5-Ingredient Vanilla Pound Cake
If you need a quick and easy cake recipe in a pinch everyone will enjoy, this classic Vanilla Pound Cake is it. Ready in less than 1 hour using only 5 staple ingredients, it’s a cake recipe that I keep coming back to over and over again. AND it’s a traditional pound cake, using equal parts of butter, sugar, and flour.
Unlike many other pound cake recipes, this one actually uses equal parts of butter, sugar, and flour which is the basis of a traditional pound cake recipe. Simply double the recipe for a true pound cake in terms of volume but you’ll need a larger bundt tin and bake it for at least 1 hour.
This vanilla loaf cake recipe is an easy tea cake recipe for you to get creative with. Add fruit, chocolate, nuts, or turn it into a swirl cake using this recipe as a starting point. My cinnamon swirl cake, blueberry and lemon pound cake, and strawberry pound cake are good examples.
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Vanilla Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb butter lightly salted
- 1/2 lb sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 lb self-raising flour
- 2 tsp powdered sugar to serve, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. About 2-3 minutes.1/2 lb butter, 1/2 lb sugar
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla extract.4 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Gradually add the flour to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.1/2 lb self-raising flour
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cover the cake with some parchment paper while baking if it's getting too dark while baking.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar before serving (optional).2 tsp powdered sugar
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter – I use lightly salted butter for convenience. You can also use unsalted butter and add 1/4 tsp of salt to the batter.
- Sugar – Granulated sugar works best for the classic pound cake. I use powdered sugar to serve.
- Vanilla – Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste give the loaf cake its rich vanilla flavor. For an even more intense flavor use 1 vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. You can also use vanilla essence if needed but I much prefer the taste of vanilla extract.
- Eggs – Medium-sized eggs stored at room temperature work best.
- Flour – I use self-raising flour for convenience. You can also opt for all-purpose flour and add 2 tsp of baking powder.
5-ingredient vanilla cake (step-by-step)
1: Cream butter and sugar.
2: Add eggs one at a time while whisking as well as the vanilla extract.
3: Stir in the self-raising flour making sure not to overmix the batter.
4: Add the cake batter to a greased or parchment paper-lined loaf tin. Bake for 40 minutes at 350F in a preheated oven or until a knife comes out clean.
Serving
I recommend serving the vanilla loaf cake with a simple dusting of powdered sugar. Alternatively, add a vanilla bean glaze or frosting.
Serve it with some whipped cream such as my classic schlag, brown sugar whipped cream, or mascarpone cream.
My go-to tea cake!