With a nice crispy golden crust that cracks on top, this butter pound cake has a slightly dense texture that is just right – not dry nor heavy but spongy. This is literally our “anytime” cake!
Using just one mixer bowl and 5 ingredients, whip up a pound cake with this simple recipe. You can already taste its deliciousness by the rich aroma of butter that fills up your kitchen. Enjoy every single bite of this cake with a buttery and slightly eggy flavour, plus a hint of light sweetness!
Table of contents
What is butter pound cake?
Butter pound cake has a strong aroma of butter with a golden brown crust that cracks on top, a rich buttery flavour, and a slightly dense texture. Traditionally made with 3 main ingredients – butter, sugar, flour, using one pound each, it receives the name “pound cake”.
In this recipe, I slightly reduced the amounts for both butter and sugar to make it less fattening, and added in some baking powder to make the cake more puffed up and fluffier!
Ingredients for butter pound cake
- Cake flour: I used cake flour so that it’ll produce a fluffier and lighter texture. You could replace it with plain flour if you prefer a denser texture (classic pound cake recipes use plain flour!)
- Caster sugar: This adds sweetness to the cake and improves its texture!
- Unsalted butter: The key ingredient that gives the cake a rich buttery flavour! It also adds moisture to the cake, creating a tender crumb that contributes to the texture.
- Eggs: Eggs serve several important functions in this recipe as they add structure and stability within the batter, and when beaten eggs incorporate air into the batter, they allow the pound cake to rise while baking. They also add moisture to the cake to create a smoother crumb by emulsifying the ingredients.
- Baking powder: Acts as a leavening agent that yields the soft texture of the pound cake and gives the crust a crackly top.
How to make butter pound cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Cream butter and sugar in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy.
- Add in one egg at a time and mix well.
- Sift cake flour and baking powder into the batter, then gently fold in the flour mixture.
- Pour the batter into a lightly greased loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Success tips for making a fluffy butter pound cake
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
This is the key step in the recipe that will ensure your pound cake has a fluffy texture with a tender crumb. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy with a pale yellow-cream colour to ensure there’s enough air incorporated into the butter and sugar. Be patient with this process. If the creaming time isn’t long enough, the pound cake will become dense.
Use room temperature butter.
The temperature of the butter is critical to the creaming process. Be sure to use room temperature butter so that it can hold onto air to produce a tender and spongy crumb. If the butter is too hot, the pound cake will struggle to lift and end up being flat and greasy. If the butter is too cold, it won’t be able to fully blend with the sugar.
Don’t overmix the ingredients!
Be sure to mix the ingredients in the batter until they have just combined. Overmixing the eggs and dry ingredients in the batter will mean that too much air is incorporated into the batter, resulting in a dry and tough cake. This is because mixing the ingredients in the batter leads to gluten development, so overmixing will eventually cause the batter to deflate, yielding a dense and heavy pound cake with a rubbery texture.
How to know if the cake is fully baked?
Use a baking needle or a toothpick to pierce through the cake centre towards the bottom. If the needle or toothpick comes out clean, this means the it is fully baked.
How long does the cake last?
This cake will last 3-5 days in room temperature if stored in an airtight container.
Is butter pound cake the same as sponge cake?
Butter pound cake is made primarily with butter, sugar, and flour, while sponge cake comprises of eggs, sugar, and flour, where the egg white foam (or meringue) is the key ingredient that makes a sponge cake rise in the oven. This marks the main difference in their textures – a butter pound cake has a denser and richer texture than a sponge cake, as the egg white foam gives it an airier and lighter texture.
This recipe makes a fluffy butter pound cake with a delightfully crisp exterior. With a rich buttery sweet taste, it’s incredibly irresistible and delicious!
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Butter Pound Cake
Equipment
- 1 Cake pan 15cm x 4cm x 9cm
- 1 Mixer bowl
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Sifter
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 100 g caster sugar
- 120 g cake flour
- 2 eggs
- ¼ tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a mixer bowl, add in unsalted butter and sugar. Beat them until you get a light and fluffy texture.
- Add in one egg at a time and beat them together until well combined.
- Sift in cake flour and baking powder, then gently fold into the batter.
- Pour the batter into a lightly greased cake pan and spread it out evenly.
- Bake in the oven at 180°C for 45-50 minutes.
- Unmold the cake and let it cool down for 10 minutes.