This all-butter Almond Pound Cake recipe is filled with great almond flavor in both the perfectly textured cake and decadent glaze.
This Almond Pound Cake is the collision of two of my most favorite things: pound cake and almond. I passionately love anything almond. Almond cakes, almond tortes, macarons, almond danishes, amaretto, and just about anything with almond extract.
And there are few desserts that I love more than a perfectly executed pound cake.
But this cake isn’t just about adding almond extract into a boring pound cake. This pound cake is seriously delicious! It’s got a lighter texture than some of my other pound cakes and has tons of great flavor thanks to 3 sticks of butter.
And if all that almond in the cake itself wasn’t enough, we’re gonna go all in and add some almond extract to the glaze AND sprinkle some sliced almonds on the top. It’s like almond-a-palooza up in here! Whew!
Y’all are lucky there was even any of this left for me to photograph. See that big ol’ piece missing in that photo below? Yeah, that was me. And, I’m not sorry about it. Not one bit.
Can I adjust the almond flavor?
I get not everyone is as big of a fan of almond extract as I am, so you can certainly scale back on the amount of almond extract in this recipe. You can even leave it out completely and have a super delicious butter pound cake. I wouldn’t, but you can.
It’s totally up to you, but I highly encourage you to give it at least one try with the almond flavor added. I mean it’s delicious without it, but even more delicious with it. But you can leave it out… (~whispers~ but don’t.)
Perfect Pound Cake Tips
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. This allows the cake ingredients to emulsify together resulting in the best texture.
- Make sure to measure your flour correctly. The method I recommend is to spoon the flour into a dry measuring cup and then use the back of a butter knife to level off the flour in the cup.
- Cream the butter and sugar together very well. The process typically takes about 5 minutes. Yes, five whole minutes.
- Don’t over mix after adding the eggs. Once the eggs go into the batter, you want to mix just enough to get everything combined, but not too much. Whipping too much air into the batter can cause the cake to overflow and eventually fall.
- Be sure to pick the right pan and grease and flour it well. I typically use a paper towel to smear vegetable shortening on the entire pan surface, dust the pan in all-purpose flour, and shake the excess flour out. Many have had success using homemade cake release. To do this, simply mix equal parts of all-purpose flour, vegetable shortening, and vegetable oil together until smooth and use a pastry brush to coat the pan before adding the batter. Extra release can be store in the fridge in an airtight container for several months. We tested many different cake pans, but determined that the newer cake pans did the best with releasing the cake over our antique pans.
- Make sure the cake is done. The cook time will vary based on the specific oven, pan type, etc. The cake should be golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. A few moist crumbs are ok. I typically like to also temp my cakes using an instant read thermometer. I shoot for between 208°F and 210°F.
Other Pound Cake Recipes
Buttermilk Pound Cake – This Buttermilk Pound Cake recipe is moist, flavorful, and easy to make. The perfect dessert for any occasion!
Caramel Pound Cake – This Caramel Pound Cake recipe is infused with tons of brown sugar flavor and it’s topped with a decadent caramel icing drizzle that takes it over the top!
OREO Pound Cake – This OREO Pound Cake recipe has all the great flavor of a traditional pound cake, but is kicked up with tons of great OREO flavor!
Strawberry Jam Pound Cake – This Strawberry Jam Pound Cake has the classic pound cake flavor and texture while also having loads of strawberry flavor and a perfectly sweet strawberry glaze.
Nana’s Chocolate Pound Cake – My grandmother knew what she was doing with this Chocolate Pound Cake recipe. Soft and tender with a perfectly crunchy crust, it’s a classic recipe that isn’t too chocolatey.
Peanut Butter Cream Pound Cake – This recipe for Peanut Butter Cream Pound Cake makes a dense, moist pound cake with a crusty exterior that’s lightly flavored with peanut butter. It’s topped with a decadent peanut butter glaze made with sweetened condensed milk.
Banana Pineapple Pound Cake – This Banana Pineapple Cake is so delicious! It’s perfect for dessert and works great for a quick breakfast, too!
Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake – This Brown Sugar Pecan Pound Cake combines the caramel flavors of brown sugar with a dense and moist pound cake and adds nutty pecan flavor just for good measure!
Crusty Cream Cheese Pound Cake – This easy and delicious cream cheese pound cake won’t require you to tear down the entire kitchen to get it made!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 to 3 teaspoons almond extract
For the topping:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease and flour a 10 to 12-cup bundt pan. Set aside.
- Use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar together for about 5 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
- Add the eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- Add the dry ingredients and the milk to the mixture, alternately. Start with ⅓ of the dry, then half the milk, another ⅓ of the dry, the other ½ of the milk, then the remaining dry. Mix well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again.
- Add the vanilla and almond extracts. For lots of almond flavor, add 3 teaspoons. For less, only add 2. Mix to combine.
- Pour the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Bake times may vary. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then place a plate or platter over the pan and invert to turn the cake out onto the plate. Allow to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, whisk the powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk together in a small bowl. Drizzle over the cooled pound cake and sprinkle the almonds over the top.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
You Might Also Like
Can I use a regular cake pan rather than a bunt cake pan, and if so, what size please?
Thank You
Just YUM!!!! Served with black cherry ice cream and it was absolutely perfect!
It’s absolutely perfect, Lori! And I love the almond cake with the cherry ice cream! Yum!
Dear Stacey, Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. My fiancé’s favorite “birthday cake” is almond pound cake strawberry shortcake. I was really intimidated to make a pound cake as in the past they came out dry. I followed your directions exactly and it came out wonderful!!! We snuck a piece to make sure before the pasty tomorrow and it is tremendous! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe. It is a keeper over here.
Aww! Thank you! And thanks for trusting my recipe for such a special occasion!
This cake was a blizzard-baking activity and it was awesome. I did have to substitute with vanilla flavored almond milk and plant-based butter because of allergies and it still is delicious. I’m definitely going to be making again. Next time I’ll be sure to have sliced almonds on hand.
It’s beautiful! So glad to see it turned out great for you, Meghan!
Stacey, I had an almond pound cake recipe many years ago. Literally decades ago lol. I have not been able to find another one similar but this looks pretty close! Your photos are beautiful. Your commentary on leaving the almond flavoring in/out cracks me up haha.
Ha! Thanks, Aileen!
Awesome!!!! I’m sorry I didn’t take a pic before it was devoured.
Ha! That’s the true sign of a greta recipe! So glad everyone enjoyed it!
Tastes great! Super moist and flavorful. Just did a test run for my husbands upcoming birthday and my only problem, it fell apart when I flipped. Half the cake came out of the tin and half of it stayed. Any ideas for helping it flip out of the tin easier?
What kind of pan did you use? Do you normally have trouble with other recipes sticking in it like that?
Can I use a regular cake pan and if so how long would I cook it for and at what temperature. Thank you
I’ve not done that, but this might help: https://southernbite.com/converting-pan-sizes-for-baking/
Favorite pound cake ever!
Thanks so much, MJ! I’m glad you enjoyed it! Pound cake really does have a special place in the dessert world, doesn’t it?
This cake was too dry. Crumbled and would not hold its shape when I sliced it.
Sorry to hear you had trouble! It sounds like the measurements were off or it could be that the batter was simply over mixed or overcooked.
I am making an old fashioned lamb cake for Easter. Do you think I should make half the recipe? Any help would be appreciated. Also, it’s cast iron so probably need to reduce the time?
Thanks for your question! Whether to make half the recipe really depends on the size of your lamb cake pan. If it’s around 10 to 12 cups, the full recipe should fit perfectly. As for the cast iron, you might need to check it a bit earlier since cast iron can cook more evenly and potentially faster.
This recipe is absolutely delicious. Made it just like it said & it came out great. Was a little nervous with the cost of eggs that I’d mess it up😅 But it was well worth it!❤️
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! I totally get the egg cost concern—it’s nice to know it turned out great for you.
Hi, I plan on making this recipe about 6 days head of when it is needed. Would you recommend storing in fridge or freezer?
Hey there! If you’re making the pound cake ahead of time, I recommend freezing it. Just let it cool completely, then wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and add a layer of aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. When you’re ready to serve, just transfer it to the fridge overnight to thaw. Hope that helps!
Fabulous!! I have not made almond pound cake in years and lost the recipe. This is a perfect match. Thank you!
Awesome! Happy to hear that!
The flavor is amazing! I did have a slight issue. I haven’t made a pound cake in years, so I’m taking the blame for it. But I have a question: Ny pound cake was perfectly moist on the inside, not dry in the slightest. In fact, when I pulled it out of the oven, it still had several moist crumbs. However, the outside had a hard-ish super sweet crust. The flavor kind of reminds me of the harder parts of a gooey butter cake. How can I remedy this, so it’s still moist on the inside without having a crust on the outside?
It looks absolutely perfect! I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor! That sweet crust is likely from the sugar caramelizing on the outside—something a lot of folks actually love about pound cakes. To tone it down, you might try lowering your oven temperature by 10-15 degrees and baking the cake a bit longer for more even cooking. Using a lighter-colored pan can also help since darker pans tend to absorb more heat, which can cause the outside to cook faster than the inside. Let me know how it turns out next time!
This is the last piece I saved for my breakfast! Everyone went back for seconds. My only adjustment was to reduce sugar to 2 instead of 3 cups.
It looks perfect! So glad everyone enjoyed it!
almond pound cake without almond flour????????
That’s correct. It’s almond flavored.
This recipe was so good! Extremely straightforward, and my officemates loved it. I made a half recipe in a loaf pan, which worked perfectly. (I did have to beat and roughly split an egg, but it worked out well 🙂
Smart thinking! So glad y’all enjoyed it!
I thought the cake was a little dry. Would you know why?
Hi Mary Ann! In most cases, when a cake is dry, it either has too much flour or was baked a bit too long. What method did you use for measuring your flour?
Super delecios
Thanks, Teresa!
My Chickens are really kicking it out for winter. (12 a day!) I wanted to make a pound cake and meringues. Can I use 10 yolks instead of 5 eggs?
I’m just not sure that would give you a great result, though I’ve not tested it, so I can’t say for sure.
I would love to try your almond pound cake recipe but I have one question do I use a half cup of regular milk or buttermilk or heavy whipping cream
Hi Dorothy! The recipe calls for 1/2 cup milk – I prefer whole milk.
I made it today. I decided to add orange zest…the only addition. And, I used three teaspoons of almond extract. I then put orange zest and orange juice along with almond extract in the glaze. There are also strawberries and blueberries macerated with sugar, a little orange juice and some zest to go along with a slice. Won’t be eaten until a few more hours.
So creative! It’s beautiful!
THIS CAKE HAD AND EXCELLENT TASTE, IT WAS VERY MOIST TOO. MY HUSBAND ALMOST ATE IT ALL. I WILL DEFINITELY MAKE AGAIN. BUT THIS TIME I WILL USE A DIFFERENT CAKE PAN. BUT FOLLOWED THE RECIPE EXACTLY AND TURNED OUT DELICIOUS, THANKS AGAIN.
So glad you enjoyed it!!
Cake turned out great! Great recipe! Was requested by someone and my first attempt turned out great!!
That there is a might fine looking cake, Erica!
Three sticks of butter and… ALMOND
Need I say more! Be Still My Heart!
Right?! Could it get any better??? 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly as written (I hate it when people post comments with so many ‘adjustments’ that it is a completely different recipe!)
It is delicious! The recipe has gone into my keeper folder! Thank you for sharing 😊
It sure is beautiful, Lynne! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Used this recipe for our wedding cake—phenomenal! Baked as 9 inch layer cake, sheet cake. Fantastic!
What an honor! Thank you!!
This was delicious. It’s even better the day after. It’s light and fluffy and decadent. I loved it, my mom loved it, and my boyfriend who was unsure if he liked almond pound cake loved it.
Love hearing that! And I agree! Pound cake is usually better the next day. So glad to hear y’all enjoyed it!
This cake was so delicious! I dared to share it untested and it got rave reviews. I made a couple of modifications so that it was gluten free and dairy free. Nobody knew it. I kicked it up a notch and added orange zest to the batter and to the icing. Wow. My husband declared it a 10 and asked, “You kept this recipe, right???” Oh, yeah.
Ha! Love hearing that!
This sounds so good! Could you tell me if this gets a crinkly top when baked?
It does!
The best pound cake ever! I use 1 cup of milk instead of 1/2 cup and use 1 tsp of almond extract and it came out perfect! Thank you!
Thank you so much Michele?
Made it today for company. Everyone loved it. So moist and tasty. I used almond liquor to make the glaze and served it with Homemade almond cherry ice cream. So good.
That sounds AMAZING!
This cake is amazing and I make it quite often. It falls every time I make it but it’s so good I don’t care! Any ideas or tips that will help it not fall. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Most pound cakes fall because they aren’t cooked enough. This could have something to do with the temperature of the oven being off or the cook time not being long enough. It’s really hard to say.
PERFECT!! I made this last night, exactly as written. Came out beautifully and tasted divine. Thank you!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
New to cooking. Can you explain how much 9/16 of milk is.
It sounds like maybe the portion sizes have been changed on the recipe card. The recipe actually calls for a 1/2 cup of milk.
I made this cake yesterday and it is AMAZING! I have made numerous pound cakes in my life and nothing comes close to this one. Thank you so much for sharing this treasured recipe!
Awesome! It’s one of my favorites so I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Instead of using regular sugar could I use Splenda is it any different
Hi Maryanne! Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with low/no sugar baking. Since baking is so much about chemistry, I’d hate to make any guesses. Maybe another reader will have some insight to share with us.
Can unsweetened Silk almond milk be used instead of regular milk?
I don’t see why not. Enjoy!
Do you have a favorite bundt pan that you use??
Size, steel, aluminum, non-stick?? I need a new one (I think) …
I love everything almond as well.
I do! It’s a thick-walled, aluminum Bundt pan that a sweet lady gave me years ago. It’s probably about 50 years old.
If making in a loaf pan would I just half the recipe?
You certainly could!
I would like to know if it is possible to make cake using almond flour instead of wheat flour.
If so, what are the adjustments?
I am looking forward to baking this
Thank you
Hi Joana! I’ve not tried that, so I can’t say for sure. Hopefully someone else who has tried can chime in and help out.
I only have salted butter on hand. Would I omit the salt in the recipe?
I wanted to make this recipe today, so I searched the internet for an answer. Sorry I’m impatient, but, this is what I found.
Thanks for the recipe. I can’t wait to try it, I just LOVE almond flavor!
“If your recipe calls for unsalted butter and you want to use salted, reduce the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon. If your recipe calls for salted butter and you’re using unsalted, increase the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon.”
Glad you found an answer! Sorry I couldn’t get to your question sooner.
Seriously no worries. I made this cake and it lasted maybe 3 days! Everyone loved it. I will be making this recipe again and again. Thanks again for sharing!
So glad everyone enjoyed it!
If granny wasn’t cremated I would dig her up and slap her, then give her a kiss.
Made it for my sweetie’s Birthday. WOW! was she impressed. It’s easy guys, try it.
She hardly eats desert, and she ate 2 slices and took some to work for the girls.
I seriously can’t love this comment enough! So glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Stacey,
I’m a big fan of the good ol pound cake and the touch of almond takes it to another level. Thanks for sharing your recipe. I tried it and it turned out well. It was a tad sweet for my taste, so tempered down the sugar by 30% the next time I made it. Also, it’s hard to find unsalted butter easily in Mumbai, so used salted butter. Thanks a bunch!
So glad to hear you enjoyed it, Sunita!
I don’t have any all purpose flour on hand, only self-rising flour. How would I substitute self-rising flour in this recipe? Would it still be 3 cups of flour? Thanks
Yes. The measurement would be the same.
Virginia needs to that she should omit the baking powder and salt when using self-rising flour. If she’s an experienced cook, she will already know this.
Oops! Left out a word….needs to KNOW….that she should….
I figured that might be the case, but you are 100% correct.
Hello Glenda and Stacy…..yes, I would leave out the salt and baking powder when I use self-rising flour. Thanks for your comments though. This recipe looks wonderful, and I am so anxious to try it. Pound cake is so such a great cake and I like to think it is ‘…..so Southern…..’
Hope you enjoy it!
Is the amount of milk correct? Shouldn’t it be a whole cup?
It’s correct.
I Love anything Almond
Me too! So very much!
OMG! I’m so glad to know that there is another who’s just as crazy about almonds and almond flavor as I.
I love pound cakes and I absolutely love anything almond. I have all the ingredients on hand to make this as well as having some sliced almonds that need to be used up.
Thank you Stacey for sharing this recipe.
Claudine in Fort Worth, TX
It’s got to be one of my most favorite flavors. Hope it turns out great for you!
Could you use an Almond liquor in the glaze or even poke cake with a fork and use a TBSP. or 2 of the almond liquor sprinkled over cake before glazing?
Absolutely!