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Home » Recipes » Gluten Free Cake Recipes

Perfect Gluten Free Pound Cake

Published: May 12, 2023 · Modified: Oct 13, 2024 by Kim · This post may contain affiliate links · 27 Comments

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Perfect Gluten Free Pound Cake was originally posted in March 2019 and has been updated with new pictures, a new video, and plenty of helpful tips and ideas.

I've been making this perfect gluten free pound cake for as long as I can remember. It's dense, but soft and tender with a wonderful almond flavor. Serve it with berries and freshly whipped cream for the perfect dessert.

slice of pound cake on white plate with whipped cream and strawberries on top.

Some of the items linked in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.

Pound cake is one of my favorite types of cakes to make and eat. It requires no adornments (like frosting) to be tasty, but a little macerated strawberries and whipped cream never hurt anyone. I think my favorite part about pound cake is how dense it is. But that's not saying it's not soft and very tender, not at all dry. When I make this pound cake, I always put both vanilla and almond extract in it. I just love an almond pound cake and this one, with the cream cheese and all the butter, is just outrageously good.

ingredients needed

  • Cream cheese -- not the typical ingredient in pound cake, but cream cheese makes this one absolutely shine with its luxurious mouthfeel.
  • Butter
  • Eggs
  • Kim's gluten free all purpose flour blend
  • Vanilla extract
  • Almond extract -- a little almond extract goes a long way.

How Pound Cakes Rise

How in the world does a cake rise without leaveners? Is it magic? Well, to me pretty much all baking is magic, especially when you can transform a dough or batter into something that looks nothing like it started out as. But a pound cake gets it "magic" not from baking powder or soda. It gets its rise solely from eggs and lots of 'em. Beating the eggs in one at a time aerates the batter, which is what gives the cake its lift.

here's how to make this cake

  1. Cream the butter and cream cheese together for 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and increase the speed to medium high and beat for 7 minutes, until very light in color and fluffy.
  2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. Increase to medium speed and beat for 2 more minutes.
  3. With the mixer on low, add the flour just until combined.
  4. Add the almond and vanilla extracts and stir to incorporate.
  5. Pour into a greased and floured Bundt cake pan or angel food cake pan, leveling the top with an offset spatula.
  6. Bake at 300 degrees F for 1.5-2 hours, or until a skewer or long toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
  7. Set cake in pan on wire rack to cool for one hour.
  8. Loosen from sides with a butter knife or spatula. Invert onto serving platter.
  9. Allow to cool completely and serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

pound cake faqs

How to make gluten free pound cake moist

Add cream cheese to the butter when creaming. This makes for a dense, but soft and tender (not dry) pound cake.

Why is pound cake called pound cake?

Originally, pound cake was made with a pound of each of the ingredientsu002du002dflour, sugar, butter, and eggs.

Are chemical leaveners needed in pound cake?

In this recipe, no chemical leaveners (baking powder or baking soda) are required. The method of whipping air into the batter means the cake will rise with just the eggs in the recipe.

serving slice of pound cake from whole cake on baby blue cake stand.

Recipe Notes

A couple of things to remember when baking this pound cake (or any pound cake):

  • Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. No super cold butter here, but also don't leave your butter sit out too long or it will be greasy and not able to cream well with the sugar.
  • When instructed to beat for 7 minutes, don't ignore this step or cut the time short. It means a world of difference between a well risen pound cake and one that's squat.
  • Make sure to beat each egg in one at a time, allowing one minute for each to fully incorporate. Remember, there are no chemical leaveners in the recipe.
  • The baking time is an estimated amount because of different pan sizes. Use a long skewer in between the middle of the pan and sides to check for doneness. If it comes out wet, add about 10-15 more minutes and check again.
  • Allow to cool for about an hour in the pan before attempting to remove it from the pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely. Doing this will ensure it won't fall apart.
  • If your pan is a little on the smaller side, you may need to add some of the batter to another pan, such as a small loaf pan. Otherwise, be prepared for some of the batter to ooze over the sides. I would suggest baking the cake on a larger sheet tray just in case.
  • Experiment with flavorings. Don't like almond? Just use vanilla extract or beans. Or try chai, blood orange, coffee (using instant espresso powder). Add grated chocolate for a chocolate flecked pound cake. The options are endless!!

more gluten free bundt style cakes

  • Pumpkin pound cake
  • Apple bundt cake
  • Chocolate fudge bundt cake
  • Mini hummingbird bundt cakes
  • Cranberry orange bundt cake
overhead view of pound cake slice on white plate with strawberries and whipped cream with bowls of strawberries and whipped cream and a white towel in the background.

If you've never made a pound cake, start with this one. You'll wonder what took you so long!!

slice of pound cake on white plate with whipped cream and strawberries on top.

Perfect Gluten Free Pound Cake

Kim
This pound cake is dense, but soft and tender with a wonderful almond flavor. Serve it with berries and freshly whipped cream for the perfect dessert!
4.50 from 4 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
 

  • 1½ cups (3 sticks or 339g) salted butter, at room temperature
  • 8 oz (226g) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 3 cups (600g) granulated sugar
  • 6 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 3 cups minus two tablespoon (402g) Kim's all purpose gluten free flour blend
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1½ teaspoon almond extract
Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions
 

  • Grease and flour a Bundt pan or tube pan and set aside.
  • In bowl of electric mixer using paddle attachment, cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Slowly add sugar and when all sugar is added, increase speed to medium high and whip for 7 minutes until very light in color and fluffy.  Scrape down sides of bowl.
  • On low speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition.  Once all eggs have been added, scrape down sides of bowl and increase speed to about medium and whip for about 2 minutes.  
  • With mixer on low, slowly add flour into butter/egg mixture.  Add extracts at the end.  Don't overmix.  Remove bowl from mixer and use a spatula to fold in any remaining flour that didn't get distributed.  
  • Bake at 300℉ for 1½ to 2 hours.  Start checking at about the 1½ hour mark by inserting a long wooden skewer in the middle of the cake and if it still feels wet when removed, it needs to bake longer.  After that, keep checking at 10-minute intervals.  
  • Remove cake from oven when skewer comes out with just a few crumbs attached to it.  Set cake in pan on wire rack to cool for at least an hour.  Then loosen it with a butter knife from the edges.  Put a cake plate on top of the cake pan and holding both, flip it over so that the cake comes out of the cake pan onto the plate.  
  • Allow to cool completely and serve at room temperature.  

Notes

To serve with berries and cream, remove stems from a small container of strawberries and quarter.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoon sugar over strawberries in bowl and stir to combine.  Allow to sit and macerate for at least one hour.  Stir again.  
Whip about 2 cups heavy cream in bowl of stand mixer until soft peaks begin to form.  Slowly add ¼ cup powdered sugar and 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, or the seeds from a vanilla bean, and whip to stiff peaks.  
Spoon berries and sauce over pound cake and top with a dollop of whipped cream.  Enjoy!!
Cake will keep at room temperature, well covered, for 5-6 days.  It may also be frozen in slices (or as a whole), well wrapped, for 3 months.  I would not recommend refrigerating the cake as it will dry out.
Keyword cream cheese pound cake, Gluten Free, gluten free cream cheese pound cake, pound cake
Tried this recipe?Tag @letthemeatglutenfreecake on Instagram so we can see!

Adapted from Southern Living's Cream Cheese Pound Cake

More Gluten Free Cake Recipes

  • removing one slice of cake from white cake platter.
    Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Bundt Cake
  • slice of gluten free yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting on white plate with pink flowers.
    Gluten Free Yellow Cake with Fudge Frosting
  • up close shot of slice of strawberry crunch ice cream cake on white plate.
    Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Cake (Gluten Free)
  • slice of oreo cheesecake on white plate.
    Gluten Free Oreo Cheesecake (No Bake!)

Comments

  1. Zudina says

    August 06, 2024 at 7:33 pm

    Hello Miss Kim! I just baked this pound cake and it’s so delicious! The crumb came out perfect and the flavor is just right. I will definitely be baking this again. I didn’t bake it on mother’s day, but I did bake it for my mom and she was very impressed that is gluten-free! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      September 08, 2024 at 8:42 pm

      So glad you liked it!

      Reply
  2. TJ says

    June 16, 2024 at 2:05 pm

    I consider myself an accomplished baker and had high hopes for this.. The flavor is expected for a pound cake but the cake itself did not hold up after baking. The crispy crust separated from the cake immediately after removing it from the oven. The cake itself was very dense and gummy. My butter was not too soft and the rest of the ingredients were room temp. I wonder if adding baking soda or baking powder would help with the structure.

    Reply
  3. PE says

    May 25, 2024 at 2:18 pm

    I'm about to attempt this recipe, but you say 1 1/2 sticks butter. That is 12 tablespoons-not oz.
    It would take 3 sticks of butter to make 12 oz. (There are 16 oz in 1lb. butter)
    So, do I use 1 1/2 sticks or 3?

    Reply
    • Kim says

      May 25, 2024 at 11:32 pm

      I'm so sorry! It's 3 sticks (12 tbsp), not 12 ounces. Thank you for noticing that and I will correct it in the recipe right now.

      Reply
  4. Hoke Hinson says

    December 14, 2023 at 5:00 pm

    Greetings,
    Thanx for the recipe much like
    One we usually except using gluten free flour. Question:
    We usually start with cold oven with temp set to 300'. Directions state bake at 300'.
    Please clarify.
    Thanx

    Reply
    • Kim says

      December 17, 2023 at 6:44 am

      This one starts with a preheated oven.

      Reply
  5. MD says

    July 14, 2021 at 6:57 pm

    Hi Kim, I made this today it baked for an hour and a half and the wooden skewer came out clean. it was all puffed up but then deflated and is very undercooked in the center. my question is , is there an internal temperature we can check that you’re aware of to ensure that it’s cooked thru if the skewer comes out clean? thank you!

    Reply
    • MD says

      July 14, 2021 at 7:19 pm

      Upon further inspection the whole interior is like translucent, super dense and very oily. Clearly, I went off the rails somewhere, I’m just not sure where I thought I followed the instructions exactly, especially the time taking to whip the butter and then the eggs in. Any ideas?where I went wrong? thank you

      Reply
      • Kim says

        July 19, 2021 at 7:24 am

        Hmmm. I've never had problems like this before, but if it's really oily it could be that your butter was too soft. Also, what is the size of your Bundt pan? If it's on the small side, that could also cause the same problems you're having.

      • MD says

        August 29, 2021 at 10:55 am

        thank you so much for your reply I will definitely try it again with butter that’s not too soft. Your recipes are excellent I’ve been baking GF for five years and these are by far the best we’ve had. Thank you so much for sharing all you know!

      • Kim says

        August 29, 2021 at 2:53 pm

        Awe, thank you so much! I really appreciate your kind words 😍

  6. Lynne Knopp says

    July 05, 2021 at 9:49 pm

    Great recipe! I buttered the pan though I didn’t see that in the directions. I made it exactly as written except I cut the recipe in half and used a bread pan. It was perfect for 4th of July Strawberry “Shortcake”. Thanks for a great recipe!!!!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      July 06, 2021 at 5:18 pm

      Oh my gosh, Lynne. I'm so sorry I didn't put to butter or grease the cake pan! This was one of my older posts and I need to go through and update it and make sure everything is correct.

      Thank you for catching that and I'm glad you liked it 🙂

      Reply
  7. Sarah says

    June 07, 2021 at 3:34 am

    I am going to make this tomorrow. I have a question about the butter. It says 1 1/2 cups which would be 12 oz. but the recipe says 10 oz. So is it 10 or 12 oz. of butter? I want to get it right. Thanks

    Reply
    • Kim says

      June 07, 2021 at 6:09 am

      I'm so sorry! My math was off. You are right, it's supposed to be 12 oz of butter and I've corrected it 🙂

      Reply
      • Sarah says

        June 17, 2021 at 3:38 pm

        The gram measurement is still for 10oz of butter.

      • Kim says

        June 18, 2021 at 4:41 pm

        Noted and fixed. Thanks!

  8. Maureen says

    January 31, 2021 at 8:44 am

    Hi Kim,

    I just made this last night and it was soooooo amazing! The crust had that lovely crackle that homemade pound cake has and I can’t get enough of it. I also cut the recipe in half and made it in a loaf pan and it was perfect! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes!

    Reply
    • Kim says

      February 02, 2021 at 7:00 am

      Thank you, Maureen! This is one of my family's favorite cakes 🙂

      Reply
  9. Sarah says

    June 13, 2020 at 7:34 pm

    What size pan do you use?

    Reply
    • Kim says

      June 15, 2020 at 9:13 pm

      Hi, Sarah! I use this pan here, which I'm pretty sure is a 10 cup capacity.

      Reply
  10. Lindy Rodriguez says

    April 08, 2020 at 7:40 pm

    Can i use the gluten free Pillsberry all in one flour for this recipe ?

    Reply
    • Kim says

      April 09, 2020 at 2:35 pm

      I don't see why not 🙂

      Reply
  11. Amy Coduti says

    February 22, 2020 at 5:23 am

    Thank you. I was just recently diagnosed with IBSC and celiac Disease. The first thing I thought of was so long poundcake. It has and will always be my favorite. This is perfection. No scary side effects on my health and so full of yummy flavor. I took this to a party and they were wall blown away by how it tasted, even more so when I told them it was gluten free. I can not thank you enough.

    Reply
  12. Cathy Smith says

    May 30, 2019 at 9:03 pm

    I would love to try your recipes using your recipe mix for the flour but I can't use cow milk and not sure where to get powdered goats milk. Any ideas where I could get it or is there something else I could use in its place. Thanks in advance.

    Reply
    • Kim says

      May 30, 2019 at 9:30 pm

      Hi, Cathy! I found powdered goat milk on Amazon. Click here for the link. I also found powdered coconut milk and here is the link for that.

      Hope that helps 🙂

      Reply

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Hey there, I'm Kim!

I won't let a celiac diagnosis stop me from enjoying my passion for baking and cooking, so stick with me and I'll show you how to make the BEST EVER gluten-free renditions of the food we used to know and love 🤗

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