Orange Pound Cake
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If you love the buttery, velvety crumb that a classic pound cake offers you’re going to fall even more in love with this orange pound cake.
This post has been sponsored by Sprouts. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Kroll’s Korner running!
The citrus notes from the fresh orange juice and orange zest liven up this dessert with it’s wonderful fragrance and freshness.
Orange pound cake is buttery soft and each bite really melts in your mouth! And the citrusy orange glaze is the perfect finishing touch.
If you’re a big fan of citrus flavored desserts, make sure to check out my Lemon Crinkle Cookies, Key Lime Pie Bars, and Lemon Poppyseed Cake!
Ingredient Notes
I bought all of my ingredients at Sprouts. Their citrus is especially delicious this time of year, I couldn’t resist stocking up on oranges to make this dessert! Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the list of ingredients.
The ingredient list is quite simple, but there are a few important things to note:
- Butter: We use unsalted butter and it’s important the butter is at room temperature. The butter will incorporate air when whipping with the cream cheese which is essential for a light pound cake. If you leave butter out too long, stick it back in the fridge for it to chill just a bit.
- Cream cheese: Same goes for the cream cheese, ensure it is room temperature. The cream cheese will help keep the pound cake nice and moist!
- Eggs: Guess what, room temperature eggs too! This helps eggs retain their air as well when being incorporated.
- Sugar: most pound cake recipes use a superfine sugar or caster sugar but regular white sugar works well too.
- Salt: to help bring out flavor!
- Orange juice and orange zest: Fresh orange juice will give the best orange flavor. Feel free to add more zest for a more orange-y flavor. I love buying all of my winter citrus from Sprouts for the best quality!
- Baking Powder: A classic pound cake doesn’t rely on any leavening agents but I’m using a little baking powder in this recipe. It helps to lift the bread so it isn’t overly heavy.
- Cornstarch: I like adding cornstarch to my pound cake to add a tender texture. A lot of pound cake recipes also use cake flour. If you have an extra minute, sift together the cornstarch and flour together to make a “homemade cake flour.” Cake flour is another tip to keeping pound cake tender.
Step by Step Directions
Once again, make sure butter, cream cheese and eggs are all at room temperature prior to baking. I set mine out on the counter for at least an hour before I start.
Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe instructions.
- Preheat oven to 325°F. (Low oven temperature and longer bake time is typical for pound cakes!)
- Grease and lightly flour 9×5 inch loaf pan.
- Beat butter and cream cheese in a stand mixer until soft and fluffy.
- Combine dry ingredients, and add to the butter mixture. Beat on high for 5 minutes. Batter will look stiff.
- Turn mixture off, add in zest, juice, vanilla and 1 egg.
- Turn mixture on low. Let incorporate for about 20 seconds before adding the next egg. Being careful to not over mix, scraping sides of bowl with a flexible rubber spatula as needed. Batter should look creamy and thick.
- Pour into prepared pan and bake until crust is golden, about 55-60 minutes, ovens may vary.
- Cool pound cake, then invert onto wire rack. Let cool, glaze and serve.
Expert Tips
- Use the spoon and level method for your dry ingredients so you’re not ending up with more flour than intended.
- Temperature of ingredients is important. Room temperature is key! Butter should be soft, but not overly soft. (When you poke it with your finger and it’s easy to make an indentation without losing it’s entire shape, that’s the perfect temperature).
- Add the eggs slowly: keep the mixer running on low speed and add in eggs one at a time. Don’t rush the process!
- Bake to proper doneness: over baking will lead to a dry pound cake (yuck) and under baking will also be yuck. When inserting a toothpick in the center and you’re left with a few moist crumbs, that’s perfect. The cake will continue to cook in the pan. Don’t leave it in too long, move to a cooling rack after 10 minutes.
FAQs
Can I make this in a bundt pan?
This recipe has only been tested in a 9×5 inch cake pan. If you do make it into a bundt, drop a comment below to let us know!
Why did my pound cake sink in the middle?
Why did my pound cake sink in the middle? You may be under baking the pound cake or using too much liquid. Try baking the cake for longer. Remember: low temperature and longer bake time is the key to pound cake!
Why is my pound cake dry?
Try using a light colored loaf pan! You may have also over baked, or added too much flour. Try removing the cake from the oven when you insert a toothpick and it has moist crumbs, and use the spoon and level method or weigh the dry ingredients.
Why does my pound cake have a gummy/gooey center?
The cake can sometimes collapse if the dry ingredients were over mixed into the batter or the pound cake was under baked.
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Orange Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the pound cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened (16 Tbsp.)
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. orange zest (or more for even more orange flavor)
- 1 Tbsp. orange juice, fresh
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
For the glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp. orange juice
- 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
Last step! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray and lightly dust with flour, shaking any excess flour out.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.1 3/4 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese on high speed for 1-2 minutes or until light, soft and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, softened (16 Tbsp.), 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- Turn the mixer off to add the dry ingredients, turn mixer on low to just get those dry ingredients incorporated and then beat for 5 minutes on high speed. The batter will look stiff, yet still fluffy.
- Turn off the mixture. Add the orange zest, orange juice, vanilla extract and 1 egg. Turn the mixer on low, and combine just until egg yolk streaks begin to disappear, about 20 seconds.Continue adding the eggs, one at a time, being careful not to over mix. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.1 Tbsp. orange zest (or more for even more orange flavor), 1 Tbsp. orange juice, fresh, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 5 large eggs, room temperature
- Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
- Bake for 60-65 minutes and use a toothpick to test for doneness. Toothpick should be clean when inserted into center. (Note: if baking in a glass loaf pan, the pound cake will need a longer to bake)
- Remove from the oven, allow to sit in pan for 10-15 minutes. Then invert cake onto a wire rack.
- Make the glaze: whisk together the powdered sugar, juice and heavy cream. If you prefer a thinner glaze add a splash more orange juice until desired consistency is reached. Spread over cooled bread, slice and enjoy as is or with whipped cream, fresh berries, ice cream, etc.1 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp. orange juice, 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
Video
Notes
- Use the spoon and level method for your dry ingredients so you’re not ending up with more flour than intended.
- Temperature of ingredients is important. Room temperature is key! Butter should be soft, but not overly soft. (When you poke it with your finger and it’s easy to make an indentation without losing it’s entire shape, that’s the perfect temperature).
- Add the eggs slowly: keep the mixer running on low speed and add in eggs one at a time. Don’t rush the process!
- Bake to proper doneness: over baking will lead to a dry pound cake (yuck) and under baking will also be yuck. When inserting a toothpick in the center and you’re left with a few moist crumbs, that’s perfect. The cake will continue to cook in the pan. Don’t leave it in too long, move to a cooling rack after 10 minutes.
Nutrition Information
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is automatically calculated. It should only be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Kroll’s Korner can’t make any guarantees to the accuracy of this information.
I baked this today with oranges from our tree. The texture is great, but the orange flavor wasn’t there. I’m going to add more zest next time. All in all, a very yummy treat. My photo is without the icing, as per my husband’s request.
Oh – My – Gosh! Fabulous cake, oh so moist. This has the perfect pound cake consistency. I have never left a comment before on a recipe but this deserves a five star. Thank you for the recipe
The tender crumb on this cake is like velvet. Delicious. I don’t know what I do wrong to have a doughy uncooked bit in the upper center of every loaf I bake, but that’s on me, not this recipe. 10/10 would recommend.
thank you so much! maybe it just needs to be baked a tad bit longer?!
can cake flour be used?
yes that should be fine! 🙂
I love orange anything! So moist and full of flavor!
What great timing! We just got a ton of fresh oranges off our trees and I am scrambling to use them. What a great way to use them because I LOVE poundcake!
That’s perfect! Thank you so much Danielle!
Oh my goodness that looks heavenly. So soft and fluffy! *drool*
Thank you so so much. It’s very soft! 🙂
I love any kind of orange dessert and this cake looks so light and fluffy.
Yayyy thank you!
This looks so yummy! Want to try this!