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!
When you throw the words “caramel” and “cake” together, my mind is instantly taken back to the old days and tender layers of yellow cake stacked high and frosted with homemade caramel frosting.
I’ve not been brave enough to tackle that old-school favorite here on the blog because it can be a little finicky. But I did share my sheet cake version a few years back. It’s an incredibly easy way to get that amazing flavor without all the work.
Translating those flavors to a pound cake was a bit more of a challenge. The end result is certainly a little different but equally delicious.
This dense, moist bundt cake is flavored with deep, rich brown sugar and it’s drizzled with an easy caramel icing.
And it always gets rave reviews! So, I’ll let them speak for themselves:
Here are my 2 cents! Nothing to add! The recipe is perfectly perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. Only add that you really do need to grease your pan well. (That was my “oops”!). This cake may just push chocolate into second place for me!
–Susan
I made this cake yesterday and, not only is it gorgeous, it is absolutely delicious! Even with out the icing, I might add, it is moist and flavorful!
–Crittieann
What’s the difference between heavy cream and whipping cream?
This pound cake recipe calls for whipping cream. I often get questions about using heavy cream versus whipping cream. So, let’s jump into that for a sec…
You’ll likely find two types of cream in your local grocery store’s refrigerated section – heavy cream and whipping cream. They are not the same.
Heavy cream, also known as heavy whipping cream, is the heavyweight in the culinary world. With its rich 36% or more fat content, it’s perfect for creating stiff peaks, making it ideal for decadent desserts and creamy sauces.
Then there’s whipping cream, the lighter, at about 30% to 36% fat. It’s sometimes called light whipping cream. It offers a softer, airy whip – ideal for a gentle dollop on desserts or as the cream in your coffee.
In the case of this recipe, I wouldn’t recommend substituting heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) for the whipping cream. Believe it or not, you can actually get too much fat in a pound cake.
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 stored 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.
Recipe Card
Caramel Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
- 3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
- 6 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the icing:
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or flavoring
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- In another bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture and whipping cream to the batter by alternating the wet and dry ingredients until everything is just combined. Mix in the vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes, then turn the cake out onto a cooling wrack and drizzle with caramel icing.
For the icing:
- Combine the brown sugar, butter, and whipping cream in a small saucepan. Heat until boiling. Boil for 2 1/2 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Drizzle while hot over the warm cake.
Notes
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.
My original post from 10/03/2013:
If you’ve been a following me for any length of time, you probably know about my very special friend, Christy Jordan. Not only does Christy have one of the most successful blogs in the world, but she is also a very dear friend of mine – she even did the foreward for my book (I can’t wait for y’all to read it!). Well, for those of you who don’t know, Christy was badly injured in a horse riding accident back in July. She spent a few days in ICU with two broken legs, a concussion, short term memory loss, and lots of cuts and bruises. The day after the accident, I talked to her and she just kept saying… “At least it wasn’t my babies. The kids are all okay.” Now, when many of us would have been content with writhing in our own misery, Christy was, in typically Christy-fashion, seeing the bright side. Throughout the entire ordeal, she has remained positive and upbeat. She’s back on her feet now – a head of schedule I might add – and getting back into the swing of things.
Christy is constant inspiration to me and the millions of folks that visit her blog every year. Her upbeat, positive attitude is contagious and her ability to see the good in everything amazes me. I am so fortunate to be able to call her friend. So, when Robin from Simply Southern Baking emailed me about wanting to do something for her, of course I signed on. A bunch of bloggers got together and we’re hosting a virtual potluck for my dear friend. Join us by visiting the links below to all the great food!
Banana Pudding from Veronica of My Catholic Kitchen
Chicken Salad from Elizabeth of Food Ramblings
Cookies and Cream Crunch Cookie Bites from Robin of Simply Southern Baking
Easy Slow Cooker Pork Chops and Hash Browns from Kristin of Dizzy Busy and Hungry
Herbed Cream Pasta with Bacon from Brandy of Farmer’s Wife Rambles
Mint Chocolate Espresso Pudding from Wanda of My Sweet Zepol
Pepperoni Bread from Karen at In The Kitchen With KP
Potluck Party Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese from Raquel of Organized Island
Roasted Fig and Ricotta Crositini from Susan of The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
Sausage and Kale Casserole from Pam of Blueberries and Blessings
Spinach and Zucchini Lasagna from Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen
Tomato and Boursin Tartlets from Liz of That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Mike Richards
The cake is very moist and dense, but the cake by itself doesn’t have a lot of flavor until the glaze is added. I don’t know why it’s called a caramel cake when there is not a hint of caramel flavor. I’m sorry but this is my honest opinion and with the amount of ingredients involved, I will not be making this cake again.
Sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as expected! This one usually gets great reviews, so I’m not sure where things went wrong. A traditional caramel cake is yellow cake with caramel icing.
Kathy
Mike: When I was a child, there were box mixes for Caramel Cake and Caramel frosting. I chose it for my birthday cake several times. They stopped making it. I loved that cake and still yearn for it. Years later there was a Burnt Sugar Cake with the frosting. Good, but not the same. Recreating that cake is my summer project. Southern Caramel Cakes with yellow cake are good, but just not the same. Like you, I want an actual caramel flavored cake.
Lorenzo Lumbang
Thank you for sharing your recipes Stacey! This caramel bundt cake is one of the best i’ve ever made. The frosting will be a staple for many cakes. I used it recently for a boxed Pillsbury Pumpkin cake as well.
It’s beautiful! So glad you enjoyed it, Lorenzo!
Susan Kirby-Cohn
Here are my 2 cents! Nothing to add! The recipe is perfectly perfect. I wouldn’t change a thing. Only add that you really do need to grease your pan well. (That was my “oops”!). This cake may just push chocolate into second place for me! 👍🏻😋
Awesome! Thanks, Susan!! Glad you enjoyed it!
Alice
This is going to be my number one dessert to make for the holidays.
Thanks, Alice!!
Christy M Dame
I am allergic to dairy could I use almond milk? If so how much do you think?
I would *think* it would work, but can’t say for sure as I’ve not tested it myself.
Jen
I’d love to make this!! Could you please provide nutrition information?
I actually don’t include nutritional info here’s why: https://southernbite.com/heres-why-i-dont-post-nutritional-information-with-my-recipes/
bonsi
So cool of you all to do this potluck! This cake looks like it would make anything at least a little better! thanks for sharing this amazing article.
Thanks so much!
crittieann
I made this cake yesterday and, not only is it gorgeous, it is absolutely delicious! Even with out the icing, I might add, it is moist and flavorful! I used a 10 cup bundt pan and was able to get three small mini loaves from the batter. That made me super happy because I got to try it first! (The full cake was intended for the office today so I didn’t want to slice into it). Wish there was a way for me to upload a picture of this beauty. It’s GORGEOUS!!!
Thanks for this great recipe! Certainly adding it to my list of favorites!
Wonderful! I’m so glad it turned out great for you!!
Christie
Hi, there! Thanks for sharing this recipe. Can you please tell me if I should use salted or unsalted butter, please? Looking forward to trying this!
You’re so welcome! As a general rule of thumb, unsalted butter should be used in baking. Hope you enjoy it!
Seana WR
Thank you so much for sharing! I baked this cake last night for my dad’s birthday today and he LOVES it! This cake is light, moist and delicious!!!
Awesome! So glad to hear he enjoyed it! Tell him Happy Birthday from us!
MLM
This is a great cake , my family loves it. However, it’s too much batter for my 12 cup Bundt pan, so I leave out 1 1/2 cups of batter and make cupcakes.
Are you sure it’s 12-cup? Regardless, that’s a great way to make it work!
Kristin
This is my husband’s favorite kind of cake. I decided to try to make it on my own for his birthday. It tastes great….but my icing looks lumpy from the powder-sugar. I tried to stir and stir but the lumps weren’t going away before cooling. Any tips? Should I have used a mixer?
Did the powdered sugar have lumps in it before you added it to the icing?
Ashley Robinson
Absolutely amazing! My husband, who is a decidedly meat and potatoes guy that has an almost non-existent sweet tooth, ate probably 3/4 of the cake by himself and keeps talking about how much he loved it. It’s really no surprise though, I’ve made lots of your recipes and have yet to find one that wasn’t great!
How sweet! Thanks, Ashley! I’m so glad y’all enjoyed the cake!
Stephanie
This is my first caramel cake. I followed the instructions exactly as written. It is absolutely delicious! Very tender and moist (I know…….but it’s true). This is a keeper and I’ll be making this again real soon.
I’m so glad it turned out great for you, Stephanie!
Claire Fragaki
This is scrumptious & substantial family size cake. Rather late in the cake making process I realised I didn’t have cream, I substituted milk, the consistency & texture were fine. I also wanted to add a little spice to the cake so removed 1 tablespoon of flour and replaced it with 1 tablespoon of
ground cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg. By the time I got to the icing I had acquired cream so followed the instructions to a tee. The finished cake was (sadly now past tense) delicious. Thanks for a great recipe.
I’m so glad it turned out so great for you!
Elizabeth Johnson
What size bundt pan do you use for the Carmel Cake recipe?
A 10 to 12 cup should work just fine.
J.E. Guarino
I have been looking for a replacement caramel cake to the Betty Crocker box mix. Every recipe was just a yellow cake with caramel frosting. But I have a question. Has anyone reduced the amount of sugar? 3 cups seems like an awful lot. Thank you.
Maribeth Southworth
My family has loved this cake numerous times now and I will be making it to take to a dinner party tonight. I have severe celiac disease, so I use Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking Flour. They actually prefer it when made with that flour, as my husband says it has a nutty taste to it. This is an amazing recipe. Thank you, Stacey!
I’m so glad y’all have enjoyed it!
Mmaureen
Can you use half & half in stead of whipping cream?
Yes, you can.
helen rodgers
can i use salted butter in this recipe?
Sure!
Thomasa Coleman
The recipe didn’t stipulate bundt pan size therefore I used a 10 inch pan and my cake batter overflowed. This is important information to include in a recipe if the standard size is too small. And of course it affected the outcome of the cake.
Denise
I made this for my in-laws, as they were having a bad week health-wise and I wanted to cook dinner and all the fixings for them. This cake was AMAZING!!! My father-in-law loves caramel cake so I thought I would try this one. It made caramel cake lovers out of us ALL! LOL.
Thank you for this recipe. It will be made again and again…..my mother-in-law asked for the recipe, too. 🙂
Hey, making you look good to the in-laws is my job! Ha! So glad y’all enjoyed it, Denise!
Denise
Quick question: I have made this cake several times and the frosting always hardens before I finish “drizzling” it. What am I doing wrong? I follow your instructions exactly. Today, it wouldn’t even “drizzle” out. I tried to spread it like frosting but it wouldn’t spread.
We still LOVE this cake, but my presentation leaves much to be desired. 😂
Denise
P.S.: I made it today for my father-in-law for Father’s Day. 😋 I saw that the first time I tried it was 6 years ago. Time flies!!!
Sounds as though you may be cooking it too long. Everyones stovetop varies. I would try to cook it for only half of the time listed in the recipe and see if that helps.
Gretchen
Great recipe !!!
Nata Etherton
Stacey,
Nice to meet you. I was born and raised inTexas, and I really like your recipes.
I stumbled on your site from the SouthYourMouth blog.
Can your Pound Cake recipes be frozen? Without the toppings, obviously.
Our church’s festival is in a month, and I’d like to get ahead and put some things in the freezer.
Thanks,
Nata
Welcome! Tell Mandy I said hey! Yes, most pound cakes can be frozen without much harm.
Kiva
Just popped this baby in the oven! Can’t wait to taste it.
Hope you enjoyed it!
Jussy
Oh, I just bought an awesome Bundt Pan ( from this fantastic website HomeGadgetsDaily.Com ) and made this pretty cake. I like it’s simple and delicious! the cake came out just perfect. Thank you for recipe!
So glad it turned out great!
Mary Bellebuono
I have fallen in love with your recipe site Stacy, your family is indeed so lucky to have such an amazing cook..
My husband of 51 years has a hard time frying an egg !!!! Thank you SO much for sharing, AWESOME !!1
Thanks so much, Mary! I’m the luck one to be able to share my life with some pretty amazing people.
Sharon
I made this last week and oh. my. gosh. Its YUM! The cake itself is good without the icing, although the icing is really good too!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed it!
AngelaS.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was FABULOUS!!!!
Awesome, Angela! So glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂
Becky
Love the sound of caramel pound cake! I’m putting this on my holiday baking list!!
I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Stephanie
I made this cake tonight and it was the best cake I’ve ever eaten! My family went nuts for it. Thank you for sharing! Aloha!
That’s wonderful! So glad y’all liked it! 🙂
Karen Hartzell
yummy! This looks amazing! Making me hungry!!
Robin @ Simply Southern Baking
Stacey, thank you so much for your help with this surprise virtual potluck. We pulled if off, didn’t we? So happy to do this for Christy. I love pound cake and caramel so this combination is making me drool!
Susan
This right here is comfort food! Really perfect when you are feeling down or for a celebration!
Laura Dembowski
So cool of you all to do this potluck! This cake looks like it would make anything at least a little better!
Jackie Clifton
This sounds wonderful. I was wondering: Would there be any way to adapt it to bake as a sheet cake rather than a pound cake?
veronica gantley
What a wonderful cake. I wish Christy a speedy recovery.
Kristin @ Dizzy Busy and Hungry!
This cake looks amazing! I love anything caramel, and a caramel pound cake is just about the best idea EVER! 🙂
So nice getting to meet you through the potluck for Christy. I look forward to following your future posts!
Sandy
Another winner!!!!!! Love, love this cake!
Samantha @FerraroKitchen
LOVE this cake!! I can’t eat chocolate, so caramel is my next best thing 🙂 I am so glad I got to “meet” you and other bloggers through this pot-luck…And I LOVE that you say ya’ll haha You don’t hear that here in Cali 🙂
Wanda
Stacey, wow!! I kept on saying that I have met many ladies by joining this wonderful virtual potluck, but now I have realized that a man was involved too. This is icing on the cake!!! I am very happy to have met you too. God is good, He has lead us all together today not only to treat a wonderful lady, but also to meet new friends. Here’s to new friendship and good food!
I am a cake lover and your caramel pound cake sounds just perfect to share with our church’s home group. We get together weekly and they will love this pound cake. Plus, Nana’s Chocolate Pound cake that I glanced at earlier. Stacey, it has been a pleasure to visit your blog and have met you today. Give huge hugs to Christy from us, she is a truly inspiration. Hugs!
Raquel
Oh this cake looks absolutely divine! I love caramel and will have to pin this for later. Nice to “meet” you at the potluck party.
Tina
This virtual potluck is a lovely idea to encourage Christy as she recovers!
This cake looks delicious! I love caramel.Would using dark brown sugar be too strong in this recipe?
Stephanie @ PlainChicken
Beautiful cake! I wish I had a piece for breakfast.
Liz
Wow, what a gorgeous cake! I go nuts for anything caramel, so must put this on my baking list. I’m so glad I could join you in celebrating Christy’s recovery through this yummy potluck. It’s so nice to meet you and check out your blog, too 🙂