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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.
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.
What You Need To Make Southern Pound Cake
- Flour
- Sugar
- Butter
- Vegetable Shortening
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Salt
- Whole Milk
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.
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Ingredients
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 sticks unsalted butter – room temperature
- ½ cup (½ stick) vegetable shortening
- 5 large eggs – room temperature
- 1 ½ 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.
This recipe was originally published in March 2014.
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Can you substitute sugar with maple syrup or agave? Thank you!
Never tried it. Let me know if you make it.
~Donya
My favorite recipe came from Southern Living years ago. It uses 6 eggs and sour cream. Also uses butter.
Hey there Jan!
Thank you for sharing! I love using sour cream in my baking too, I swear it makes everything taste better, I’ll have to try to find that recipe! I hope you give this one a try, I might be biased but it’s definitely a family favorite! Let me know what you think of the recipe if you end up giving it a try, I hope you enjoy!
~Donya
I have been looking for a tried and true pound cake recipe and was excited to make this today. I had to bake it for a full 1 hour and 15 minutes, but about 50 minutes into baking, it smelled like it was burning. I went to check it and found that the batter had spilled out of the pan and onto the bottom of the oven. I’m a little new to baking cakes from scratch, so I’m wondering what I did wrong? Any suggestions will be so appreciated! It’s out of the oven and cooling now, so I’m excited to see how it actually turns out!
Hey there Brenda!
Thank you for your interest in this recipe, this is my tried and true pound cake recipe so I hope you’ll enjoy it as well! The cook time will vary depending on your oven, I’ve noticed that with different ovens it can bake a little slower, so I’d say anywhere between 50 minutes and 1 hour 10 minutes sounds about right. If your batter spilled out of the pan, you may have over filled your tin, I generally recommend filling your pound cake tin about 2/3 of the way full because it will rise during the bake, if you end up with a little extra batter that’s fine. I hope this helps, let me know how it turns out or if you try again. Thank you so much for your support, I hope you enjoy!
~Donya
Could I use fatfree half & half instead of milk?
Hey Andrea,
Thanks for your interest in this recipe, it is an absolute favorite. That’s a great question! You can use half and half, but it will likely change the texture of the cake. I’ve never tried it so I am not sure exactly how it would change, but I would guess it would make the cake a little heavier and thicker. I normally use whole milk, but I encourage you to try it out and let me know how it goes! Thanks so much, I hope you enjoy the recipe!
~Donya
Can you use 8 ozs of cream cheese instead of milk. I only have 1 percent milk I use.
Hey Tonya,
Great question! I would not recommend using cream cheese instead of milk just because it’ll make the batter a lot thicker and denser. I would just use the 1%, the texture will end up a little more delicate than the original pound cake recipe but that’s never a bad thing. Let me know how it works out, I hope you like it!
~Donya
Never have I made a pound cake but every time a see a recipe I think to myself that I should give it a try. Your recipe is lovely and straight forward, wonder if I can make it gluten free too so my daughter can enjoy it?
Hey Rebecca!
Thanks for your sweet words. I would give the recipe a try with “1 to 1” gluten-free flour. Let me know how it works out.
Have a wonderful day,
~Donya
Hi Doua! I’m so excited to try this recipe!
Is it possible to replace the whole milk with heavy cream?
Hey there.
I’ve never tried that substitution. It will alter the batter so I’m not sure how it will turn out.
Keep me posted,
~Donya
I am going to make this cake next week it looks delicious.
The top of this cake is so incredible! My family loves its it and it’s also really easy to make.
Thanks!
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.
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
I make pound cakes for my 100yr old mother, because she doesn’t like frosting.
This recipe is wonderful. Thank you
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
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! ♥
Love a good Pound Cake and this one looks delicious!!
Thanks Kay!
I made this yesterday and it’s delicious! My question is should the flour be measured once the flour is sifted? Also can an additional stick of butter be used instead of the shortening?
Thank you
Hey there Joy!
Thank you so much for your interest in this recipe, those are great questions! I usually measure out my flour and then sift it, when you pack it down into a measuring cup after sifting you’ll lose some of the airiness which might make the cake a little more dense. You can use additional butter in place of shortening, I’ve done it before in a pinch, but I will say that it changed the texture of the cake making it much heavier and richer in flavor, so it’s really up to you. I hope this is helpful and that you enjoy the recipe, thank you so much for your kind words and your fantastic rating, I appreciate your support!
~Donya