✔ Updated · new copycat recipe with step photos
This copycat Sara Lee pound cake is a buttery, dense loaf with a tight, velvety crumb and a golden top, just like the one from the freezer aisle. It's eight pantry ingredients and one loaf pan.
How Do You Make Sara Lee Pound Cake at Home? (Quick Answer)
Beat 1 cup soft butter with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar for 5 minutes, then beat in 4 room-temperature eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in 1 3/4 cups cake flour, 1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and salt, and 1/4 cup milk. Bake in a lined 9×5 loaf pan at 325°F for 60 to 70 minutes and cool completely before slicing.
At a glance
The one tip that matters: Cream the butter and sugar for the full 5 minutes. It's the step that gives a pound cake its fine, even crumb, and rushing it is how you end up with a heavy, greasy loaf.
Why You'll Love This Pound Cake
- That dense, velvety crumb buttery and tight, never fluffy or dry.
- All butter no shortening, so it tastes rich.
- Freezer friendly slice it, freeze it, eat it cold or thawed.
- One loaf pan no layers, no frosting, no fuss.
- Goes with everything berries, whipped cream, coffee or toast.
What Makes Sara Lee Pound Cake Special?
Sara Lee's pound cake is the plain, golden loaf in the foil pan in the freezer aisle: dense, buttery and fine-crumbed, with a soft golden top. It's the cake people slice for strawberry shortcake, toast for breakfast or eat cold straight out of the freezer.
My test for any copycat is simple: does it taste like the original, can a home cook make it reliably, and is there a shortcut? This one passes on all three, and the shortcut is the freezer. Bake once and you have slices ready for weeks.
Ingredient Notes
Exact amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Unsalted butter: real butter is the whole flavor here. It should dent easily when pressed but not look greasy.
- Sugar: regular granulated sugar. It aerates the butter as you cream it.
- Eggs: large and at room temperature, so they blend into the butter smoothly.
- Cake flour: for the soft, fine crumb. See the tips for an all-purpose swap.
- Milk and baking powder: a little of each keeps this lighter than an old-school pound of everything, which is closer to the store-bought texture.
Step-by-Step Photos
Here's how it comes together. Exact amounts, times and temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Tips for Success
- Room temperature everything. Soft butter, eggs out for 30 minutes and milk that's lost its chill. Cold eggs make the batter curdle and the cake bakes up heavy.
- Cake flour for the fine crumb. It's lower in protein, which is how you get that soft, close texture. If you only have all-purpose, measure 1 1/2 cups and replace 3 tablespoons of it with cornstarch.
- Weigh the flour if you can. 200 grams is the sweet spot. Scooping packs in extra flour and makes the loaf dry.
- A low oven is worth the wait. At 325°F the outside sets slowly, so you get a golden crust instead of a dark, dry one.
- The crack is a good sign. A split down the top is the classic pound cake look, not a mistake.
- My first loaf sank. I opened the oven at 30 minutes to peek, and the middle dropped. Now I don't open the door until at least 50 minutes in.
Have spotty bananas? Make my copycat Sara Lee banana cake next.
Sara Lee Pound Cake
10
slices20
minutes1
hour5
minutes350
kcal2
hours25
minutesA copycat version of the Sara Lee pound cake: butter, sugar and eggs beaten until fluffy, then folded with cake flour and a splash of milk and baked low and slow in a loaf pan for a dense, fine, buttery crumb and a golden top. Makes one 9×5 loaf, 10 slices.
Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups cake flour (200 g)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
Directions
- Heat the oven to 325°F. Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling. Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high for 5 minutes, until pale and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each, then beat in the vanilla. Scrape the bowl down.
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder and salt together. On low speed, add half the flour, then the milk, then the rest of the flour, mixing only until no dry streaks remain.
- Spread the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until golden and a skewer in the center comes out clean. Tent loosely with foil after 45 minutes if the top is browning fast.
- Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then lift it out and cool completely on a rack, about 1 hour, before slicing.
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Ways to Serve It
Pile it with sliced strawberries and whipped cream for an easy shortcake, toast a slice in a buttered skillet for breakfast, or serve it next to a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's also the cake I reach for when I want a simple slice with coffee in the afternoon.
More Sara Lee and Bakery Copycats
If you love Sara Lee desserts, my copycat Sara Lee cheesecake is the other freezer classic worth making at home. For another coffee-time bake, try my Starbucks coffee cake or the Starbucks gingerbread loaf, and if you need a new loaf pan, my guide to the best loaf pans covers the ones that bake evenly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in a Sara Lee pound cake?
Sara Lee lists flour, sugar, eggs and butter first, along with water, oil and a few bakery stabilizers. My copycat keeps the four classic ingredients plus a little milk, vanilla and baking powder for a fine, even crumb.
Why is my pound cake dense and heavy?
A pound cake should be dense, but not gummy. Gumminess usually means the butter and sugar weren't creamed long enough, the eggs were cold, or the batter was overmixed after the flour went in.
Can I eat it straight from the freezer like Sara Lee?
Yes. Wrap slices individually and freeze them. Like the store-bought cake, a slice thaws in about 15 minutes on the counter, and plenty of people like it cold and firm.
How do I store pound cake?
Wrap it well and keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.
Can I bake it in a Bundt pan?
Double the recipe for a 10-cup Bundt pan and bake at 325°F for about 70 to 80 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean.
Can I add a glaze?
You can, but the Sara Lee loaf is plain. If you want one, whisk 1 cup powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons milk and drizzle it over the cooled cake.
