Million Dollar Pound Cake is straight out of my Grandma’s recipe box. It’s buttery, dense, soft and moist. I topped mine with honey buttercream and fresh blueberries. It’s the PERFECT pound cake!
I am excited to have developed this recipe in partnership with Bob’s Red Mill. I have used their products for years, and love getting the opportunity to collaborate. All opinions expressed are my own.
Did I ever tell you my favorite food group is cake? I have some fab cake recipes here on my site, like the ever popular Kentucky Butter Cake and my Ridiculous Chocolate Cake. BUT today’s Million Dollar Pound Cake recipe is extra fun because it’s a cake that you can top with ALL the things…like frosting, fruits, whipped cream, candy, caramel sauce, chocolate ganache, a dusting of powdered sugar…kind of like a choose your own adventure cake.
Now, I don’t know why this is called Million Dollar pound cake, I’m just the messenger here. I found this recipe in my mom’s recipe card box, and it said that it was “From the Kitchen of Arlene”. I have zero recollection of an Arlene in my childhood, but dang, she made a good cake.
What is Million Dollar Pound Cake?
The pound cake itself is freaking ridiculous. You know I love a buttery cake, and this one stands up to all the rest. The texture is dense, but with a soft, moist crumb. It’s buttery, rich, and the edges have a sweet crunch.
I really can’t say enough about the texture of this cake…ESPECIALLY if you let it sit overnight. I adore this cake warm…because duh, who doesn’t like warm cake? But if you have patience, let it sit overnight, and all the flavors combine beautifully, and the cake gets dense and soft. Seriously, it’s that good.
In a cake that is so simple, like this one, you really have to rely on quality ingredients to achieve the best flavor. Use good eggs, use pure vanilla extract, use high quality butter, and of course use the best flour. I LOVE Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached All Purpose Flour… it’s unbleached, unbromated, enriched baking flour milled from high quality North American wheat. It’s perfect to use in cakes, cookies, yeast breads, biscuits, muffins…literally everything.
Bob’s Red Mill products are also certified Kosher, and made with ingredients grown from non-GMO seeds. So, beyond being flavorful, I feel good about the ingredients that I use to feed my family.
How Do You Make Million Dollar Pound Cake?
- The cake batter is really simple, only 6 ingredients: butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar, flour, and buttermilk.
- This pound cake bakes at a lower temperature for about an hour and forty minutes, letting the cake bake all the way through, while giving the edges a golden brown color without burning. So make sure you have a few hours to spare before you start the process.
Topping Ideas For Pound Cake
Once the cake is baked and cooled, you can get creative. It’s like a blank canvas for your sweet tooth! In today’s recipe I am sharing an extra delicious honey buttercream that pairs beautifully with this cake, but really there is no wrong answer here:
- Berries like strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries are great on this cake. Or even a combination of them all.
- Caramel. Drizzle some caramel on top for a quick sweet glaze.
- Honey is another great drizzle idea for this pound cake
- A dusting of powdered sugar is always an easy and pretty garnish
- Chocolate Frosting and sprinkles to make this into a birthday cake!
- Buttercream Frosting because buttercream is always the answer.
- Dulce de Leche would be great to spread on top
And absolutely a combination of any of those topping ideas, like frosting AND berries is pretty perfect!
Like are you even for real right now? The cake, the frosting, the berries…
I highly suggest you cut yourself a small(ish) slice.
This Million Dollar Pound Cake is the BEST Pound Cake Recipe ever!
Looking for more pound cake ideas? Try these:
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Million Dollar Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 100 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: serves 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is a dense, classic-style pound cake with a fantastic flavor and buttery, soft texture, topped with a creamy honey buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
- 1 pound salted butter (4 sticks), room temperature
- 3 cups granulated sugar
- 6 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla (or 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1 teaspoon almond or coconut extract)
- 4 cups all purpose Bob’s Red Mill Unbleached White All Purpose Flour
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Frosting
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup honey
- 2 1/2 cup powdered sugar
optional – garnish with berries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Coat a 10- inch (10 – 15 cup) bundt pan liberally with nonstick spray. Alternately you can coat the pan with butter/shortening and dust it with flour or powdered sugar, tapping off excess. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix the butter and sugar together on medium speed for 3 minutes, until fluffy and pale in color. Add in the eggs and extract(s), mixing for 1 minute until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn mixer to low and add in the flour and buttermilk in alternating portions until just combined, beginning and ending with the flour.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes, and then invert the pan onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the frosting, in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and honey together on medium speed for 1 minute, until smooth. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Once it’s all added in, turn the mixer up to medium and beat for 30 seconds until creamy and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Spread or pipe the frosting onto the top of the cooled cake. Top with berries if desired.
Notes
I noted in the ingredients that you can use a combination of extracts. I prefer the combination of 1 teaspoon of vanilla with 1 teaspoon of almond extract or coconut extract best.
Also, I really prefer this cake either served warm OR after it has sat overnight. Letting the cake sit covered airtight overnight gives it a dense, moist texture, as well as enhancing the flavor.
You can also serve this with berries and whipped cream, or ice cream.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 903
- Sugar: 82.3 g
- Sodium: 298.8 mg
- Fat: 49.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 112.5 g
- Protein: 9.1 g
- Cholesterol: 215.3 mg
How would you adjust the ingredients and cooking time for a 9/10 inch two layer cake?
So Delicious!! I will always make sure to have ingredients for this dessert in the kitchen
Hi Shelly
Would this pound cake work in a Tramisu? I once tried a commercial pound cake, as I was a little tired of Lady Fingers
I liked the way the commercial pound handled & stood up to dunking into coffee.
I think it would!
I have never heard of the flour you called for in my area. Can I use another brand in the recipe?
Yes absolutely!
Used Bobs Red Mill & all 3 flavors vanilla-almond-coconut & it was ultra- Dee-licious ! Perhaps I overbeat/overfluffed but the batter was almost to the very top of the bundt pan– crust got too brown on the sides probably due to depth of batter/long time baking (or my dark bundt pan) but even trimming some of that off, it was beautiful & 2 grandkids & Their Parents polished it off in one afternoon 🙂 Next time I’ll fill 2 bundts halfway. And letting it ‘meld’ overnight– wow, very moist cake with an almost crispy sweetness to the crust. Nice texture. This would make a fantastic 2-layer birthday cake. Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you made it and loved it! Thanks for your review and feedback!