This homemade sour cream pound cake recipe is a rich, buttery Southern classic made with full-fat sour cream and a whole lot of love. Passed down from my grandmother, it's the kind of cake that tastes even better the next day.
Updated August 10, 2026: I've refreshed this post with new tips, expanded FAQs, and helpful make-ahead instructions based on your questions and feedback. Same delicious recipe, even more helpful! Originally posted in October 2013 and updated June 30, 2025.
My grandmother kept this sour cream pound cake recipe on an index card that had gone soft at the corners from handling, and I can still see her scraping the last of the batter down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula so nothing went to waste. I got the bowl. That was the arrangement. I first put this recipe on the blog back in October 2013, and it's the one I've come back to more times than any other cake I make.
I've been baking this exact cake for well over a decade, and I've answered questions about it from readers the whole way through, why there's no salt, whether three cups of sugar is too much, what happens if you use yogurt instead. Every one of those answers is in this post now. This is a Southern pound cake in the truest sense: seven ingredients, one bowl for the wet and one for the dry, and a crumb so tender people describe it as melting.
If you've never made a pound cake from scratch, this is the one to start with. There's nothing to separate, nothing to whip to stiff peaks, and nothing you can't find at any grocery store. Let's get started!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love This Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Seven ingredients - Butter, sugar, eggs, sour cream, flour, baking soda, vanilla. That's the whole list, and you likely have most of it already.
- That melt-in-your-mouth crumb - Full-fat sour cream brings fat and acid to the batter, which shortens the gluten and gives you a cake that's dense and tender at the same time.
- No fussy technique - No separating eggs, no folding whipped whites, no cake flour required. If you can run a hand mixer, you can make this.
- Better on day two - The crumb settles overnight and the butter flavor comes forward. This is a cake worth baking a day ahead.
"This is a melt in your mouth sour cream pound cake!" - Tristin, in the comments
Ingredients You'll Need
Here's everything you'll need to make this recipe.
- Butter. Unsalted, at room temperature. Butter is doing most of the flavor work here, so use one you'd happily put on a biscuit. Room temperature matters more than people expect. Cold butter won't hold the air you beat into it, and that air is your only real leavening.
- Granulated sugar. Three cups sounds like a lot, and readers tell me so regularly. It's not only for sweetness: creaming that much sugar into the butter is what builds the cake's structure and gives you that fine, tight crumb. The finished cake reads rich rather than sugary. If you'd still rather cut back, see the Variations section.
- Eggs. Six large, at room temperature. They go in one at a time so the batter stays emulsified instead of breaking.
- Full-fat sour cream. The whole point of the cake. The fat keeps the crumb moist, the acid tenderizes it, and the acid is also what activates the small amount of baking soda. Don't reach for light or fat-free, you'll lose both the texture and the tang.
- All-purpose flour. Whisk or sift it before it goes in. This recipe was written for all-purpose and works beautifully with it. See Variations if you want to try cake flour.
- Baking soda. Only a quarter teaspoon, and it's there to react with the sour cream, not to lift the cake. Check the date on the box - old baking soda is a common reason pound cakes come out squat.
- Pure vanilla extract. Use the real thing. With this few ingredients, there's nowhere for imitation vanilla to hide.
- A note on salt. You'll notice there's no salt in the recipe card. That's how my grandmother wrote it and how I've always made it. If you prefer a little, add ½ teaspoon to the dry ingredients or simply use salted butter. A reader named Wendi asked me this exact question and that's what I told her.
- Helpful tools. A stand mixer or hand mixer, a 12-cup bundt or tube pan, a rubber spatula, and a cake tester or long toothpick.
👉🏾 See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
How to Make Sour Cream Pound Cake
Here's a quick overview of the process. Full step-by-step instructions are in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Prepare the pan properly
This is the step people rush and regret. Coat every crevice of the bundt or tube pan with softened butter or shortening. Get into the flutes with your fingers, then dust with flour and tap out the excess. A cake this dense will hold onto any spot you missed, and there's no rescuing it once it's stuck.
Step 2: Cream the butter and sugar
Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until the mixture turns pale and noticeably fluffy. Give it a full three to four minutes and don't cut it short. There's almost no chemical leavening in this cake, so the air you beat in here is doing the lifting.
Step 3: Add the eggs one at a time
One egg, mix until it disappears, then the next. Rushing this is how batters break and curdle. If yours does look slightly split after the eggs, keep going, the flour will bring it back together.
Step 4: Add the sour cream, then the dry ingredients
The sour cream goes in and gets mixed just until combined. Then the whisked flour and baking soda go in gradually, on low speed, and you stop the moment you no longer see dry streaks. Overmixing after the flour is the single most common cause of a tough, rubbery pound cake.
Step 5: Bake low and slow, and start checking early
Into a 325°F oven. Start testing at the 55-minute mark with a cake tester in the thickest part. You want a few moist crumbs clinging to it and no wet batter. Ovens vary more than recipes admit, so trust the tester over the timer.
Step 6: Cool in the pan before inverting
Fifteen to twenty minutes in the pan on a wire rack, then invert. Turning it out too soon means it can break under its own weight. Leaving it much longer means steam softens the crust and it sticks.
LaKita's Expert Tips
Here are my best tips for making this recipe turn out perfectly every time.
- Set your ingredients out an hour ahead. Butter, eggs, and sour cream should all be at room temperature. Cold sour cream hitting a creamed butter mixture will seize it up and you'll lose the air you just spent four minutes building.
- Use the pan the recipe calls for. A 12-cup bundt or tube pan gives this batter the surface area it needs. A smaller pan will overflow, and a larger one produces a short, dry cake.
- Position your rack in the middle of the oven. Too high and the top browns before the center sets; too low and the bottom crust goes hard.
- Don't open the oven door before 50 minutes. The temperature drop can collapse a cake that hasn't set yet.
- A cracked top is what you want. The crack down the center means the cake rose properly and the crust set before the interior finished. Every good pound cake does it.
- Rotate the pan halfway through if your oven runs uneven. Most home ovens have a hot corner. A single 180-degree turn at the 30-minute mark evens it out.
- Bake it the day before you need it. The crumb tightens and the butter flavor deepens overnight. This is genuinely a better cake on day two, and it takes the pressure off the day of.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email below & we'll send it straight to your inbox. Plus you’ll get comforting new recipes from us every week!
Variations & Substitutions
This recipe is flexible, here are some easy ways to make it your own.
- Less sugar. Several readers have cut the sugar to two cups and reported the cake still turns out well, with a less sweet, slightly denser result. I bake it with the full three, but if the amount gives you pause, readers have done it successfully.
- Cake flour instead of all-purpose. Swap in cake flour using 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons for every cup of all-purpose. You'll get a slightly lighter, more delicate crumb, some folks prefer it, though you do trade away a little of the classic pound cake density.
- Almond extract. A quarter to a half teaspoon alongside the vanilla adds a soft, bakery-style note that pairs beautifully with berries.
- Lemon zest. The zest of one lemon whisked into the sugar before creaming brightens the whole cake without making it a lemon cake.
- A simple powdered sugar glaze. Whisk powdered sugar with a little milk or heavy cream and a splash of vanilla until it ribbons off the whisk, then drizzle it over the completely cooled cake.
- Go chocolate. If you want the same cake in a cocoa version, I have one, see Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake. For a fruit-forward take, Strawberry Pound Cake uses a similar base.
Make-Ahead & Storage
Make-Ahead
The cake itself is the make-ahead. Bake it a full day before you plan to serve it, let it cool completely, and store it covered at room temperature. The crumb improves overnight. You can also bring your butter, eggs, and sour cream out the night before and leave them on the counter so everything is at temperature when you start. I don't recommend mixing the batter ahead. The air you beat into the butter starts deflating almost immediately.
Storage & Reheating
Room temperature: Store in an airtight container or a covered cake keeper for 4 to 5 days. Room temperature is where this cake tastes best.
Refrigerator: Up to 7 days in an airtight container. Let slices come fully to room temperature before serving, cold dulls the butter flavor and firms up the crumb.
Freezer: Wrap the cooled cake, whole or in slices, tightly in plastic wrap and then in foil. It freezes well for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature on the counter.
To warm a slice: Ten to fifteen seconds in the microwave is all it takes, and it's lovely with a little softened butter on the cut side. For a toasted edge, lay a slice in a dry skillet over medium heat for about a minute per side until the surface caramelizes.
What to Serve with Sour Cream Pound Cake
Here are some of my favorite ways to serve this dish.
- With fresh summer peaches. A reader named Erica served hers this way and called it her favorite summer dessert, she was right. Try it alongside Brown Sugar Baked Peaches or with a scoop of Easy Peach Cobbler filling spooned over the top.
- With strawberries and whipped cream. Sliced strawberries macerated with a spoonful of sugar turn a slice of this into strawberry shortcake, which is exactly what one reader told me she was planning.
- Cubed into a trifle. This cake holds its shape beautifully in layers Berry Trifle with Pound Cake is built for exactly this.
- Warm, with ice cream. A slightly warmed slice under No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream is my personal weakness.
- Plain, with coffee. One reader has a slice every night with coffee or a glass of milk, and honestly that's the highest compliment a pound cake can get.
Frequently asked questions
That crack is a good sign, not a flaw. As the cake bakes, the outside sets before the center finishes rising, and the still-expanding interior splits the crust. Nearly every properly baked pound cake does this. If anything, a completely smooth top can mean the cake didn't get enough lift.
Not really. What you'll notice is a faint tang in the background that keeps the cake from tasting flatly sweet. The sour cream is doing structural work more than flavor work. The fat keeps the crumb moist and the acid tenderizes it and activates the baking soda.
Full-fat plain Greek yogurt is the closest swap and works reasonably well, though the crumb comes out a touch firmer and the tang a little sharper. Crème fraîche also works. What I'd avoid is low-fat or fat-free anything, and I wouldn't substitute milk or buttermilk. The fat content is too different and you'll lose the texture that makes this cake what it is.
You can. Use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour for every cup of all-purpose called for. Cake flour has less protein, so the crumb comes out lighter and more delicate. Whether that's an improvement depends on what you want. A traditional Southern pound cake is supposed to be dense, and all-purpose is what this recipe was built around.
Correct, and that's intentional, it's how my grandmother wrote it and how I've made it for years. Plenty of pound cake recipes do include it. If you'd like a little salt, add ½ teaspoon to the dry ingredients or just use salted butter instead of unsalted. Both work fine.
Yes. Divide the batter evenly between two greased and floured 9x5-inch loaf pans. They'll bake faster than the bundt, so start checking with a tester around the 45-minute mark and keep going until it comes out with moist crumbs and no wet batter.
Usually one of three things. Underbaking is the most common, a pound cake this dense needs a tester in the thickest part, not just a glance at the top. Opening the oven door too early can also drop the temperature enough to collapse a cake that hasn't set. And overmixing after the flour goes in develops gluten and gives you a tough, gummy texture instead of a tender one.
Readers have. Several have written in to say they used two cups instead of three and were happy with the result. A less sweet cake with a slightly denser crumb. I bake it with the full amount because the sugar contributes structure as well as sweetness, but if three cups feels like too much, you're in good company going lower.
Grease first, flour second, and be thorough. Use softened butter or shortening rather than spray, and work it into every flute and crevice with your fingers or a pastry brush. Then dust with flour, turn the pan to coat, and tap out what doesn't stick. The other half of the answer is timing: cool 15 to 20 minutes before inverting, no more and no less.
Most published sour cream pound cakes are close cousins. The ratios shift a little and some add salt, cake flour, or separated egg whites. Mine is on the simpler end: seven ingredients, whole eggs, all-purpose flour. A cream cheese pound cake swaps some or all of the sour cream for cream cheese, which gives you a slightly firmer, tangier, more velvety crumb. Both are good. This one is the version I grew up on.
📖 Recipe
Homemade Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 stand mixer or hand mixer
- 1 rubber spatula
- 1 (12 cup) Tube (Angel Food Cake) or Bundt Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup full-fat sour cream
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Generously grease and flour a 12-cup bundt or tube pan.
- In a large bowl, cream together 1 cup butter and 3 cups sugar using a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in 6 eggs, one at a time.
- Add 1 cup sour cream and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 cups all-purpose flour and ¼ teaspoon baking soda. Gradually add to the wet mixture on low speed, mixing until just combined.
- Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan. Tap gently on the counter to level.
- Bake for 1 hour- 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes. Invert onto a plate to finish cooling.
- Store in an airtight container or cake storage container at room temperature for 4 to 5 days.
Notes
- Prepare your pan with care: Use shortening or butter to lightly coat the entire interior of your bundt or tube pan, then dust with flour. Every crevice should be covered to ensure a clean release. This step is key for a beautiful cake finish.
- Room temperature matters: Let your butter, eggs, and sour cream sit out before baking. Room temperature ingredients blend more evenly and help the batter trap air, creating a lighter crumb.
- Don't overmix: Once the flour is added, mix just until everything comes together. Overmixing can lead to a tough, dense cake.
- Watch the bake time: Begin checking the cake around the 55-minute mark. Use a cake tester or toothpick. When it comes out with a few crumbs and no wet batter, it's done.
- Cool it gradually: Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15-20 minutes before inverting. Rushing this can cause sticking or breaking.
- For a golden finish: You can rotate the pan halfway through baking if your oven heats unevenly.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you give this sour cream pound cake a try, I'd love to know what you think! Leave a comment below, share a photo on Instagram and tag @SimplyLaKita, or save it on Pinterest for later. Star ratings help other bakers find this recipe more than just about anything else, so if it turned out well for you, I'd be so grateful if you'd leave one. And if something didn't go the way you expected, tell me that too. I read every comment and I've been answering questions on this cake since 2013.
💌 From my kitchen to yours, happy baking!
Wendi Williams says
Hi, I had this recipe at a friend's and it tasted great! She added salt when she realized there isn't any in the recipe. She couldnt remember how much she added so I thought id reach out to you before baking it. Is the lack of salt in the recipe intentional? If not, how much should I add? Thank you so much for your delicious recipes!
LaKita says
Hi Wendi! Salt isn't necessary, but you can add 1/2 teaspoon salt or use salted butter instead. Hope this helps 🙂
Erica Leigh says
A really solid pound cake recipe. The sour cream gave it the perfect moist texture. We enjoyed it with some summer peaches one of my favorite summer desserts. Thanks for sharing it was scrumptious!
LaKita says
Thank you Erica and with peaches sounds perfect!!
Moop Brown says
This cake looks super tasty and like a dessert everyone will enjoy. Thanks for sharing.
LaKita says
Thank you so much, I agree 🙂
Tristin says
This is a melt in your mouth sour cream pound cake! I cannot wait to try the chocolate version.
LaKita says
Thank you Tristin! Hope you enjoy the chocolate version as well.
Leslie says
Pound cake is the best and this sour cream pound cake does not disappoint! So easy and delicious!
LaKita says
Thank you so much Leslie, love a good pound cake!
Amy Liu Dong says
This looks so easy and delicious. I am so excited to make this for the kids this weekend.
Thank you for sharing!
LaKita says
Thank you Amy, hope you get a chance to try it and love it as much as I do 😉
Amanda Mason says
I love that this cake is not overly sweet! It's definitely dense but so moist! I thoroughly enjoyed this and had a piece every night with either milk or coffee. Great simplere recipe I'll be making again!
LaKita says
Thank you Amanda, that sounds like a great nightly routine 😉
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
I have that same childhood memory of licking the batter 😉 Love this cake so much! It's so decadent yet simple. What a treat!
LaKita says
Thank you Patricia, that was always my favorite part 🙂
Megs says
so delicious and easy! I love how it only has a few ingredients and even I can't mess up the recipe.
LaKita says
Thank you Megs, it's so easy!
Jenny says
Thanks for combining sour cream with pound cake. It’s a now a family favorite! Yummy.
LaKita says
Thank you Jenny! It helps to make the cake so moist.
veenaazmanov says
Thanks for such an easy, quick and delicious cake recipe. This Melt in the mouth cake sounds perfect for a Tea Time Treat too.
LaKita says
Thank you so much, definitely pairs well with tea!
Annette says
loved this cake , gonna try adding blue berries to it this time .
LaKita says
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!
Kris says
Planning to use this as a base for strawberry shortcake - it looks delicious!
LaKita says
Thank you! Strawberry shortcake sounds delicious with this!!
Katyalyssa says
Just finished this recipe!!! Turned out great! I put strawberries on top! Thank you for the recipe...I followed it exactly!
LaKita says
So glad that it turned out well for you and strawberries sounds perfect!!
Sonia says
Interested in the chocolate sour cream pound cake can't find the recipe
LaKita says
Hi Sonia! Sure, you can find it here: https://www.simplylakita.com/chocolate-sour-cream-pound-cake/
Pat says
I would love to make this cake as it looks yummy but I’m put off by the 3 cups of sugar for the 1 cake????
LaKita says
I can understand that, but it is not overly sweet. This cake is very dense, uses sour cream, and the recipe makes a pretty big cake. If you feel more comfortable cutting the sugar in half, then it shouldn't make a difference.
Rhonda says
I only put two cups sugar it tastes fine to me
LaKita says
Awesome! Thank you Rhonda.
AprilG says
I love sour cream pound cake. You make it look easy. Definitely pinning this one.
admin says
Thank you...I have had plenty of practice and I still can make some ugly but delicious pound cakes 😉
Akaleistar says
How yummy!
admin says
Thank you! It was yummy...especially warm topped with a scoop of ice cream 😉
T.Dashfield says
I love making pound cakes and this is one I am going to have to try! Thanks for posting it and hello from Sharefest
admin says
Hello! Thank you. This one turned out really well. Please give it a try and let me know how it turns out for you.