The BEST Million Dollar Pound Cake Recipe (2024)

Watch me make this million-dollar pound cake from start to finish!

My kids fired me from homeschooling them after 10+ years!

I’m being dramatic, but that’s what it feels like. I decided to let them try a program called Powerhouse since we’d planned on doing so much traveling this past year to make up for Covid.

Well, they have decided that they want to keep doing it instead of going back to my lesson plans. The audacity!!

Powerhouse is a video-based homeschooling program that looks super boring to me. It has everything planned out and allows kids to create their own schedule and even grades the assignments and automatically reinforces lessons where more help is needed.

My new job is simply to log the extra credit assignments and get excited when they finally say, “I need help with this,” which isn’t often.

I guess now that my boys and 10 and 15, they are no longer interested in my lil cutesy projects and themed lesson crafts.

They just want to get the work done so they can move on to what they’d rather be doing, like creating video games and refurbishing and selling game consoles online. Whatever.

It’s a different role for me, but it has some perks! It’s freed up A LOT of my time. I’ve been using the time I’d typically be planning out lessons to work on recipes and a million other things I’ve slowed down with.

Today I’m going to share with you one of those recipes.Million dollar pound cake!!

OMG, y’all, it is sooooo good!!

I mean, I’m not bragging, but it’s the bestmillion-dollar pound cakeI’ve ever had, and I’ve had cake from lots of Southern “church mothas.”

Give it a try, and tell me what you think!

What is amillion-dollar pound cake???

Million-dollar pound cakeis a buttery, dense, and tender type of pound cake that doesn’t contain any leavening likesalt,bakingpowder, orbaking soda.

It gets its fantastictextureby whipping air into thebatter.

I have yet to find the real story behind this Southern favorite and how it got its name. Everything I find online just says, “people says it tastes like a million dollars.” Um, this cake is heavenly, but a million dollars? That’s a stretch. I’ve also heard it referred to as the Elvis Pressley cake. I dunno!

If anyone can find the real story, please share it!

Why I LOVE thismillion-dollar pound cake recipe

This million-dollar pound has the absolute best crumb ever, perfectly tender and moist, yet has that classic pound cake denseness.

And best of all, theflavoris incredible! Buttery with hints of vanilla slightly enhanced with almond, lemon, and coconut extract!

Those extract combinations are the truth! They don’t overpower the cake but give an excellent subtleflavorboost.

Million-Dollar Pound CakeGlaze

I’ve included a simple yet incredible glaze for this cake, but it’s optional. I always add it because I think glazed pound cakes are so pretty, and it’s a great way to cover up any imperfections if needed.

Drizzle it over the cake and let it harden. You can double the glaze recipe to cover the entire cake. Just make sure the cake is cooled completely before glazing, or the glaze will simply melt into the cake.

How to make the BESTmillion-dollar pound cake recipe

(Recipe Overview. Full recipe below)

INGREDIENTS

CAKE

• unsalted butter
• granulated sugar
• large eggs
• All-purpose flour sifted
• whole milk
• vanilla extract
• almond extract
• coconut extract
• lemon extract

GLAZE

• powdered sugar
• unsalted butter
• whole milk
• vanilla extract
• almond extract
• lemon extract
• salt

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheatovento 325degrees F. Grease a 10-cup bundt pan evenly with shortening and coat it lightly with flour. Set aside.
2. In alarge bowl,addbutterand mix using anelectric mixeruntil creamy.
3. Start a timer for 3 minutes and begin gradually adding the sugar atlow speed. Mix onlow speeduntil the timer goes off and themixtureis thoroughly creamed.
4. Mix ineggsone at a time, onlow speed, until theeggsare combined.
5. Add the extracts and mix onlow speeduntil combined.
6. Add the flour a little at a time while alternating with the whole milk. Use arubber spatulato scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. Mix onlow speed untilthe batteris combined and fluffy.
8. Spoonbatterevenly into the prepared pan and tap the pan on the countertop to remove any trapped air bubbles.
9. Bakeon the middle rack for 1hrand 20-25minsor until along wooden pickor cake tester inserted into the center edge comes out clean or with moist crumbs clinging to it.
10. Remove fromovenand place on a cooling rack until the pan is cool enough to touch.
11. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on awire rack.
12. To make the glaze,stirtogether all of the glazeingredientsuntil it is silky. (more water if needed)
13. Drizzle the glaze onto the cooled cake and allow the glaze to harden
14. Serve warm,room temperature,or cold. (tastes even better the next day!

Tips and Tricks

• Be sure to grease the pan correctly. Spread a thin and even layer of shortening all over the inside of the pan. I usebutter-flavored shortening. Next, spoon a few spoonfuls of flour into the pans and shake the pan around until the entire inside surface is coated with flour. Dump the excess flour into the trash. The inside of your pan should now be lightly dusted with flour.
• Tastes even better the next day. Pound cake gets better the next day when theflavorshave a chance to really set in! It’s also amazing right out of theovenas well!
• Mix well. Use arubber spatulato get everynookandcrannyof the bowl to ensure there are no flour or unmixedingredientson the bottom.
• Mix on low. Keep the mixer onlow speedto prevent overmixing.
• See my pound cake 101 for more tips.

Topping Ideas

This pound cake is perfectly fine to serve as is, but it also makes an excellent base for your favorite fruits and dessert sauces! Here are a few topping suggestions.

• Fresh berries- Top with fresh berriesin natural syrup. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries are lovely topping choices! Add whippedcreamto make a shortcake!
• Caramel sauce/ Chocolate sauce – Plain or saltedcaramel sauceor chocolate fudge sauce is heavenly drizzled over warm pound cake.
• Lemon curd- Add a dollop oflemon curdand fresh mint leaves for the perfect Spring dessert!
• Flavored Glaze- Glazes are another way to addflavorto this cake. Replace the extracts in this glaze recipe with your favorite. I like orange extract, coffee extract, and fruit-flavored extracts for pound cakes.
• Sprinkles-Sprinklesmake everything fun! Throw on a vanilla glaze and immediately addsprinklesto create a festive million-dollar pound cake.
• Whippedcream- Homemade whippedcreamand pound cake are a great duo. You can add flavor to the whippedcreamby using a couple ofteaspoons of vanilla extract or your favorite extract.

Common Questions & Troubleshooting

Why did my pound cake stick to the pan? Make sure that you grease your pan generously and evenly.Use vegetable shorteningand alight coating of flour. This will ensure that yourbatterdoes not stick.

Why did my pound cake collapse as it cooled? Sometimes when a pound cake cools too fast, it can cause the cake to separate from the bottom crust. Since this is the bottom of the pound cake, you can easily remove or cut away this part to level out the bottom. Overmixing can also cause sinking.

Can I use different extracts andflavorings? Absolutely! This cake is very versatile with it comes to extracts!

Can I make this pound cake inloaf pans? Yes, use two largeloaf pans. You can also usea 12-cup bundt pan. You may need to decrease or increase thebakingtime if using a different size pan, so keep an eye on it.

Can I mix onmedium speed? That depends on thepower of your mixer. If you mix at too high of a speed, it could put way too much air in thebatter and activate the gluten in the flour too much, giving it gluey streaks when done.

Why does mybatterhavebits of flour? Be sure to sift your flour or whisk it really well beforehand. This will prevent abatter of lumpsfrom happening.

Want more pound cakes? Try these!