Cream Cheese Pound Cake – Averie Cooks

Preheat oven to 325F and spray your Bundt pan or tube pan VERY well with cooking spray (I like floured cooking spray); or grease and flour the pan. Make sure to get all the nooks and crannies of the pan so your cake doesn’t stick later. Set aside.

Mixing – To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and handheld electric mixer), add the butter, and beat on high speed for about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the bowl.

Add the cream cheese and beat to incorporate into the butter, about 1-2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the bowl.

Add the sugar and beat to incorporate, about 1-2 minutes. Stop and scrape down the bowl.

Add the extracts and beat momentarily to incorporate.

With the mixer running on medium-low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, stopping after each addition to allow it to fully incorporate before adding the next. Tip – While it’s important to add the eggs one at a time, they’ll incorporate quickly and it’s important not to overmix or overbeat at this point or the cake will be tougher and denser.

Dry Ingredients – With the mixer running on medium-low to low speed, slowly add the flour and then add the baking soda and salt. Tip – Again, it’s important to mix only enough to incorporate the dry ingredients, but don’t overmix or the cake will be tougher and denser.

Transfer the batter to your prepared pan, and rap or lightly “drop” the cake pan on the countertop a tiny bit to ensure there are no large air pockets.

Baking – Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or long wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Baking Tips – This is a large cake and it’s a dense batter. The secret to pound cakes are to bake them “low and slow”. Meaning, don’t be tempted to turn your oven hotter than 325F and while I find that 1:18-1:20 is the sweet spot in my oven, the exact baking time will depend on your oven, cake pan, climate, etc. If it takes longer to bake than 1:25, then bake it as long as is necessary. Start checking the cake at about 1-hour into the baking time just in case your oven runs hot. However, don’t open the oven door until at least 50-60 minutes have elapsed because the cold air that comes in could result in a sinking or cracked cake later. Resist the urge to “check on it” unnecessarily. If you feel that your cake is browning a bit too quickly on the outside, I recommend using a large sheet of foil and draping that over the entire cake and Bundt pan while it continues to bake in order to shield the exterior surface of the cake from the intensity of the oven heat.

Cooling, Inverting, Releasing – Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 30 minutes before inverting it over a plate or over a cake stand. Cake Releasing Tips – If you sprayed your pan well with cooking spray or greased it well, and your pan is a decent quality nonstick Bundt pan, your cake should release just fine. 1. If it seems a little stubborn, carefully take a butter knife or paring knife and cut around the top surface and it should slide out. 2. If that doesn’t do the trick, a bit of gentle “banging” or wrapping down firmly onto your cake stand or serving platter should work. 3. For very stubborn cakes, invert it and place the serving platter underneath, and then place a very hot/wet kitchen towel over the top for 10-15 minutes (wet the towel with hot water, put it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until very steamy; use caution so you don’t burn yourself with the steam). The heat/steam from the towel will help the cake release from the pan and plop down onto the serving platter.

Allow the cake to cool for at least 1 hour after you invert it before slicing and serving. Optionally, and as desired, dust the cake prior to serving with confectioners’ sugar, and/or slivered almonds. See the Notes below for more serving suggestions.