If you’re looking for the best sour cream pound cake, look no further. This rich, buttery pound cake is the perfect dessert for any occasion. The moist crumb of this dense cake makes it a pound cake lover’s dream come true.
My sour cream pound cake recipe has been well-tested by family and friends across the country, and they all say the same thing. It absolutely delicious and a great cake for cookouts and family get-togethers. It’s also a delicious afternoon snack or breakfast treat with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.
This buttery cake is one of my favorite cake recipes and one I’ve been making for over 30 years at home and at the restaurants I’ve worked at.
If you’re like me and can’t get enough of pound cake, check out my delicious lemon pound cake or easy peach pecan pound cake.
Ingredients to make sour cream pound cake
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make my delicious sour cream pound cake. In Chef Speak, this is called the “Mise en Place,” which translates to “Everything in its Place.”
Not only does setting up your ingredients ahead of time speed up the cooking process, it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Made with simple ingredients
- Unsalted butter
- Full-fat sour cream
- Large eggs
- Granulated sugar
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
If you want to substitute cake flour for the all-purpose flour, add an additional 2 tablespoons of flour per cup or 6 tablespoons of additional cake flour for this recipe. Cake flour has a lower protein count than all-purpose flour, which makes a tender cake that is lighter and fluffier, but it also weighs less, which is why you need to add the extra flour.
How to make sour cream pound cake
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan and coat it with sugar. Or use pan-release spray.
- Add the all-purpose flour, table salt, and baking powder to a medium bowl.
- Whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Set aside until needed.
- Add the unsalted butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or electric handheld mixer and large bowl).
- Cream the mixture until light and fluffy at medium-high speed. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed using a rubber spatula.
- Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time to the creamed mixture at medium speed.
- Beat each egg into the creamed mixture before adding the next. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition.
- Add the room-temperature sour cream to the butter mixture.
- Mix until fully combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, one-half cup at a time.
- Mix on low speed just enough to incorporate. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the vanilla extract to the cake batter.
- Mix until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Place the cake pan on the center rack of a preheated oven and bake for 80-85 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. *If you have an instant-read thermometer, the cake is done when it reaches 210°F.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and run a thin knife around the edge. Then place the pan on a wire rack and let the cake cool.
*I used a tube pan with a removal bottom, but you can also use a bundt pan.
Serve this classic sour cream pound cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.
Store any leftover pound cake in an airtight container or tightly wrapped with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. It can be refrigerated or left on the counter. If you refrigerate my sour cream pound cake, make sure to let it warm up to room temperature before serving.
Recipe FAQ’s
Sour cream is an easy way to add moisture to a cake batter without thinning it out the way a liquid would. That helps create a cake with a very tender, very fine crumb.
The usual reason a pound cake doesn’t turn out is simply from overbaking, which will make it dry. Using too much flour (or not enough butter or sugar) can also result in a dry-pound cake.
One of the most important things to do to make the perfect pound cake is to precisely measure ingredients so that the ratio of wet to dry ingredients is exact. Also, make sure that they are at room temperature before you begin.
Sour cream does add a little tang to the flavor of the cake, but it’s hardly noticeable. The good news is the fat from the sour cream contributes to the moistness and richness of the cake and helps create a tender crumb.
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Sour Cream Pound Cake
Equipment
- tube pan with removable bottom or bundt pan
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter 2 sticks = 1 cup
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs -room temperature
- 8 ounces sour cream -room temperature
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Grease a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan and coat it with sugar. Or use pan-release spray.
- Add the all-purpose flour, table salt, and baking powder to a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside until needed.
- Add the unsalted butter and granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment(or electric hand mixer and large bowl)and cream until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, beating each one in before adding the next. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl between each addition.
- Add the room temperature sour cream and mix it into the butter mixture.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixture, one-half cup at a time until combined. Mix on low just enough to incorporate.Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Add the vanilla to the cake batter and mix to combine.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Place the cake pan on the center rack of a preheated oven and bake for 80-85 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.*If you have an instant-read thermometer, the cake is done when it reaches210°F.
- When you remove the cake from the oven, run a thin knife around the edge. Then place the cake (in the pan) on a wire rack to cool.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 to 25 minutes. Then invert on a serving plate to cool completely.
- Serve with fresh berries, vanilla ice cream or homemade whipped cream.
Yvonne
This has got to be the prettiest and best poundcake that I’ve ever made! Thank you so much!
Chef Dennis Littley
Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed the pound cake! It’s a family favorite in our house.
Melinda
I’m getting ready to make this recipe, but I cannot find a tube pan and I need to make it today. Can I use loaf pans? 8×4? Thanks!
Chef Dennis Littley
Yes you can but you’ll have extra batter.
Judy
This is one of the best if not the best sour cream pound cakes that I have made! I had an issue with the crumb top rising above the rest of the cake but I think it was probably me.
Claire
This pound cake was so delicious and the inclusion of sour cream made it extra moist. We’ll definitely be adding this to our recipe box.
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer
There’s something about a classic pound cake. It’s so simple yet has such an incredible WOW factory! The crumb on this perfect! We loved it!
Kristina
Cakes with sour cream are so light and tender and this was no exception. The flavor and texture was wonderful- can’t wait to make it again!
Maddy
This pound cake turned out wonderful. I drizzled it with a little vanilla glaze and the kids went crazy over it.
Tristin
We had some left over from last night before so I had some for breakfast with my morning coffee. Delicious!
Veronika
I love the simplicity of this pound cake! The sour cream added moisture and density but it definitely wasn’t too heavy. We served it with strawberry jam it was so good!
veenaazmanov
Easy and a tasty recipe, everyone loved it. Perfect cake for my Tea Time parties or my Tiffin Box option. Love to gift this to my loved ones as well.
Kathryn
This pound cake was delicious and so moist. I loved it with ice cream and even breakfast! Thanks for the recipe!
Mikayla
Strawberries galore here, so I made this up and had my fresh strawberries with some vanilla flavored whipped cream and I cannot lie.. I ate it for breakfast the next morning too!
Sharon
This pound cake recipe came out so moist with the help of the sour cream in the batter. Great topped with fresh strawberries.
Alicia K
Gorgeous cake. Ran out of regular flour so made up the difference with cake flour. It was done in an hour; much faster than the estimated 80 to 85 minutes. Served it with whipped cream and blueberries. This recipe’s a keeper.
TMAC
I would like to make this for Christmas
Reading the instructions. One of don’t really understand is the substitution of the cake flour. So do I use the all purpose flour and cake flour. Please explain.
Chef Dennis Littley
The cake is made with all-purpose flour. The notes say if you want to use cake flour how to make the adjustment. You don’t use both.,
Shaheen Rahman
I wrote down your recipe to try it sounds delicious. I will be baking it soon, I will let you know how it turns out. Please share more recipes, thank you so very much for sharing your recipe.