Classic Gluten Free Pound Cake | Basic Recipe and More

This tested recipe for traditional gluten free pound cake is moist and tender, dense and buttery, just like you remember. It always gets rave reviews!

Why is it called a pound cake?

A traditional pound cake is so named because it's made with a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of eggs. Even so, most of the pound cake recipes I have shared with you have called for both butter and cream cheese.

But there's certainly something to be said for tradition. And this is precisely the sort of pound cake that is perfect for layering into a lovely warm-weather gluten free (gf) trifle with all sorts of colorful berries.

Gluten free pound cake means tweaking the original formula

I've said it before, and at the risk of making you cross with me, I'll say it again: gluten free baking requires gluten free recipes. So the traditional formula for a pound cake just doesn't work perfectly for gluten free.

This recipe in particular (unlike most recipes for pound cake) only makes one loaf, so it's more like a half pound of this, a half pound of that as a starting point anyway.

Feel free to double, though, if you're looking for two loaves or you'd like to make the recipe in a bundt or tube pan (just watch the baking time).

This is the best gluten free pound cake recipe you'll try — here's why

There's nothing else quite like the smooth baked interior and slightly crispy, perfectly browned crust of a traditional pound cake. The crumb of a pound cake is tighter, and the cake itself is denser than gf vanilla cake, but not at all dry. 

Each slice of this pound cake is rich and smooth and reminds me so strongly of the Sara Lee pound cakes of my youth that I've thought about baking it in a disposable aluminum pan for nostalgia. If you're new to baking pound cakes, you may be surprised that the loaf has no baking powder or soda.

That's right; this gf pound cake is leavened completely by the 9 ounces of eggs in the batter. Some recipes add about 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to help your cake rise slightly, but when making a pound cake, I want a rich, buttery, fine-crumbed loaf, just like it was meant to be!

It's not too far off the 1:1:1:1 ratio of traditional “pound” cake, but the adjustments make it just as good made gluten free as it is made with gluten. We might have to get there a slightly different way, but we'll get there.

What you need for a basic gluten free pound cake recipe

Here's a quick overview of the ingredients you'll need to make this simple pound cake recipe. For full details, just scroll down to the recipe card below:

• Butter – There's a half pound (8 ounces) of unsalted butter in this recipe; your butter must be at room temperature (not oily, gives gently when pressed with a finger), or it won't whip, and your pound cake won't turn out
• Sugar – Sugar isn't only for sweetness, particularly in this recipe, where it is a major component of the tenderness of the finished cake
• Eggs – You'll need 9 ounces of beaten eggs in this recipe. Begin with 4 large eggs, weigh them, then beat another egg and measure what you need to reach 9 ounces.
• Vanilla extract – You can use pure vanilla extract or replace 1/2 teaspoon with almond extract for a bakery-style taste
• Gluten free flour – You'll need a bit less than 8 ounces of one of our recommended all purpose (AP) gluten free flour blends, but I get even better results by replacing a bit of the AP GF flour with some cornstarch to make a cake flour-style blend
• Salt – Kosher salt is a common ingredient in baking, since it's harder to over-measure; any semi-coarse salt will do.

Tips for making the perfect gluten free pound cake

Choosing a gluten free flour blend

Even conventional pound cakes are often made with cake flour to create a fine crumb and a bit of extra tenderness. I like this cake best made with mostly Better Batter's classic gluten free flour blend (82%, or 180 grams of Better Batter) and another 40 grams (or 18% of the total, by weight) cornstarch.

If you try to use a blend like Bob's Red Mill, which I strongly recommend against and is unbalanced and of inconsistent quality, it almost certainly will not turn out. For full information on flour blends, please see the all purpose gluten free flour blends page on the blog, which is linked in every recipe that calls for such a blend.

Properly measuring gluten free flour

You can't measure gluten free flour accurately by volume, only by weight. The size of dry measuring cups isn't standardized (like the size of pants!), so measuring accurately means using a simple digital kitchen scale.

Choosing a pan: loaf pan or bundt pan?

I haven't ever made this recipe in a bundt pan, only a loaf pan. If you'd like to make a bundt cake with a pound cake-style crumb, try our recipe for gluten free marble bundt cake.

Bringing your ingredients to room temperature

As always in baking, the temperature of the ingredients is very important. In a recipe this simple, it’s especially critical. The butter and eggs must be at room temperature for everything to combine properly.

If you add cold eggs to room temperature butter, the butter will clump. To bring cold eggs to room temperature, place them in a warm water bath and allow them to sit for about 15 minutes.

Cold butter can be chopped and microwaved for 10 seconds, no longer. Be sure to stop before the butter melts. If you don’t blend the ingredients properly, the butter will clump and then melt and leak out during baking.

Your batter will look weird — and then not

This batter will end up smooth, silky, and very thickly pourable. But it might not look great before you get to that point.

Once you add the eggs to the beaten butter and sugar mixture, it may look a bit curdled, but it will smooth right back out when you add the flour mixture.

Scraping your mixing bowl often for even mixing

Remember that all the ingredients in the recipe are in proper proportion, so scrape the sides of the bowl completely before you turn the batter out into the prepared loaf pan. Otherwise, you may be leaving important ingredients behind!

Letting your gf pound cake cool completely before slicing

It's tempting to slice into a warm, fragrant pound cake, but sit on your hands and let it cool completely first! To enjoy warm gf pound cake, toast a thickly-cut slice and top with berries and cream. *chefskiss*

Gluten free pound cake serving suggestions

Think of pound cake as a delicious blank canvas for everything good in the world of desserts. Slice your cooled loaf of gf pound cake thickly and try topping it with any of the following:

• homemade whipped cream
• vanilla ice cream
• fresh berries or other chopped, in-season fruit
• homemade ice cream toppings, hot fudge sauce, caramel sauce, butterscotch sauce, or marshmallow topping
• gf lemon curd

Storing your gluten free pound cake

If you have any leftover gf pound cake (lucky you!), you can store it in a sealed container in the freezer. I don't like storing it in the refrigerator, since it tends to become dry.

Store it sliced, or slice it after it's frozen, since it won't freeze solid. Refresh each slice in a toaster, or enjoy it straight from the freezer like a proper civilized person.

Gluten free vanilla pound cake substitutions

Gluten free, dairy-free pound cake

The only dairy in this recipe is the unsalted butter, but it's also the most plentiful ingredient. Replacing the butter should be possible with a very high-quality vegan butter like Melt or Miyoko's Kitchen.

Don't use something like Earth Balance buttery sticks, or your fat will probably leak out during baking as there's too much moisture in Earth Balance.

Can you make vegan gluten free pound cake

To make your pound cake into a vegan gf pound cake, you'll need to replace the eggs and the butter (plus make sure your granulated sugar isn't made with bone char). There are 9 full ounces of whole eggs in this recipe, and I've never successfully replaced that many eggs in a recipe. So sorry!

More gluten free pound cake recipes

This is the classic all butter gluten free pound cake recipe, and it's a beauty. But it's not the only way to make gf pound cake. Here are some other pound cake-style recipes that are worth your time:

Iced gluten free lemon pound cake

Made with a combination of butter and cream cheese, this extra-rich gf lemon pound cake also has tons of fresh lemon flavor. The simple confectioners' sugar icing on top is, well, the icing on the cake!

Rich gf chocolate pound cake

Smooth, rich, and creamy, each slice of this gluten free chocolate pound cake is a chocolate lover's dream. There's an entire 3/4 cup of cocoa powder, plus melted dark chocolate, in this dark delight that you don't want to miss.

Gluten free chocolate cinnamon pound cake

For a true twist on a classic with a less rich, and more complex flavor, try our gf chocolate cinnamon pound cake. It's one of the old favorites from Starbucks, but of course they never made it like this (this good, or gluten free, of course!).

FAQs

Is pound cake gluten free?

No! Regular pound cake is made with all purpose wheat-based flour. Only a gluten free pound cake like this recipe is safely gluten free.

Can I make a gluten free pound cake with almond flour?

I'm afraid not. Almond flour is great for baking, but it needs its own recipes. For an almond flour loaf cake, try our almond flour banana bread.

Can I make this gluten free pound cake recipe without a stand mixer?

Yes! You can use a handheld mixer to beat the butter, but it will just take you a bit longer.

Can I double this gluten free pound cake recipe?

Yes—if you have a large enough stand mixer. 32 tablespoons of unsalted butter is a lot for any stand mixer to beat until light and fluffy, and it's not possible with a hand mixer, at least not all at once. To be safe, it might be best to make two loaves side by side, rather than by doubling everything at once.

Can I use a bundt pan to make a gf pound cake?

You can use a bundt pan, but you'll need to make some adjustments. For full details on making bundt cake, see our gluten free marble bundt cake post.

Can I make a gluten free pound cake mix in advance?

Since the only dry ingredients are the gluten free flour blend and the salt, there's really nothing to be gained from making a dry mix in advance.

How do you know when a gluten free pound cake is done baking?

When your gf pound cake is done baking, it will have domed in the center, be golden brown in color, and a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean (no wet batter attached). Don't judge simply based on the color of the loaf, since your cake will fall as it cools if it's not baked all the way through.

How do you get a gluten free pound cake out of the pan?

Use a high-quality nonstick loaf pan, grease it with butter or cooking oil spray, and then line it with parchment paper. Then, when your pound cake is done baking, let it cool in the pan, then run a thin no-scratch spatula or knife around any edges not covered by the parchment, and lift the pound cake gently out of the pan by the paper.

Why did my gluten free pound cake come out so dense?

If by dense, you mean your loaf seems to have collapsed, it probably wasn't done baking fully to the center before it was removed from the oven. For even baking, make sure your oven temperature is accurate by using a separate oven thermometer that you're certain is properly calibrated, and replace it often.

How long does gf pound cake stay fresh?

Pound cake has enough fat and sugar to stay quite fresh on the counter, if wrapped tightly, for three days. For longer storage, slice, wrap tightly, and freeze.

Classic Gluten Free Pound Cake Recipe (From Scratch)