Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake

4.61 from 140 votes

Southern cream cheese pound cake is an old-fashioned recipe that yields a big, beautiful moist cake for special occasions like Valentine's Day or any time of year! It's sure to be a family favorite.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 45

Cooling2 20

Total Time4 20

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: servings

Author: Jenny DeRemer

Cost: $0.52

Equipment

stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or an electric handheld mixer
12 cup Bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan
pastry brush
wire cooling rack

Ingredients

vegetable shortening for greasing pan; may substitute 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
1½ cups unsalted butter softened to room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs
3 cups + 1 tablespoon bleached cake flour sifted; I am using Swans Down
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F. Generously coat a 10-inch tube pan with shortening and dust with flour. Alternatively, melt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and use a pastry brush to 'paint' the butter up the sides, the bottom, and the tube (and dust with flour).
Beat butter and cream cheese with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs; beat until just blended, about 30 seconds. Add flour; beat until smooth, about 30 seconds. Stir in vanilla.
Pour batter into prepared Bundt pan or tube pan. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Cool in pan 20 minutes. Remove from pan, and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 2 hours. Because of the high sugar content of this cake, it will develop a delicious, crunchy crust on top, that may separate from the cake as it cools.
Serve and enjoy!

Notes

If you own a stand mixer, pull it out and fit it with the paddle attachment for this recipe. It does a far better job, faster and for longer, than the handheld electric mixer.
If you do not have a stand mixer, handheld will work just fine. Do commit though to the full 5 minutes of beating time required when beating the butter, cream cheese, and sugar together. It's about it being mixed well, and adding that air!
To really achieve a perfect pound cake, I do not recommend loaf pans for this method. This recipe will require baking in a 12 cup Bundt pan or a 10-inch tube pan. A traditional loaf pan, even with the thick batter divided, has never baked up correctly for me.
Want to top with a glaze? Combine the juice of a fresh orange, the juice of a fresh lemon, and roughly 2 cups of powdered sugar until you achieve a drizzle-able but still slow-to-spread consistency.

Nutrition