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Pound cake

Pound cake on wooden board on white tablecloth surrounded by plate with sandwich and slice of cake, sandwiches in greaseproof paper, picnic hamper with bottle of ginger beer and glass of ginger beer. For Pound cake recipe.

The pound cake is named for its use of a pound each of flour, butter, eggs and sugar.  It is thought to originate in northern Europe in the eighteenth century.  In France the cake is called Quatre-Quarts or four quarters referring to the equal weights of the four ingredients.  Only in Britain is dried fruit added.  This recipe is the Victorian version based on Mrs Beeton’s in her Book of Household Management (1861)

Equipment

  • Weighing scales
  • 900g loaf tin
  • Baking paper
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Electric hand whisk
  • Kitchen foil
  • Skewer
  • Cooling rack

Preparation method

  • Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
  • Grease and line the loaf tin with baking paper.
  • Place all of the ingredients in the mixing bowl and beat together with the electric hand whisk until smooth and thoroughly combined.
  • Pour the cake mix into the loaf tin and spread evenly with a spatula.
  • Place in the oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a skewer pierced into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Check after half an hour that the top of the cake isn’t getting too brown (it should be golden). If it is, place a piece of kitchen foil over the top.
  • Take out of the oven and allow to cool in the tin before transferring to the cooling rack and removing the baking paper.

Note: I tend to prefer to use a hand-held electric whisk when making cakes so the recipes refer to this, but you may prefer to use a stand mixer.  Just use the beater for mixing cake batters and the whisk for egg whites and cream.
For tips and advice see my guide on making cakes
More sponge cakes
Beltane cake
Madeira cake
Portugal cakes
Seed cake
Victoria Sandwich cake
Yule log

Victorian

Serves:
10
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Cooling time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 200 g unsalted butter, softened
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 3 medium eggs
  • 200 g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 tbsp whole milk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla paste

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Pound cake
Serving Size
 
80 g
Amount per Serving
Calories
318
Percent of Daily Value*
Fat
 
18
g
28
%
Saturated Fat
 
11
g
69
%
Cholesterol
 
93
mg
31
%
Sodium
 
165
mg
7
%
Potassium
 
30
mg
1
%
Carbohydrates
 
36
g
12
%
Sugar
 
21
g
23
%
Protein
 
4.7
g
9
%
Calcium
 
18
mg
2
%
Iron
 
0.2
mg
1
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Keywords

Cake

© Dr Caroline Gordon 
2026
Illustrations by Chichi Parish
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