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Every community cookbook in the South has a pound cake that somebody refused to share for twenty years, and more often than not it was this one. Cream cheese pound cake is the quiet cousin of the sour cream version: the same three sticks of butter, the same six eggs, but a block of cream cheese, and a crumb so fine that a slice holds together like velvet.
What people do not believe, the first time they read the recipe, is the oven. You do not preheat it. The pan goes onto the rack of a stone cold oven, the door closes, and only then do you turn the dial to 300°F. That slow climb gives the batter a long, gentle rise before the outside sets, and it is what makes the crust: thin, pale gold and sugary, almost like a cookie baked onto the top of the cake. There is no baking powder in it either. None. Follow the card as written, keep the door shut, and the cake does the rest.
Why this cream cheese pound cake works
- The cold start. The batter heats slowly with the oven, so the cake rises evenly before the crust forms. You get a tight crumb and a thin crackly sugar crust you cannot get any other way.
- Cream cheese in the creaming. Beaten smooth with the butter, it adds fat and a faint tang, and it keeps the cake soft on day five.
- No leavening at all. Air and eggs do the lifting, which keeps the crumb fine and close, the way a true pound cake should be.
- A low oven and a long bake. At 300°F the cake has an hour and a half to cook through to the center without drying out at the edges.
Ingredients
Makes one 10-inch tube pan cake, about 16 slices. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, 340g), softened
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 3 cups granulated sugar (600g)
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- A pinch of fine salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Butter and flour for the pan
Use block cream cheese, not the whipped kind in a tub. Take the butter, cream cheese and eggs out a good hour ahead: soft and at room temperature is the whole game with this batter.
How to make cream cheese pound cake
- Do not heat the oven. Set a rack in the lower third so the tall pan sits in the middle of the oven. Butter a 10-inch tube pan (16-cup capacity) thoroughly, including the tube, then dust it with flour and tap out the excess.
- In a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together on medium for about 2 minutes, until completely smooth with no white flecks of cream cheese left.
- With the mixer running, add the sugar slowly, about half a cup at a time. Then beat for 5 full minutes on medium-high, scraping the bowl twice, until pale and fluffy. Set a timer. This is the only leavening the cake has.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until each one disappears before adding the next.
- Whisk the flour and salt together. With the mixer on its lowest speed, add the flour in three parts, mixing just until each addition disappears. Stir in the vanilla with a spatula, going right to the bottom of the bowl.
- Scrape the thick batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and tap the pan firmly on the counter two or three times to knock out air pockets.
- Put the pan into the cold oven and close the door. Now set the oven to 300°F (150°C). Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, and do not open the door before 1 hour 15 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden with a thin, crackled sugary crust and a long skewer pushed into the thickest part comes out clean. If it comes out wet, give it 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then run a thin knife around the sides and the tube and turn it out. Turn it crust side up again and let it cool before slicing.
Tips that make the difference
- Time the 5 minutes of creaming with a clock. Most people stop at two, and two minutes gives a heavy cake.
- Once the flour goes in, slow down. Overmixing toughens the crumb. Stop as soon as the last streak disappears.
- Ovens heat at different speeds. A slow oven may need the extra 5 to 10 minutes.
- Twenty minutes in the pan is the right number. Less and the cake can break coming out; more and the sugary crust steams and sticks.
Variations
- Almond. Use 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 teaspoon almond extract. A very common community cookbook version.
- Lemon. Beat the finely grated zest of 2 lemons in with the sugar.
- Bundt pan. A 12-cup Bundt works if every crevice is buttered and floured.
- With fruit. Serve slices with sugared strawberries or peaches and whipped cream.
Storage and make-ahead
This cake is better on day two. Wrap it while it is still a little warm and the crust softens just enough while the crumb settles. Kept wrapped or under a dome at room temperature, it stays good for 5 days.
Freeze the whole cake or thick slices, wrapped tightly in plastic and then foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw still wrapped.
Avoid the refrigerator. Cold firms up the butter and makes the crumb taste dry.
Frequently asked questions
Why does this pound cake start in a cold oven?
Because the slow rise in temperature lets the batter rise gently and evenly before the outside sets. A preheated oven sets the crust early, which gives a domed, cracked top and a coarser crumb. The cold start is also what creates the thin sugary crust.
Is there really no baking powder?
Really none. The 5 minutes of creaming beat tiny air bubbles into the butter, cream cheese and sugar, and the six eggs set around them in the oven. Baking powder makes this cake rise too fast and then sink.
Can I preheat the oven anyway?
You will get a cake, but not this one. The crust will be thicker and darker and the top will dome and crack. The cold oven is the recipe.
Why did my cake have a dense, wet streak near the bottom?
Usually the butter and cream cheese were too cold, the creaming was cut short, or the cake came out too early. Beat the full 5 minutes and test with a long skewer in the thickest part.
Put it in cold, leave the door shut, and wrap it while it is still a little warm. It is the easiest pound cake to get right, as long as you believe the first line of the card.
Cream Cheese Pound Cake (The Cold Oven Recipe)
An old-fashioned cream cheese pound cake that starts in a cold oven: three sticks of butter, a block of cream cheese, no baking powder, and a thin sugary crust on top. Cups and grams, and the rules that make it work.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter (3 sticks, 340g), softened
- One 8 ounce block full-fat cream cheese (226g), softened
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- A pinch of fine salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Butter and flour for the pan
Instructions
- Do not heat the oven. Set a rack in the lower third so the tall pan sits in the middle of the oven. Butter a 10-inch tube pan (16-cup capacity) thoroughly, including the tube, then dust it with flour and tap out the excess.
- In a stand mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the softened butter and cream cheese together on medium for about 2 minutes, until completely smooth with no white flecks of cream cheese left.
- With the mixer running, add the sugar slowly, about half a cup at a time. Then beat for 5 full minutes on medium-high, scraping the bowl twice, until pale and fluffy. Set a timer. This is the only leavening the cake has.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until each one disappears before adding the next.
- Whisk the flour and salt together. With the mixer on its lowest speed, add the flour in three parts, mixing just until each addition disappears. Stir in the vanilla with a spatula, going right to the bottom of the bowl.
- Scrape the thick batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and tap the pan firmly on the counter two or three times to knock out air pockets.
- Put the pan into the cold oven and close the door. Now set the oven to 300°F (150°C). Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, and do not open the door before 1 hour 15 minutes. The cake is done when the top is golden with a thin, crackled sugary crust and a long skewer pushed into the thickest part comes out clean. If it comes out wet, give it 5 to 10 minutes more.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then run a thin knife around the sides and the tube and turn it out. Turn it crust side up again and let it cool before slicing.
