Best Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe

This old fashioned Southern cream cheese pound cake recipe, is one delicious dessert. This delicious pound cake gets golden brown and crusty on the outside but its interior is moist with a dense pound cake texture. Perfect as a “slice” or with fresh berries or ice cream on top, this luscious moist cake is our favorite pound cake. Honestly, it has been a family favorite for over forty years! 

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I think, if I were a cake, I would be this butter and cream cheese pound cake recipe. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love this chocolate cake, but personality wise I would want to be something basic, something reliable, something strong.

Something you could dress up and take anywhere for special occasions or be perfectly content at home on the couch, or at a picnic.

Yes, I would be this classic pound cake recipe because it is the best pound cake I know of.

This perfect pound cake recipe is rich from the combination of butter and cream cheese.

Why I Love this Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe

It has withstood the test of time. It has weathered long bouts in the freezer and still makes everyone happy.

This easy pound cake recipe holds up to chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce, ice cream and fruit, and never loses itself in the process. 

It is a happy cake and makes the house smell good as it bakes.

Plus it is a quick, easy cake to make. And making friends the easy way is this cake’s style.

This beautiful, homemade pound cake doesn’t judge or speak out of turn; it is just happy being and doesn’t even need a fancy cake plate to make it feel gorgeous.

It lasts awhile, like good friends that linger, and can even be crumbled and tossed into a trifle without its feelings being overly hurt.

It is a good and simple butter cake and is proud of that fact. Moist and rich, with a buttery flavor, this homemade cream cheese pound cake beats Sara Lee any day.

It is complex while at the same time being simple, which makes most anything more interesting.

It is a decadent cream cheese cake recipe that has many opportunities to shine on its own and in the shadow of something else, without losing its own identity.

This cake is attributed to Marsha Hill, and this cream cheese cake recipe is from an old Junior League cookbook, Posh Pantry, from Kankakee, Illinois.

My mom sent me this cookbook in 1981 when I was just married, and I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

I’ve been making this cake for over forty years and am never disappointed.

My daughter even baked it in 8th grade for a class which has long escaped my memory, though I do have the video!

You can bake it in a bundt pan or tube pan or do as I do. 

I bake a cream cheese pound cake loaf using 2 9 x 5 loaf pans and then freeze one for when ever I need a quick dessert.

FAQ’s

7 Ingredients for Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Unsalted Butter at room temperature

Cream cheese at room temperature

Sugar

Pinch of salt

Vanilla Extract

Large eggs at room temperature

All purpose flour or Cake Flour (If using all purpose-which I do-I stir up the flour well and spoon it into my measuring cup)

How To Make This Southern Cream Cheese Pound Cake Recipe

Grease with nonstick baking spray or butter and flour well, 2 9 x 5 loaf pans or one 10″ tube or bundt pan. 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy on high speed, about 5 minutes.

Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula periodically 

Add eggs, one at a time using medium speed, beating after each addition. Do not over beat. Just incorporate the eggs after each egg and beat no further.

Gradually beat in aerated flour and salt on low speed, so you don’t make a floury mess of your kitchen. Or drape a towel over your mixer while adding. 

Pour batter into pan or pans. Bang the pans on the counter to remove air bubbles. (The batter looks like frosting, to me!)

Bake about 1 1/2 hours or more or until a skewer comes out clean with a few moist crumbs attached. If the top becomes too golden, cover lightly with foil while continuing to bake until done.

Cool on a wire rack for two hours and then remove from baking pan to cool completely.

Pound Cake Tips

• Cold ingredients do not emulsify or come together well.
• The creamed mixture should be smooth. Do not leave lumps in the cream cheese!
• Use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment for best results.
• Cake flour can be used, but I use regular all purpose flour that I stir well with a fork to aerate before measuring. 
• No need for baking powder in this amazing cake. The large eggs help lift the cake and are added one at a time and each is mixed in until combined. However, don’t over mix or this cake will become tough and doughy.
• Use the best unsalted butter you can buy. Ditto for vanilla extract.
• Use a well prepared metal pan that has been greased and floured.
• Bake the cake low and slow. It does not like to be rushed!
• Bake time is closer to 90 minutes than 60-at least in my experience.
• The cake batter looks a lot like frosting which makes you want to stick your fingers in! Aww! Go ahead!
• To test the cake for doneness, use a skewer and stick it into the center of the cake. Some moist crumbs should be there but if it is just moist batter, it needs to bake longer.

This easy recipe is always a popular choice of everyone in my family and only takes about 15 minutes to whip up.

Most of the time is in the oven while you are greedily inhaling the aroma of sugar, vanilla and butter.

And truthfully, it doesn’t get much better than that!

What to serve with Cream Cheese Pound Cake?

I serve this easy cream cheese pound cake with fresh fruit and love it with sliced, yummy peaches and a scoop of sweet cream ice cream.

Not quite peach cobbler, but something glorious none the less.

I’ve also served this old-fashioned recipe with chocolate sauce and whiskey sauce and raspberries, but not all at the same time.

Perfect also with strawberries or any fresh berries and whipped cream; this perfect cream cheese pound cake should be in your repertoire.

I’ve served this with coffee for a special brunch.

​I prefer this pound cake served with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

To me frosting, makes this a bit too decadent.

You will find many excuses to serve this Southern cream cheese pound cake recipe.

Perfect for a school function or perfect for a book club. Perfect for making your family feel special.

With just seven simple ingredients this traditional pound cake is one easy sell.

A great recipe that never disappoints, this cream cheese pound cake with a moist crumb is the perfect way to start new traditions.

Other Great Cake Recipes You May Enjoy

Carrot Loaf Recipe

Chocolate Orange Loaf

Honey Cake with Whiskey and Pecans

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