuesday- PINNED! ♥

Mary Lotempio

October 11, 2020 at 2:01 pm

I make pound cakes for my 100yr old mother, because she doesn’t like frosting.
This recipe is wonderful. Thank you

- Donya
  
  October 15, 2020 at 9:41 am
  
  Hey Mary!
  I’m not a fan of frosting either that’s why I have so many pound cake recipes. Your Mom has good taste. 🙂
  Congratulations on her 100th year. WOW.
  Have a wonderful day,
  ~Donya
  
Cheryl

October 11, 2020 at 4:17 pm

I have not made this particular recipe yet. I have a question before I do give it a try. Do you know why there is both butter and shortening in this recipe? Have you ever tried making it with all butter? Is the shortening important for the unique structure that a good pound cake has? The picture looks like this cake has the texture that my mother’s pound cake had but I personally prefer using butter instead of plain shortening where the character of the baked good does not suffer from using all butter.

- Donya
  
  October 15, 2020 at 9:39 am
  
  Cheryl,
  Feel free to use substitutions if you like. I’ve made this cake hundreds of times just like the recipe is written and it comes out beautiful and delicious every time.
  Have a great day,
  ~Donya
  
Brenda

November 13, 2020 at 1:53 pm

The top of this cake is so incredible! My family loves its it and it’s also really easy to make.
Thanks!

Southern Pound Cake