Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf

This Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf is the best pound cake you’ll ever have! This simple butter pound cake is a dessert I make again and again!

If you’re looking for more homemade pound cake recipes, check out Chocolate Pound Cake With Chocolate Frosting, Strawberry Donut Pound Cake, or Best Meyer Lemon Pound Cake.

A Quick Look At The Recipe

• Recipe Name: Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf
• Ready In: 2 hours 25 minutes
• Makes: 8 servings
• Main Ingredients: salted butter, cane sugar, cake flour, powdered sugar
• Flavor Profile: buttery, rich, lightly sweet
• Dietary Info: no seed oils
• Difficulty: Easy!
• Why You’ll Love It: simple, classic cake you'll want to bake all the time

Why You'll Love This Recipe

• Pound Cake Without Leavening: You will love this recipe because this is a traditional pound cake recipe. This organic cake has just 8 ingredients and no leavening. This makes it an amazing cake to bake if you’re out of leavening!
• Buttery & Sweet: This traditional Organic Pound Cake is so special because it has such simple ingredients that truly shine. This organic cake is buttery, moist, and melts in your mouth. And it has a flavor that is beyond any plain vanilla cake you’ve ever had.
• Classic: I top this traditional Butter Pound Cake with simple powdered sugar. But, if you want to add glaze, frosting, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries – they would all be delicious! This is a blank slate that is as good on its own as it is with anything else added to it. Pair this traditional Butter Pound Cake with coffee, tea, milk, Caramel Hot Cocoa or Chai Tea Hot Chocolate – or just eat it plain. I really enjoy eating this for brunch and indulging on the weekends.
• Organic Cake: This butter pound cake is made using only 8 organic ingredients. This is simple and easy and will be so much better than anything you'd buy from the store.

What is pound cake?

Pound cake got its name because the original recipe included a pound of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour! Recipes range now, and so many people dub their recipe as a pound cake. But, I believe a pound cake is a cake that is made without leavening, is rich, buttery, and dense. That’s how I was introduced to it though, and it may be different for everyone! According to Wikipedia, pound cake originated in Northern Europe. It dates back to the 1700s!

I cannot believe I am only sharing this recipe with you guys now. This organic pound cake is the foundation for so many of my cake recipes on the blog like my Chocolate Pound Cake With Chocolate Frosting, Meyer Lemon Pound Cake, Chocolate Donut Pound Cake, or my Strawberry Donut Pound Cake – to name a few!

But the wait is over, now I can finally point people here, instead of reciting the recipe by heart, because I make this cake all the time! No joke! I have an obsession with organic pound cake. I spent hours, days, weeks, and months working on this organic cake recipe trying to recreate a cake I ate at my aunt's 4th of July parties. And, I've finally done it!

Ingredients

Ingredients really matter, especially in recipes where there are so few. In this Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf, I highly recommend using organic ingredients. If you had this at my bake shop, and you want it to taste exactly, then use my picks here!

• Butter: I use Organic Valley Salted Butter as it's my favorite. You can use your favorite. If you're using unsalted butter, just add 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
• Vanilla Extract: Use a high quality vanilla extract, not imitation. Simply Organic is what we used at the bakery and what I use here and will provide a specific flavor as all vanilla is a bit different. While the other name brand ingredients won't matter as much (so long as you're choosing organic), the vanilla will!
• Cake Flour: I use my Homemade Organic Cake Flour, store bought also works. Don't use all purpose as the protein content is too high, and cake flour has a lower protein content which results in a more tender crumb.
• Milk: Use organic whole milk for the best flavor.
• Powdered Sugar: I finish this organic pound cake with powdered sugar for a simple dusting of added sweetness as this was exactly how it was at my aunt's party.

*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.

Flavor Variations

Try different flavor variations as this pound cake is the best base cake recipe. You can add Caramel Buttercream Frosting, Easy Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting, glaze, or homemade chocolate ganache on top. Drizzle it with homemade true caramel sauce or add in naturally colored sprinkles. Here's a few of the ways I love dressing up this classic pound cake recipe.

• Oreo Pound Cake: Add homemade chocolate ganache on top and then add crushed up organic Oreo cookies (we like Newman's Own).
• Funfetti Pound Cake: Add in 57 grams rainbow sprinkles to the batter. Top with a simple frosting like my Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting and add more sprinkles on top!
• Honey Caramel: Top with Honey Buttercream Frosting and a drizzle of Homemade True Caramel Sauce.
• Chocolate Coconut: Add homemade chocolate ganache on top and then top with raw or toasted coconut.
• Strawberry Shortcake: Top with my Homemade Whipped Cream Frosting and add fresh strawberries on top. You can even crush up some graham crackers on top of that as well.
• Earl Grey Pound Cake: Heat the milk and add in 1 Earl Grey tea bag and allow to steep for 5 minutes before using the milk in the cake recipe. Add the contents of 1 Earl Grey tea bag into the batter with the flour. You can top with a frosting like my Honey Buttercream Frosting or enjoy it plain!

Baker's Tips

• Always weight ingredients for the best results.
• Depending on the loaf pan you use, you'll get a slightly different size. I used my Caraway loaf pan here as I think it browns much better on the sides. But, I used to use my USA Pan loaf pan when we made this at my bake shop and this gives you more clean edges and a more square loaf slice.
• If using a good nonstick pan, you can skip the parchment paper, like I do when I use the Caraway loaf pan. But, if I'm using an aluminum loaf pan, I always line with parchment paper.
• I like to bake this loaf cake at night so it has time to cool completely before removing and serving. I think pound cake is best when you let it rest for a bit for the flavor to fully develop!

How to Make a Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 1-pound loaf pan with parchment paper, letting it fold over the sides for easier removal. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, cane sugar and vanilla extract.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until no chunks of butter remain.

3. Add in the eggs and mix on low until combined. Scrape down the side of the bowl and mix again until combined.

4. Add the milk, cake flour and sea salt in that order.

5. Mix on low until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed to ensure a smooth batter and everything is mixed.

6. Pour the cake batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly.

7. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely in the cake pan.

8. Sift powdered sugar on top.

Traditional Butter Pound Cake Loaf FAQ's

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