This scrumptious cream cheese pound cake is simply a dessert winner! The soft and tender cake has the perfect flavor. Step-by-step photos help you bake this easy pound cake recipe. Serve it plain or with whipped cream, lemon curd, or fresh berries.
Butter, eggs, cream cheese, and vanilla extract are probably the most used ingredients in my kitchen. And for good reason, they're all so dang good! So combining them with just a couple of others was sure to be a hit.
My cream cheese cookies are another winner made with the same group of ingredients.
Cream cheese pound cake is a simple cake, it's basic in the best way possible. No extra steps, or difficult components, this straight forward fuss-free cake is the perfect afternoon treat. With a warm cup of coffee or cuppa tea, this cake is a dream!
If you fancy another cream cheese recipe don't forget to try my Chocolate Chip Cheesecake recipe, cream cheese banana bread or my cream cheese chocolate chip cookies!
Let's get to the recipe.
What are the key ingredients
You'll only need 8 ingredients to make this easy cream cheese pound cake recipe.
- Cream Cheese. It is imperative to make sure that the butter is completely softened to room temperature otherwise it will not blend into the softened butter, after recipe testing I know you can't skip this.
- Cake Flour. Using cake flour versus all-purpose or plain flour helps keep the cake light and fluffy.
The cake is perfect on its own but if you want any toppings, try some of these:
- Fresh Berries
- Whipped Cream
- Ice Cream
- Lemon Curd
For your next pound cake check out my chocolate pound cake recipe.
How to make the cake
Preheat oven to 300F/149C and heavily grease a 10-cup bundt pan or tube pan, set aside while you prepare the filling. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer beat the cream cheese and butter together for two minutes.
Once the mixture is light and fluffy add the vegetable oil, making sure to scrape down the side of the bowl so everything is fully combined.
Add the sugar and beat for 4-6 minutes, this is not a typo, the butter and sugar need to cream for a long time, don't skip this step.
Add the vanilla extract and the first egg and mix until no yolk remains.
Repeat until all eggs have been added, the mixture may look curdled, that is fine.
Add half of the flour and salt and use a spatula to gently fold in, then add remaining cake flour. Do not over mix the cake batter, you don't want to overdevelop the gluten.
Pour cake batter into the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to spread the batter into an even layer.
Bake for 80-90 minutes, the internal temperature of the cake should be 210F/99C. Baking the cake low and slow helps the cake have the perfect golden brown outside and perfectly baked inside.
Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes then flip on to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with desired toppings and store leftovers in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
Freezing Cake
Pound cake is a perfect dessert to freeze. You can wrap the whole cake or slices of it. Let the cake cool completely then wrap it in plastic wrap, twice. This ensures no freezer bite.
When ready to thaw the cake let it sit at room temperature, the whole cake would need to thaw overnight but slices will thaw in a few hours.
Can you bake this recipe in a loaf pan?
Sure, divide the batter into two 9X5" loaf pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with no wet batter.
If you're looking for another delicious loaf cake try my blueberry lemon loaf cake.
More pound cake recipes
I hope you and your family enjoy this pound cake recipe as much as mine did. For more pound cakes check out my 7-Up Pound Cake Recipe or my Lemon Pound Cake!
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★★★★★ Please let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a star rating and comment below!
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Cream Cheese Pound Cake
This scrumptious cream cheese pound cake is simply a dessert winner! The soft and tender cake has the perfect flavor. Step-by-step photos help you bake this easy pound cake recipe. Serve it plain or with whipped cream, lemon curd, or fresh berries.
- Total Time: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
- Yield: 12-18 Slices 1x
Ingredients
- 8oz Cream Cheese, softened to room temperature
- 10oz (1 ¼ Cups) Unsalted Butter, softend to room temperature
- 1oz (2 Tablespoons) Vegetable Oil
- 550 grams (2 ¾ Cup) Granulated/ Caster Sugar
- 1 Tablespoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 6 Large Eggs, at room temperature
- 345 grams (3 Cups) Cake Flour
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
Optional Toppings
- Whipped Cream
- Ice Cream
- Lemon Curd
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300F/149C and heavily grease a 10-cup bundt pan, set aside while you prepare the filling. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer or large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer beat the cream cheese and butter togther for two minutes. Once the mixture is light and fluffy add the vegetable oil, making sure to scrape down the side of the bowl so everything is fully combined. Mix the vegetable oil into the batter for a minute or two, until fully combined.
- Add the sugar and beat for 4-6 minutes, this is not a typo, the butter and sugar need to cream for a long time, don't skip this step. Add the vanilla extract and the first egg and mix until no yolk remains. Repeat until all eggs have been added, the mixture may look curdled, that is fine.
- Add half of the flour and salt and use a spatula to gently fold in, then add remaining cake flour. Do not over mix the cake batter, you don't want to over develop the gluten.
- Pour into the prepared cake pan and use an offset spatula to spread the batter into an even layer. Bake for 80-90 minutes, the internal temperature of the cake should be 210F/99C. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes then flip on to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve with desired toppings and store leftovers in an air-tight container on the counter for up to 4 days.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 90
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Maria says
What’s the temperature of oven when we bake the cake
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Maria the cake should be baked at 300F/149C. Let me know if I can help with anything else or if you do make the cake, I would love to know what you think! XX Liz
Maria says
I Am planning on making it tomorrow. Just one more question how can I make cake flour at home? Is it by adding corn flour in plain flour or there is more to it .
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Maria, yes you can mix cornflour and plain flour here is a tutorial on it https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cake-flour-substitute/ good luck with the cake please let me know how you like it!! XX Liz
Maria says
Made the cake it tasted awesome but I think i messed up the sugar somewhat because it got browned. I think i haven't been able to substitute correctly caster sugar with granular sugar. I used granular sugar with big grains.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Maria, thanks for reaching out! So happy yo hear you enjoyed the taste of the cake. I am sorry it browned too much, there is some browning that happens but if your oven runs hot or has hot spots, which most ovens do, then your cake may brown more. Because the cake bakes for quite a while you might tent it next time, light spray a piece of foil with non-stick spray, and gently place it on top of the cake about 1/2-2/3 of the way through the bake time. Same concept as when you use a pie shield to prevent the crust from darkening too much. I personally use granulated sugar majority of the time I bake and don't have any issues. Please let me know if you have any further questions or if I can help in any way. May I ask a favor, please? Next time you leave a review would you mind adding a star rating? It helps other readers quickly see how the recipe ranks with others and also helps me too! Thank you XX Liz
Juliana Thervil says
Hey Maria I don’t have to really freeze the cake right?
Elizabeth Waterson says
You don't have to freeze the cake at all Juliana, only if you wanted to save some and freeze some. Please let me know if you try the recipe. XX Liz
Miranda Walcott says
Yummy recipe, will definately give it a go, just one question, any rising agent like baking powder ? Just wondering if i missed something . also what about milk , thanks
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Miranda, thank you for reaching out! For this pound cake, you do not need a rising agent, there are plenty of eggs that help the cake rise. And there is no need for milk, the cream cheese and butter keep it nice and moist! Let me know if you have any further questions or if you try this recipe! Thank you!! XX Liz
Marie says
I have no idea what went wrong other than having used self rising cake flour(it's all the store had. Just figured that's what cake flour was!). It all spilled over and after 60min(used 9x5 loaf pans)of cooking...it was just complete mush.
So disappointing I was looking forward to it. Better luck next time.
Elizabeth Waterson says
Hi Marie, I am so sorry you had trouble with the cake. The issue is that you used self-raising flour which is NOT cake flour. Cake flour is found in a paper box usually as opposed to a paper sack at the markets in the US, cake flour is a low protein, finely sifted flour. Self-raising flour is a combination of all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder. So you added chemical leavening agents to the recipe by using self-raising flour when the recipe does not call for any chemical leavening agents. This would completely destroy the recipe, cake flour, and self-raising flour are drastically different so they can not be swapped for each other. Again, I am so sorry you had trouble but that is the issue. Please let me know if I can help with anything else or if you try it again. XX Liz
Valerie Tate says
UPDATE: I used a10 cup Bundt pan instead of a 12 cup Bundt pan, which caused the lava overflow effect. The tops was crunchy like a cookie and did not allow the cake to seal properly. It was still good, but really sweet. My neighbor came and taste tested it with Blue Belle Homemade Vanilla ice cream and LOVED it. Maybe specify large Bundt pan to ensure others do not make the same mistake I made. I am ordering larger pan and making it again Sunday as it is a recipe I plan to use a lot this fall. I will let you know my progress on the next one.