With just a few basic staple ingredients, you can bake the most delicious sweet and buttery homemade Vanilla Almond Pound Cake. It’s a total winner that you’ll want to make again and again!
Pound cake is a classic dessert that you can easily make at home from scratch – and you definitely should! It’s so versatile. You can eat it plain, top it, or use it to make trifles and other yummy sweet treats.
Adding a hint of almond along with the usual vanilla flavor makes it extra delicious!
By the way, did you ever wonder why it’s called pound cake? It’s because, traditionally, it was made with 1 pound each of flour, eggs, butter, and sugar. That’s it!
This recipe is a variation of traditional pound cake. It has a pound of sugar and a pound of flour, but it’s a bit lighter on the butter and eggs (just a bit – we’re still talking about a rich cake here). It also has some vanilla and almond flavoring, a little baking powder to help it rise, and evaporated milk for moisture.
The result is a pound cake with a dense but soft texture that is sweet and decadent. It is absolute perfection!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED:
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Evaporated milk
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE VANILLA ALMOND POUND CAKE:
You can use either a hand mixer or a stand mixer to mix your batter. If your hand mixer is a bit wimpy, though, go for the stand mixer because the batter is a bit thick, and you don’t want to burn out the motor of your hand mixer.
It’s very important to not over-mix your batter! Doing so can result in a tough cake. When adding the flour and evaporated milk, mix each addition just until it is incorporated into the batter.
This pound cake recipe makes 16 slices, so if you have any cake left over, you can freeze it. Whether you do a larger piece of cake or individual slices, just make sure you wrap them well with plastic wrap before wrapping with foil or putting in a freezer bag to keep as much air out as possible.
The most important part of making sure your pound cake is moist and delicious and not dry and crumbly is to not over-bake it! Here are some tips:
First, make sure your oven is not running hot. Use an oven thermometer to check. If it is not spot-on, make the appropriate adjustment (for example, my oven runs 25°F hot, so I have to set it at 325°F for it to actually be at 350°F). I have over-baked a few cakes in my day because of a too-hot oven, so now I just keep an oven thermometer in there all the time.
Second, start doing your toothpick check earlier rather than later. Once you’re at about 60 minutes, start checking it. It’s done when there is no batter on the toothpick and it comes out clean (it’s okay if there are a few moist crumbs). If it’s not done, keep checking every 5 minutes until it is.
You can change up the flavor of the pound cake, too! Just add different flavored extracts. I’m thinking lemon or orange extract would be fantastic, and I’ll bet coconut would be delicious too.
There are so many things you can do with this Vanilla Almond Pound Cake! A slice all by itself is absolutely fabulous, but here are some other ideas:
- Dust it with powdered sugar.
- Top it with a glaze or icing.
- Use it for strawberry shortcake or my Pound Cake with Marsala Mixed Berries.
- Use it for trifles or tiramisu.
- Spread some jam or preserves on it…or how about some chocolate hazelnut spread? Yessss!
AND…here’s my new favorite way to eat it (courtesy of David, who is always looking for ways to take things over the top): Lightly TOASTED with a little bit of butter on it! Just. Do. It.
I hope you try this recipe for Vanilla Almond Pound Cake and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
Vanilla Almond Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups unsalted butter (2½ sticks), softened (plus extra for greasing the pan)
- 2¾ cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for flouring the pan)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup evaporated milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour a tube pan (the size I use is 9½ x 4 inches – a similar-sized Bundt pan can also be used).
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract on medium speed for 5 minutes. Scrape the bowl as needed. Note: if your hand mixer isn't very strong/heavy-duty, I suggest using a stand mixer, as the batter is a bit thick, and you don't want to burn out the motor of your hand mixer.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the evaporated milk, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Note: Be sure not to over-mix, as this can cause your cake to be tough.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Spread out evenly with a spatula.
- Bake in the center of the oven for 70 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are okay, but no batter). Note: To avoid over-baking, I recommend beginning to test at 60 minutes. If the cake is not done, check it every 5 minutes until it is.
- Remove the cake from the oven and put the pan on a wire cooling rack. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 minutes.
- Using a knife, carefully loosen the cake from the pan.
- Remove the cake from the pan. Cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
- Slice and serve!
Notes
- Leftover cake can be frozen either in large pieces or individual slices. Just be sure to wrap well with plastic wrap before wrapping with foil or putting in a freezer bag to keep as much air out as possible.
Recipe slightly adapted from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook.
Cindy
I love pound cake !! But I am lactose intolerant ! Can I sub the milk ingredient with something else ??
Please let me know !
Michelle
Hey, Cindy! Did you know that they actually make lactose-free evaporated milk? That would probably be the best choice since it’s the most similar to the original recipe. Regular lactose-free milk would be my next suggestion. Beyond that, I suppose you could try something like almond milk or another non-dairy milk. Sometimes it’s difficult to make substitutions in baking, and I have only made this recipe as written, but I would definitely give one of these a try. Let us know how it goes!
Reet
Hi Michelle,
Is it possible to reduce the sugar amount? I don’t have a sweet tooth as such & I find many recipes contain quite a bit of sugar & I’d like to reduce it, if it’s at all possible.
Kindest regards
Reet
Michelle
Hello, Reet! I have never tried this recipe with less sugar, so I am not sure what would happen if you did (in baking, sugar sometimes does more than just sweeten; it could also affect the moisture level, the texture, structure, browning, etc.). Doing so could potentially affect the end result, depending on how much you leave out. That being said, you could always experiment and try baking the pound cake with less sugar and see how it turns out and whether you enjoy it!
Dawn
We love this cake. It’s best served slightly warm with raspberries and homemade whipped cream.
Michelle
Thank you, Dawn! I’m so happy you love this cake…and serving it warm with berries and whipped cream sounds amazing!