Try this Cream Cheese Pound Cake recipe, or contribute your own.
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 8 oz. package cream cheese (use philadelphia) softened
- 3 sticks unsalted butter softened (i only use land o' lakes unsalted)
- 3 cups granulated sugar (i like domino's)
- 6 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups plain flour (all-purpose white lily)
- 1/8 easpoon salt (don’t use kosher salt)
- Carbohydrate 0.316119 g
- Cholesterol 146.336 mg
- Fat 10.314722 g
- Fiber 0 g
- Protein 3.851218 g
- Saturated Fat 5.5734302 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (40g)
- Sodium 43.0511 mg
- Sugar 0.316119 g
- Trans Fat 1.013618 g
- Calories 110 calories
Step-by-step
- Do not preheat the oven. Butter and flour the large Bundt (12 cup) or tube pan. You may want to set the pan on a cookie sheet covered with foil in case the cake overflows while baking.
- Sift together the flour and salt and set aside.
- Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed of electric mixer until blended, then turn up to medium-high for about 8 minutes.
- Gradually add sugar, beating another 5-7 minutes on medium-high. The batter should get very creamy and light with no discernible pieces of cream cheese.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low to medium just until yellow disappears.
- Add vanilla.
- Add flour to batter, a little at a time, beating on low speed just until blended. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of bowl to blend every bit.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan and place in cold oven along with a 2 cup oven-proof measuring cup filled with water (about 1 ½ cups).
- Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 15-30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean or has just a few crumbs. Start checking about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Let cool in pan on wire rack for 20 minutes then flip onto wire rack.
- You can then flip back onto a cake platter so that the bottom of the cake becomes the top or just leave it as is.
Replacing all-purpose flour with cake flour will yield a tighter crumb, though protein content dictates structural integrity. Standard methods demand preheating, yet starting this batter in a cold oven encourages a slow, even rise across the thick density of the pan. Cream cheese adds moisture and weight, which alters traditional sponge physics. Creaming butter and cheese together for a full eight minutes incorporates microscopic air cells. These cells expand during baking to lift heavy fats.
Assessing doneness requires tactical observation since internal digital probes struggle with dense emulsions. Insert a wooden pick deep into the thickest part of the ring at one hour and fifteen minutes. A clean removal indicates readiness, while wet batter demands five-minute increments. Moist crumbs signal the optimal moisture retention window.
Baking this volume demands a heavy twelve-cup Bundt or tube pan. Flimsy aluminum will scorch the exterior before the interior sets. Placing a water-filled measuring vessel beside the pan regulates cavity humidity, preventing premature crust formation.
