Pound Cake

Recipe from Tracy K. Smith

Adapted by The New York Times

Updated July 14, 2025

Pound Cake
Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
1 hour 45 minutes, plus cooling
Prep Time
5 minutes
Cook Time
1 hour 40 minutes
Rating
4(765)
Comments
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This vanilla pound cake from the poet Tracy K. Smith has a fine textured crumb and a very buttery flavor. The heavy cream makes it a bit lighter than the usual pound cake. If you use a tube pan, the crackling top stays crisp (turning it over to cool softens the crunch) and the cake is a bit easier to remove from the pan. Or, you can bake it in two loaf pans (in which case, start checking for doneness after 45 minutes). The magic thing about this cake is that it gets better by the day — ever so slightly sweeter and more settled into its flavors. It keeps well at room temperature for a few days. —The New York Times

Featured in: Two Recipes From Tracy K. Smith’s Kitchen

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings
  • 1½cups/340 grams salted butter (3 sticks), softened at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 3cups/600 grams granulated sugar
  • 6large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3cups/345 grams cake flour, plus more for the pan
  • 1cup/ 235 milliliters heavy cream
  • 1tablespoon vanilla extract
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

909 calories; 49 grams fat; 30 grams saturated fat; 2 grams trans fat; 13 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 110 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 76 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 335 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees. Using softened butter, grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan or 10-inch tube pan.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, combine butter and sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

  3. Step 3

    Beat in about 1 cup of the flour until well combined, then beat in half the cream. Repeat additions, beating well in between each one, and ending with the flour. Beat in vanilla. Using a rubber spatula, scrape batter into the prepared pan.

  4. Step 4

    Bake until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, 60 to 80 minutes. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 15 to 20 minutes before turning out to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Tip
  • To substitute unsalted butter, add 1 teaspoon fine salt along with the sugar.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
765 user ratings
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Comments

jane raskin

There seems to be a typo in the flour amount. 3 cups d/n equal 270 grams. Did you mean 2 cups? or 375 grams?

Susan Edgerley

When we first tested this recipe at The Times, we used a loaf pan; it turned out great.

Then a reader wrote and said she ended up with a lot of extra batter. She had used a smaller pan, but we had had a little extra batter as well, though less than a quarter of a cup.

We tested the cake again, using a bundt pan this time. Even better. The larger pan made the texture lighter and the cake tastier.

David Look

3 cups.

Margaux Laskey, Associate Editor, New York Times Cooking

I added 1 teaspoon kosher salt (yes, in addition to the salted butter. 3 cups is a lot of sugar!), and my family and friends declared this the best pound cake ever. there is something truly special about the velvety crumb and the just-this-side-of-crisp crust.

Mary

This is Elvis’ favorite pound cake. Originally published, as far as I know, by Sylvia Carter in Newsday. Don’t play with it. It is perfect as is.

JS

Lordy, that’s a dark crust on the cake. Looks burned to me.

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