Sour Cream Pound Cake {Loaf}

This easy sour cream pound cake recipe from scratch is considered to be a Southern classic, old fashioned cake that melts in your mouth. It's firm and dense but still very moist. Perfect for carving or serving with whipped cream and strawberries.

I love this classic cake and all its other variations and have a huge collection that you might enjoy baking your way through: Chocolate Pound Cake (With Cake Mix), Lemon Pound Cake (With Cake Mix), Buttermilk Pound Cake (From Scratch)and Cream Cheese Pound Cake. I have seen two types of pound cakes- with sour cream and without it. They both taste great but I think the one with sour cream is more moist and soft. I am not sure if this is the typical Southern version but it sure is the best one! I topped it off with fluffy whipped cream, fresh strawberries and a Nutella syrup drizzle and it's a heavenly dessert that you can serve at any party.

How to Make Easy Sour Cream Pound Cake Recipe From Scratch?

1. Cream butter and sugar- Until "whitish" in color.
2. Add eggs- One at a time.
3. Mix in wet ingredients- Including sour cream and extracts.
4. Combine flour and baking soda- Dump it into the wet mixture.
5. Pour and bake- In a loaf pan.
6. Cool and frost- With whipped cream.
7. Top it- With fresh strawberries and Nutella syrup. Enjoy!

Key Ingredients

• Flour- I used all-purpose for this recipe.
• Sour cream- To create a moist cake.
• Leavening agent- Baking soda alone is enough.
• Sugar- To make this a sweet cake.
• Eggs- To make it rich and dense.

Pound Cake Toppings

• Glaze- Such as a rum glaze or this Lemon Glaze For Cake {Lemon Drizzle Icing} or Powdered Sugar Glaze {Vanilla Cake Glaze}.
• Icing/Frosting- Such as Strawberry Frosting {With Fresh Strawberries), Caramel Frosting {3 Ingredients}, Chocolate Ganache Frosting {2 Ingredients}, or Lemon Frosting (Lemon Buttercream).
• Fresh fruits- Like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or peaches.
• Pie fillings- Such as How to Make Strawberry Pie Filling, How to Make Cherry Pie Filling, How to Make Raspberry Pie Filling, or How to Make Blueberry Pie Filling.
• Syrups- Such as maple, fruit, nutella, or the Mocha syrup from this recipe, Mocha Pancakes With Mocha Syrup.
• Fondant decorations- Like these Easy Fondant Daisies {Daisy Cupcakes}, How to Make Fondant Flowers, How To Make Easy Fondant Bows, or How to Make Easy Fondant Roses (Ribbon Roses).
• Sugar decorations- Such as flowers, seasonal decor, or holiday themes options.
• Sprinkles- Use store bought to match your theme or event, or these How to Make Homemade Sprinkles.
• Fresh flowers- Use edible ones such as pansies, roses, lavender, cornflowers, daisies, or marigolds.
• Chopped nuts- Such as cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamia, or hazelnuts.
• Candy bars- Such Kit Kats, Snickers, 100 Grand, Heath bar, Twix, Baby Ruth, Milky Way, or 3 Musketeers.
• Caramelized fruits- Like Caramelized bananas or Caramelized peaches.

Why Add Sour Cream in Baking? 

Sour cream has a high fat content which adds a lot of moisture to the cake and gives it a very rich flavor. It also helps with the firm texture of this cake.

Why Did My Cake Fall or Collapse?

There could be a few reasons:

1. Under-baking: The cake was removed from the oven before it had fully baked, causing the top to collapse.
2. Incorrect measurements: The ingredients may not have been measured accurately. Extra sugar and moisture can cause a cake to fall.
3. Incorrect oven temperature: Make sure to use an oven thermometer to calibrate your oven. If the temperature is too high or too low, the cake will not rise or bake properly, resulting in a collapse.
4. Too much leavening: Even though baking soda helps with the cake rising, too much of it can cause it to rise too quickly in the oven and then fall when it's removed from the oven.
5. Insufficient creaming: Butter and sugar were not creamed long enough to allow  air to incorporate into the batter to allow a sufficient rise during baking.

Why is my Cake Dry?

This is often due to over-baking the cake, or baking at too high of a temperature. This can also result from having too much flour, or conversely not enough butter and sugar. Make sure to measure accurately and according to the recipe for best results.

Variations for Southern Old Fashioned Sour Cream Pound Cake Loaf

Lemon sour cream pound cake- Follow the same recipe but add 1.5 tablespoon lemon zest in the batter and top off the cake with a simple lemon glaze, once it cools down. You can use any citrus zest you like such as orange, lime, grapefruit to make other citrus pound cakes.

Use a cake mix- For a quicker version. Simply follow the box directions.

Add chocolate chips- Such as white, dark or milk chocolate.

Add zests- Such as orange, lemon, or lime.

Add spices- Such as cinnamon, apple pie spice, or pumpkin pie spice.

Try other extracts- Like almond extract, rum extract, vanilla e.t.c.

Use it to carve a cake- This cake is perfect for carving and making those cool 3D shaped cake designs!

Make mini loaves or mini cakes- Use mini cake pans or loaf pans. However, I would not make cupcakes. I think cupcakes should be fluffy and pound cake has a more firm texture, which is not suitable for cupcakes.

Make a bundt cake- Use this recipe, but bake it in a bundt pan instead.

Tips and Techniques

How long does it take to make this cake? It takes 1 hour to 1.5 hours. The cake is considered fully baked when an inserted toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Can sour cream be frozen for later use? Yes, but sour cream has a tendency to separate when it's frozen and thawed. You can still use it in baking and cooking but not in dips or as toppings.

What does sour cream pound cake taste like? This wonderfully moist sour cream pound cake with crusty top is rich, dense, moist and has an incredible buttery vanilla flavor.

What can I substitute for sour cream in pound cake?Greek yogurt is a good substitute but I highly recommend using sour cream since yogurt adds a subtle tangy flavor.

There is no baking powder in pound cakes- Because only a little bit of baking soda is needed for this dense cake.

All the ingredients must be at room temperature- Because this allows them to blend together smoothly and it also helps create maximum volume.

The key to making the best cake is to cream the heck out of your butter and sugar. Because this incorporates tiny air pockets into the batter, which helps it rise.  You must cream the butter and sugar for 7-10 minutes or until the mixture is so pale that it's "whitish" in color.

Yes, that is the correct temperature- Pound cakes generally bake more evenly at 325 degrees than 350 degrees.

Don't use this recipe to make a chocolate version-- Because the ratio of ingredients would need to be altered.

Don't slice a warm cake- Because it can crumble. Wait till it completely cools first.

Don't add any toppings to a warm cake- Because the warmth will melt them and send them sliding right off the cake.

Don't add toppings if you are freezing this cake for later- Because they will not thaw properly. Add the toppings when you are ready to serve it again.

Storage of Homemade Cake Loaf

Room temperature- Cake loaves without icing and fresh fruits can be stored in a sealed container for up to 3 days.

Refrigerate- In sealed container for up to 5 days.

Freeze- In sealed container for up to 1 month without any toppings. Thaw to room temperature, add toppings and enjoy.

More Classic Cake Recipes

• Texas Sheet Cake (From Scratch)
• Boston Cream Pie (With Cake Mix)
• German Chocolate Cake (With Cake Mix)
• Strawberry Shortcake Cake
• 7 Up Cake (With Cake Mix)
• Sock it to me Cake (With Cake Mix)
• Louisiana Crunch Cake (With Cake Mix)
• Black Forest Cake (With Cake Mix)
• Homemade Pineapple Upside Down Cake

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