[1] Strawberry shortcake pound cake: Bake the cake in a loaf pan, slice it horizontally, and the strawberries and whipped cream. Here’s the recipe (photo © The Baker Chick).

[2] Pistachio chocolate chip pound cake bundt. Here’s the recipe (photo © King Arthur Flour).

[3] In the summer, add fresh berries to the batter. Here’s the recipe. In the winter, you can use the frozen berries (photo © QVC).

A pound cake is a loaf cake, although some people make them in Bundt pans.

The original pound cake recipe, buttery and moist, was made with one pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs (that’s about eight eggs), plus flavoring—hence the name.

Vanilla or lemon are the classic pound cake flavors, but quite a few variations have evolved through the years:

 
See the pound cake recipes below.
 
 
POUND CAKE HISTORY

The original recipe, developed in England in the 1700s, made a very large and dense cake. By the mid-1800s, the ingredient proportions had been adjusted to make a smaller, lighter cake.

The British pound cake is actually a fruit cake containing currants, raisins, sultanas (golden raisins), and glacé cherries. While the cake portion was similar to modern pound cakes, these fruited pound cakes were the traditional wedding cakes.

Since the ingredients are so simple, it’s hard to make a bad pound cake—just use the freshest eggs and butter you can find, real vanilla extract, and don’t over-bake.
 
 
POUND CAKE RECIPES

Pound cakes are so easy to make—why not whip one up to celebrate National Pound Cake Day?

While a plain piece of pound cake is a joy, some added whipped cream, berries, vanilla ice cream or the full monty—a pound cake hot fudge sundae—makes the occasion even more joyous.

 
 
 
 
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