This is hands down the best pound cake recipe in all the land. Read on to find out where I got the original recipe and how I have modified this classic Southern dessert to end up with the best possible texture.
I call this first version Van Halen Pound Cake, after the song. Although I doubt the song is about baked goods! Once you learn the original, you can modify it in so many ways. I’ve made Strawberry Moscato pound cake, dark chocolate pound cake, whipping cream pound cake, and more, all based on this one base recipe.
As a matter of fact, I’ve rounded up all my pound cake recipes in one place on the blog! Thanks for stopping by.
Perfected Pound Cake, At a Glance
✔️Skill Level: Beginner
✔️Skills: The Creaming Method (linked), Powdered Sugar Glaze
✔️Type: Pound Cake
✔️Number of Ingredients: 11
✔️Prep Time: 25 minutes
✔️Bake Time: about an Hour
✔️Yield: 1 large pound cake, 16-20 slices
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Patsy’s Famous Pound Cake Recipe, Re-imagined by Me
I told you guys I would be reporting on the making/baking/de-panning/eating of Miss Patsy’s famous pound cake recipe, sent to me by friend and reader Cindy.
I have been sworn to secrecy about the exact recipe, so I can’t print that, but I can print my modifications.
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And where does Van Halen come in? I was invited to Mary Lou’s house for New Years Day. She told me to bring something sweet. I told her, via facebook, that I would bring this pound cake.
She posted, “Is that like Van Halen pound cake?” I was confused, and I had to ask her what that meant. She told me that Van Halen has a song called Pound Cake. I don’t think it’s about a baked good, but that’s neither here nor there.
So, for my purposes, my few tweaks to Miss Patsy’s famous pound cake will be known from this point onward as Van Halen pound cake.
But also know it as The Best Pound Cake, because it kind of is.
The Original Pound Cake Recipe
First, a bit about pound cake. If you don’t need the refresher or want this information, you are welcome to jump straight to the recipe.
The original recipe is a perfect balance of structural elements and tenderizing elements.
- 1 pound each of flour and eggs for Team Structure
- 1 pound each of sugar and butter for Team Tender.
A perfectly balanced but fairly dense, not too sweet, and fairly unremarkable cake.
It toasts nicely, I’ll give it that. Think of the original pound cake as a barely sweet tea cake or a kind of quick bread.
The recipe has been tweaked over the years and now modern pound cake recipes generally include extra sugar, some flavorings, a little extra liquid and some leavening.
The amounts of the 4 main elements in my modern pound cake are:
- 13 oz cake flour (1 pound minus 3 ounces)
- 5 eggs (about 10 oz, or 1 pound minus 6 ounces)
- 20 oz sugar (1 pound plus 4 ounces)
- 12 oz butter (1 pound minus 4 ounces)
The resulting cake, even without the flavorings and leaveners, is lighter (less flour, less egg), a touch less rich (less egg and less butter), and sweeter (more sugar) than the original.
Pound Cakes Are Made with The Creaming Method
I’m sure you’d recognize the method, even if you don’t call it by name.
It’s the one that starts out, “Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.”
If this doesn’t sound familiar to you, chances are you haven’t baked a lot of American-style butter cakes.
Please watch a video in the recipe card for a primer, or for a refresher, if you need one.
The Creaming Method, Step by Step
And now, written for you in first person, here are all the steps I took to make this cake. They are also the steps you’ll need to take to make the best pound cake or any other butter cake:
- I measured all of my ingredients and let them sit until everything was no cooler than about 68F.
- I whisked the flour and baking powder together really well.
- I creamed the butter and shortening together for about a minute.
- I added the flavorings and the salt to the butter and shortening and creamed for another minute. (Fat carries flavor really well, so adding them at this point makes sense).
- In went the sugar, and I creamed everything on medium until the shortening was lighter in color and fluffy–about 3-4 more minutes. Much bowl scraping occurred too, to ensure even creaming.
- In went 1 egg at a time. I beat on medium for about 30 seconds with each addition, scraping the bowl every time. (NOTE: I have since modified this method to beating the 5 eggs together and drizzling them in slowly. I think it makes a more stable batter.)
- I dumped in about half the flour/baking powder and beat until combined.
- In went half the dairy. I beat until just combined.
- Then, I put in 1/2 of the remaining flour/baking powder and mixed on low until combined.
- I drizzled in the last half of the milk, then added the rest of the flour and the zest. (If you add the zest earlier, it will just get all snarled around your paddle attachment like seaweed around a boat motor, and none of it will end up in the cake).
- I turned the speed up for literally just 2-3 seconds to make sure everything was well combined.
- I preheated the oven to 350 degrees, F, and baked the cake in the lower third of the oven for a total of about 1 hour and 10 minutes. I knew he was done when he was just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan and when I toothpick I stuck in the center came out clean.
- I let him cool in the pan for about an hour, then I turned him out onto a rack to finish cooling. Fortunately my Cake Release did me proud and the cake sprang forth from the pan like the Little Gingerbread Man from the oven. NOTE: For the moistest possible cake, depan when still decidedly warm–let it cool about 30 minutes, maybe–then wrap the entire cake with plastic wrap, and let it cool down in the fridge or freezer. That way, the moisture will stay in the cake rather than evaporating out during cooling.
Pro Tip
To play up the lemon element of the cake, before adding the sugar to your mixer bowl, add the lemon zest to the sugar and crush the two together with your clean fingers to extract as much lemon flavor as you can. When you’re done, the sugar will have a slight yellow tinge to it and will clump together a bit because of the lemon oil.
How to Prepare a Bundt Pan for Baking
How to prepare the pan: I used a Bundt pan, and I knew that Cindy has had issues with the cake sticking. I really like a Wilton product for this.
It’s their Cake Release. It’s not the spray kind; it comes in a bottle with a flip-top lid, like the old Bactine bottles, if you remember.
- Squirt some Cake Release into the bottom of your pan
- Use a pastry brush to brush it evenly all over the interior of the pan.
I am truly convinced that the Cake Release is the Best Product Ever for making a cake come bounding out of a pan, and using a pastry brush really helps to get it in all the nooks and crannies in a Bundt pan.
If you don’t have any of this magical product, other options include:
- pan sprays with oil and flour in them
- fat and then flour
- fat and then sugar
- homemade cake lube
Glazing the Pound Cake
I rarely measure when I make a glaze, and you don’t have to either!
I used some powdered sugar, a pinch of salt, the wee-est splash of my favorite Sonoma Syrup Co Special Blend Pure Vanilla Bean Extract “Crush” Madagascar Bourbon and Tahitian Vanilla with Vanilla Bean Seeds (that’s what the label says. I just call it vanilla), and a little half and half.
I tend to make a thicker glaze so it shows up thick and white on the cake. Other people like thinner glaze. There is no one right way.
Start by adding a small amount of liquid at a time, and whisk well in between. Stop when it gets to the consistency you like.
Then, once the cake cools, drizzle, drizzle, drizzle.
In case you were wondering, it’s called “Crush” because it has crushed up vanilla beans in it so there are wee vanilla specks. It is, hands down, the best vanilla I’ve ever had.
This is a great recipe, folks. It’s buttery, and the mixture of the extracts lends a subtle and can’t-put-your-finger-on-it quality to the cake. I heard a lot of, “What exactly am I tasting?” The folks at the party loved it, and I give full credit to Miss Patsy for the original recipe and to Cindy for sharing it with me. Thanks, Cindy!
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Please Take a Moment to Rate and Review
It will help me and other readers so much if you take a moment to rate and leave a review for this recipe.
You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
Other ways to share include pinning, and/or sharing on your favorite social media platform.
Thank you so much for taking the time!
And now it’s time to make the very best pound cake you will ever have. Not that I’m biased.
The Best Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 13 oz. cake flour about 3 cups, sifted, spooned, and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 12 oz 3 sticks unsalted butter at cool room temperature
- 20 oz granulated sugar about 3 cups
- 1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea salt
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- zest of 1 1/2 lemons
- 1 ¼ cup half and half
Instructions
- Grease and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan, or use pan spray and flour. Set a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350F.
- Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and salt until the butter is creamy and lightens in color a bit, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy and very pale in color, about 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
- Add the extracts and lemon zest and beat for an additional minute.
- Whisk the eggs together in a bowl, and then drizzle them into the mixer bowl on medium-low speed over about 5 minutes, scraping the bowl as necessary.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the dairy in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Scrape the bowl as necessary, and beat on high for 2-3 seconds, just to make sure it is nice and homogenized.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in the lower third of the oven until well risen and deep golden brown. A toothpick should come out clean. This will take about an hour.
- Allow the cake to cool on a rack for 30 minutes and then turn out to cool completely, about 4 hours. For the moistest possible cake, wrap in plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge or freezer.
- Serve as is or with your favorite glaze or drizzle.
- Store leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 5 days. Wrap well and freeze for longer storage.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Video
Nutrition
And there you have it, the original “Van Halen” pound cake recipe, the pound cake recipe from which all my other pound cakes come.
Hi, y’all! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and hopefully also learned a thing or two.
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I live in a country where I cannot get half and half. I know it’s a combo of cream and milk but is it truly ‘half and half’?
Sorry for the dumb question!!
Hi, Ranjit. Not a dumb question at all. Yes, you can use half whole milk and helf cream. It will work out just fine. Enjoy!
Made this pound cake today…incredible texture and flavor. I can’t wait to make the chocolate one. Question….I bought a store brand of butter on sale for $1.99 a pound. Should I buy a specific brand of butter? I’m wondering about the fat percentage in off brand butters. Thanks so much!!! Love your recipes!
I’m so glad you love the cake! Yay, Jules! Honestly, with as expensive as butter is, I say the $2/pound butter is the right butter to use. In all seriousness, with the extracts giving the majority of the flavor, I just use the “regular” unsalted butter from the store. I save really tasty, premium, European brands for use when the butter *is* the main flavor, as with puff pastry or shortbread. And thanks for commenting–I’m so pleased you love the recipes!
Just stopping by to tell you that I adapted your recipe for this month’s Bundt Bakers, adding in lemon juice (and some baking soda, of course) to the batter, along with blueberries, blueberry jam and some cream cheese as a filling. The filling sank, making it more like your own pineapple upside down pound cake, but never mind. The important thing is that it is buttery and delicious! (And I covered the top with sweet cream cheese drizzle.) I’ll send you a photo.
Oh yay! I am so glad, Stacy! I saw the picture–yum! I do love that cake, and it is happy to be tweaked in all manner of ways. =)
I’m calling it Lemon Blueberry Van Halen Bundt, so, of course, there will be a link and An Explanation.
I find most folks need an explanation of the Van Halen part! LOL Looking forward to reading your post!
Jenni, I couldn’t resist snooping around, especially the pound cake recipes. I’m showing my age but the Van Halen one really caught me eye! It’s definitely a rockin pound cake!
LOL Thanks, Rhonda! This is the cake that started it all. I also have a Sneaky Blog where I have testers testing some of my new recipes that will be exclusive (ish) to the book. If you’d like an invitation to that, I’d be happy to have you come over and take a look! So excited about our potentially working together!
So glad I found your site. Thanks for your insightful tips, and recipes. I can’t wait to get started. P.S. I don’t know what the little star is at the top of my post, but I was trying to give you as many stars as I could. I think I may have messed it up. : (
Worry not, Shirley! 🙂 I’m glad you’re here, and please don’t hesitate to ask any question you might have.
Oh my YES I certainly would love to win this! So enjoy your entire blog!!!!
Looking at the new site – and just found this recipe – my Jim is a Van Halen fanatic – going to make this – sounds incredible!
All my pound cakes are based on this one formula. It is fantastic! I hope your husband digs it, Jenny!